My NOA

Today was a horrible afternoon! My little Noa knocked himself unconscious!

For those that haven't seen Noa's reaction when I leave the house without him, I'll explain a bit. He has a tendency to get very upset when I leave him at home alone. Usually it entails excess amounts of barking and running to the door. Lately it seems to have gotten a bit more excitable, he actually jumps at the door and if I don't shut it quick enough he shuts it for me and then continues to bark. Today was like his usual reaction but a bit more spastic. He came running at a very quick pace and I shut the door just as he jumped at it again but this time he must've had a bit too much speed behind his run because he slammed the door shut and then bounced off the door and with a loud THUD the barking stopped!!

I knew right then something wasn't right so I opened the door back up and Noa was laying on the floor not moving! His tongue was hanging out of his mouth and it was blue in color. I thought he was DEAD! I had to use the door to move him out of the way so we could get back in the house. I immediately started crying, Tre didn't understand what was going on and started to cry too. I was quickly starting to freak out but trying to remain calm for Tre's sake. The tears were flowing and I just kept saying Noa's name.

Seeing how my reaction was affecting Tre I then decided to grab my phone and call my friend Monet who lives in my building. She helped me out by telling me she would watch Tre so I could take Noa to the vet. When Monet got here I left the house to take Noa to the closest vet I could find, as I was walking out of my house another neighbor offered to drive me to the vet, which was great because I did not feel comfortable putting Noa down. Luckily there was a vet right across the street! I walked in with my limp puppy and they immediately began to help him.

I explained everything that had happened and they began to check him out. After about 30 minutes of the vet and his assistant checking him out I was able to hold him while we discussed our options. During that time I was holding an oxygen mask to his face to help him breathe and slowly the blue color was replaced with his normal red tones. Tears just kept welling up in my eyes because I kept thinking, how could this have happened? Why didn't I just bring Noa with me to run my errands (we were going to go to Trader Joe's and stuff so it wasn't really Noa friendly errands so I thought I would leave him at home where he would be able to hang). Obviously in hindsight I was kicking myself for not just bringing him with me, but what can I do, can't take it back and can only move forward.

From the time we got there to the time we left I definitely saw improvements in Noa. But he wasn't able to move his right side and his eyes were shifting left to right pretty rapidly. After being there for over an hour the vet told me my best bet was to take him home and watch him and then bring him back in the morning. So they grabbed a box and put a towel in there and we placed Noa in the box and I walked my dog home carrying him in a box. I just kept talking to him and hoping that maybe the fresh air and us having some alone time would help him get better.

When we got home I called Monet to let her know I was home, her son had woken up from his nap so she brought Tre down to her house and the boys were playing. After getting Noa situated in his box/bed I came down to Monet's to see Tre and he was having a blast. He was playing with Monet's son Terje and our other friend Kate's son Liam. Towards the end of our time at Monet's house Noa had thrown up in his box just a bit and I got a little worried but then a great thing happened, his eyes stopped shaking! That had to be a good sign, right?

Then it was time for dinner and we came back upstairs and I put Noa in a place where Tre couldn't get to him and made Tre some dinner and got him ready for bed. Once Tre was in bed I attempted to see if Noa wanted any food or water but he refused. I brought Noa and his box/bed into the office so I could do some work on the computer and he would pop his head up every once in a while when he would hear a sound and was able to move around a little bit.

It is now past 11pm and Noa has been sitting next to me in his box/bed the entire time and I think he has been improving. So I am hopeful that he will recover, but we still have the entire night to get through and see how he does in the morning. His right side isn't as stiff as it was but there is definitely something off with his right side. He is able to rest a little bit better than earlier. I'm going to put him in his carrier next to my bed for the night so he doesn't wander off.

I pray over and over again that everything will be okay and my little puppy will be back to normal very soon!