My question is going to seem kind of winded and I do apologize but I am very concerned about my dog and literally have no money left to much of anything about it. Last week he chewed up and ate a tennis ball. One day after he ate the ball he began throwing up mucus and coughing excessively. The cough was harsh and would continue for minutes at a time. He had coughed like this for shorter periods of time before when he'd accidently swallowed parts of his other toys and had always gotten them up. It seemed like that's what he was doing but couldn't quite get them up. He also hadn't made stool that entire day. I finally had enough and took him to Falls Road Animal Hospital where they said he either had kennel cough (which we did have him vaccinated against) or he was going to need something to help him pass the tennis ball and that the cough could be from the vomiting irritating his trachea. They took a radiograph just make sure that it wasn't blocking anything. Unfortunately for us it was. They kept him that same night and admitted him for immediate emergency surgery. This surgery was not cheap by any means, it cost us $2,540. They sent us home while his sutures were still really swollen (not just red, there were areas that looked bruised and blistered and frequently pussed after we brought him home). They told us to do a warm compress on the area 2-3 times a day. That did seem to help with the swelling as the area looks normal now. They also sent him home with amoxocillin, metronidazole, and rimadyl. They also told us to get pepcid otc, which we did unfortunately forget to go out and pick it up. Things were going great he was his usual self rather quickly after the surgery. I had to take him back today and repeatedly mentioned that I was broke from the surgery (my boyfriend and I are both students and needless to say have very limited funds). The reason I took him back in is because last night he started vomited again. This time it wasn't associated with a hacking it was a gutteral effort to get the mucus up. He had had some thickening in the lungs and some nasal discharge the first time we brought we him in so I asked about that, I asked if it could be because of the medicine, and at this time he was still acting like his normal self. The doctor asked if there was any way that he could have eaten something else he wasn't supposed to and I told him definitely no, as we have literally had someone with him 24hrs a day since we got him back from the surgery. Mind you this whole time I'm telling him that I don't have any money really, but he decided that a radiograph would be best just to make sure there are no more blockages and to check on his lungs. There was no progression with his lungs, and he prescribed a anti-nausea medication to help him with the vomiting. When I got to the desk they had taken 4 radiographs (after my persistant comments about having NO MONEY left after the cost of the surgery) and were charging me an emergency fee to have him brought in (I was wondering if this part was normal). I failed to get approved for care credit without a co-signer, and have to wait till tomorrow morning (or at this point a few more hours) for my boyfriends mother to help us get it. As a result they did not give me the medication that he needed to keep him from vomitting and has been doing so all day. It's gone back and forth from clear to yellow, but always a mucusy consistency. He hasn't eaten all day and is drinking massive amounts of water, that later he will gush up. He is normally a very cuddly puppy, but has not been himself at all. He will not come up and cuddle with me or my boyfriend, he will go out into other rooms of the house to sit alone, where normally he would be right in where ever we are. The last time he threw up it was yellow and a liquidy red. I am concerned that this may be blood, but am not sure. As I've made it ubundently clear I can not afford to take him to the vet again as they will just charge us more money and not allow us to take any other medication home that they may provide. I am very concerned about him and do not know what to do. We did go out and get the pepcid for him, having stumbled across the release papers and both of us realizing it. What could be wrong with my dog and what can I do to make him better that I haven't already (without having to take him to the vet). And another question, is this something that is the result of us not getting the pepcid immediatley after the surgery or is this the result of something else?
