Unexpected and Unwanted Excitement

Mommy here: Our week started off with a trip to the emergency vet for Angel. I heard her getting sick in the entry way and just sat still until it was over so she didn't run throughout the house. When I thought it was over I went to clean it up and she was sitting on the stairs getting ready to throw up again. I got stuff out to clean up the first mess on the tile (first time ever!) but then I heard her again and it didn't sound normal. I dropped everything and ran upstairs where she had a lot of clear drool coming from her mouth and she was gurgling trying to breathe. She tried to throw up but nothing came out except the drool and she was struggling to breathe. I tried to open her mouth to see if something was stuck but she turned into a wild cat. She'd look at me and her eyes were pleading for me to help but I didn't know what to do. Her tongue was turning blue and she laid down like she was giving up so I picked her up, ran downstairs, put her in the carrier and went straight to the vet. No shoes, no purse with ID or money, going 50 all the way through town while she was gasping for breath. I did bring my phone to call J so he could meet me there. I ran in the vet and everyone immediately got up and called 'Triage, Triage" into an intercom and rushed her in the back. A couple of vet techs stayed with me while I completely freaked out saying things I don't even remember and pacing all over the room they put me in until J got there. 

Awhile later they came in and said two vets were working with her and they took three x-rays, gave her a sedative to calm her so she could breathe easier and they put her in an oxygen tent. I kept asking if she was going to be okay and they assured me she was breathing easier and doing better. After an hour we were able to see her and she was huddled in the corner of the cage but came towards me when I said her name. She even climbed into my arms which the vet said was a very good sign. We waited another hour for the radiologist to report back on the x-rays but the vet told us she thought a hairball covered the opening of the stomach to the esophagus. She said this would explain the hyper-drooling and not being able to breathe. There was also a lot of air in her stomach but on a later x-ray this had dissipated. The bloodwork showed her heart is fine too. She let me bring Angel home but she's under observation for the next 24-48 hours. She's very skittish from any sound but I did open windows for her:

See her huge eyes and her little tongue sticking out? The vet later called back and said the radiologist couldn't determine any other cause but did notice an opaque spot on her lung which might be pneumonia from inhaling liquid during this episode. She has no fever or high white blood cell count so it wasn't prior pneumonia. They want to do x-rays on her tomorrow to see if there's any change before putting her on antibiotics. Plus they could see if what they think is the hairball is still there. She also said that Angel was in a life threatening situation when I brought her in so she was very optimistic in her getting better because of her dramatic turn around. She has to get better. There's no other option.

This was my last Monday off until after April 15th and I woke with a tremendous headache and then had the biggest scare with Angel. Let's hope that we made it through the worst day ever and from here on out it's much less excitement.
~Sharla