I love summertime for the sunshine and the countless hours of play time outdoors. However, when the weather gets hot and uncomfortable, sometimes I can became highly annoyed and irate. Thus, it was time for refuge, hehe. A quick drive over the California coastal range, and we were in the cool and breezy weather of Half Moon Bay.

We spent a good chunk of time at the beach and had such a fantastic time. Maui and Hilo got to run free like a pair of hooligans, while Gloria found pure joy in making them run around like a bunch of crazy dogs. I, on the other hand, prepped a small picnic for everyone.

 

The best part of the beach stop was when Gloria was sunbathing and the dogs thought it would be fun to jump all over her, haha!

We didn’t want to end the day just yet, so we headed South to the quirky and charming Santa Cruz. We all went on a short little hike on the coastal cliffs, and I was mesmerized by the way the marine layer quickly covered the area. Maui and Hilo stopped to pose for the camera.

All and all, it was a perfect day with the family. Everything seemed to be okay…

…until Hilo started shaking his head frequently and abruptly later that night. He had a couple of symptoms the day before when we picked him up from Grandma and Grandpa’s, but it wasn’t anything to look into. He walked around anxiously and restlessly, and he wouldn’t stop scratching his ears. When Hilo’s not playing and bouncing off the walls, you know something’s not right. We called the 24 hour emergency clinic for advice, and they told us to bring him in.

At first, they guessed it might be a fox tail stuck in his inner ear, so they needed to get a closer look into his ear canal.

They wanted to sedate him to investigate more thoroughly, and we agreed. After speculation, there was no fox tail present. …but there had to be something wrong because his ears were bloodshot red and he was in pain. We discussed with the vet that a cytologic evaluation was our next option. She gathered a sample of tissue and requested the nurse to reverse his sedation, which she told us would be about 5-10 minutes.

We sat there for a long time; it felt like hours. We heard the nurses slapping his body and loudly saying, “Hilo?! Wake up!” There was more smacking and slapping him to help him regain consciousness, but there were no sounds of response. I think my heart stopped.

After an additional 15 minutes, his heart rate increased and we heard the sound of his collar when he walked. *This is where I started to breathe again.*

It turns out that he had a yeast growth in his inner ear. Odd, but we’re glad we now know what it is and he regained consciousness. We were sent home with meds, and he’s pretty much been sleeping all day.

Fast recovery, please.

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