This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Aggravating_Road2692 on 2024-08-26 17:20:04+00:00.

I [F21] have a dog Max [M2] who was diagnosed with distemper and he's scaring the hell out of me.

Last Friday evening, when I arrived from work, I was greeted by a quiet house. This was odd, given that Max would always scurry to the front of the house as soon as the latch unhitched. His panting excitement and joyous deminer are always a welcome sight after a hard day's work, and I always look forward to his loving embrace.

Today however the house was at a standstill, only the humming of the fridge and the occasional beep of an unchanged fire alarm battery were audible.

"Max?" I called out but my calls went unanswered. I settled my key into the bowl on my kitchen counter and cautiously made my way through the dimly lit house, half expecting Max to jump out at any moment, he'd made it a game to stalk me from the shadows in recent weeks. Always jumping out in the least expected moment, startling the hell out of me. I peered around every doorway, making sure that Max was not lying in wait, but he never pounced. Looking around the door frame of my bedroom, I saw a silhouetted figure nestled in the cozy dog bed by my footboard.

"Max?" I called out once again, stirring the figure out of its slumber. Max raised his head and rested his snout on the crest of the dog bed, his ears looking more like horns in the soft moonlight emanating from the window. The light ignited the lucidum in the back of his eye sockets.

"Come here boy." The dog stammered to his feet and took a few steps towards me. By then I could tell something was wrong. Max's steps were strangely uncoordinated, taking one step, he crossed the next awkwardly around the last, and always hesitating to inch forward. When he stepped under the shine of the moonlight I could see him shivering. His tail raised but he could not wag. Instead, his torso wriggled in his attempt to show his happiness. Once he made it into my arms, I cradled him tight as he rested his head against my chest. Not a moment after, he vomited all over the floor and his body went limp. I panicked. Scooping him off the floor I rushed him to the car and sped off to the emergency animal hospital.

Once there I placed my best friend in the care of the hospital staff. I was unable to follow them to the back, and could only worry in the waiting room while I awaited Max's fate.

"Ms. Chancy." A nurse called out. I shot to my feet and hastily made my way over to the door she held propped open. She greeted me with a warm smile and assured me that my friend was stable and in good spirits, but the Vet wanted to discuss a few things with me.

I was led to a small closet-like room where Max rested atop an examination table. I couldn't help but crush him to death in my relief. His tail finally wagged and he gazed at me through the yellow discharge in his eyes. I heard the door close behind me. A man wearing a white lab coat and touting a somber expression stood awaiting my response. I gave a forced smile and he finally spoke.

"Ms. Chancy, please take a seat." I obliged.

"I have some good and bad news I have to share with you." My heart dropped at the mention of those words and I slumped back into one of the chairs on the parameter of the exam room.

"We've run some tests on Max here and there isn't any good way to say this, but he's tested positive for Distemper. Are you familiar with that term?" I nod my head in the negative.

"Well, Distemper is a viral infection that can affect animals in the canine family. It is a serious infection that affects an animal's central nervous system and if survived can have lifelong implications on dogs."

'If survived' I think to myself, but was unable to physically pose the question. My face must've dropped from my dismay because the man expanded on the survival rate.

"Distemper typically has a survival rate of about 50% in adult dogs, but there is a silver lining, we caught it early, and through medication, we will be able to treat some of the more serious effects of the virus." A mild sense of relief washed over me.

"But there are never any guarantees with a virus such as this, you must give Max the regimented doses of his medication to ensure the best possible outcome."

After a long night in the hospital, Max and I were finally on our way home. Max was curled up into a ball in the passenger seat, eyeing me lovingly through his tormenting condition. I however was extremely tired, and could hardly keep my eyes on the road. Not to mention the anxiety that ate away at me throughout the night. I always clenched in worry, my body felt like I had just run a marathon. Rolling onto the driveway, the tires gave a familiar crunch of gravel pressing against the tires, Max raised his head to inspect his surroundings. My heart warmed to see my friend's tail waving in joyousness.

