Tonight when Sasha came home from her usual swim she started exhibiting signs of extreme pain. We’ve seen swimmer’s tail’ from her before, and stress fractures — this was something else.

She would sit (which she won’t do with swimmer’s tail) but not lie down. She wasn’t limping, she just refused to move at all, and her stance was very odd, like she was braced. She was so tired she was wobbly, but wouldn’t lie down. She ate, but didn’t pursue her bowl when she nudged it out of her immediate range.

Our vet has partnered with a group called Acces for after-hours care; we went there. After a careful survey, visual and kinesthetic, the vet tentatively diagnosed Sasha as suffering from a muscle injury, likely in the neck. Like a pulled muscle from fatigue. But a really bad one. They gave her a muscle relaxant and hydromorphine (aka Dilaudid!) and we all just hung out for awhile to see how she handled it. It definitely relaxed her, but the stress of the unfamiliar place was starting to freak her out a bit.

So we brought her home. J has her in the guest room downstairs. It took her about 45 mins once she was home to calm down, but she’s completely unconscious and sleeping on her side. Our only worry now is that she hasn’t had anything to drink for a lot of hours. She had wet food for dinner, so that will help any dehydration, but it’s something we need to pay attention to.

It was a very scary time.