Putting the car in park, I walked to over Max's side of the car and carried him inside. His movements still being sporadic, I couldn't leave him to make the walk himself. Making our way through the house, we reached my bedroom. I gently placed Max on my comforter and plopped down beside him. Drifting off into a deep restful sleep.

The afternoon sun hit the side of my face. Strange, given that I distinctly remember closing the blinds before nodding off. I reached over to cuddle Max, but to my surprise, he was not where I left him. I shot up and called out.

"Max?" I heard footsteps coming from down the hall, along with the scratching of nails on a wooden floor. It filled my heart to hear my friend finally being able to do more on his own accord. I did not move to aid my friend, I wanted to see him walk in triumphantly. To know that he was getting better. My eyes planted on the bottom right corner of the door, I patiently awaited his arrival. His snout stepped into view but it was stationed a lot higher than where my eyes were focused. Two more scraping steps and I jumped back in fear. Max had walked bipedally into the center of the door frame. With two more slow steps, he disappeared behind the opposite side of the frame.

"Ma-- Max?" Too afraid to go see where the human-like K-9 had gone, I stationed myself behind my comforter. Suddenly, his snout appeared from the left side of the frame. This time hobbling into view as a normal distempered dog. Confused and relieved I awaited Max atop the bed, scooping him up when he reached the bedframe. I looked at Max and back over at the left side of the door frame where I had just seen him disappear. My skin pimpled in fear, but I was snapped out of it when Max licked the underside of my chin. I dismissed the occurrence as a hallucination summoned by lack of sleep and returned my attention to the dog in my arms, planting a loving peck on his forehead. I swore I saw Max wince at my touch, but that too was pushed out of my mind. I was just so happy he was getting better.

Later that night Max and I were lounging on the couch, and the TV blared the sounds of our favorite comfort show. I had not left my friend alone all day, I was scared that if I somehow lost sight of him he would take a turn for the worse, so he was always within eyesight. My phone alarm went off, along with a reminder I had scheduled.

'Give Max his meds' plastered across the phone's notification banner. Max gave a twist of the neck acknowledging what that sound had signified in the past few hours. He gave a slow tail wag at the realization that a piece of broken hot dog was coming his way. To his ignorance, a few pills were shoved deep inside the deli meat. I patted him on the brow and rocked forward propelling myself out of my seat. Max attempted to follow, but I saw him slump back into the couch cushion, appearing almost as if he'd been hit by a quick bout of vertigo. He whimpered at his inability.

"It's Okay Max, I'll be right back with your treat" I comforted as his ears perked at the mention of the word "treat". Warmth washes across my heart to see him happy. I scurried off to the kitchen, Max always within view, I prepped his next dose. Pulling the pill bottles out of the kitchen drawer, counting the dosage, and opening the fridge to get the long-awaited hogdog. As I opened the fridge and the cold air hit my face, I briefly lost sight of Max behind the door.

"Max, almost ready," I called out as I shut the door and returned my attention to the fur ball on the sofa. I dropped the meat on the floor in shock. Max had disappeared. In his normal state, Max was fast and quiet, not out of the realm of possibility to think that he could dart off so fast. But in his current condition, it took him a few minutes to navigate through my small two-bedroom home.

"Max!" I yelled. I could not hide my worry and I started to hyperventilate.

"Max where are you!" Running over to the living room where I had just left the sickly dog, pushing over couch pillows as if they could hide a large lab behind their size. When you love something all reason tends to go by the wayside.

"Max!" I whimpered. Just as I plowed one of the pillows onto the floor, I heard the squirmy sound of something soft and fleshy being crushed behind me. My head swiveled at lightning speed and I let out a yelp. Max was standing on his hind legs, back paw pressing down on the fallen hotdog. His back was erect in a very human S-shaped orientation, unlike the straight ridged back of a normal quadruped. His front paw reached for the latch on the door, to my horror his fingers were s...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1f1tren/my_dog_is_sick_and_is_scaring_the_hell_out_of_me/