We left the girls barricaded in the kitchen and we thought we had properly puppy proofed but apparently they have grown taller than we realized because they were able to get an empty soda can off the counter and they ate the friggen thing. We found the top and bottom and a whole bunch of shredded pieces on the floor but there was definitely NOT a whole can there.
I called the Tufts ER (for the second time this week) and the guy told us to NOT make them puke. He said our options were to give them a large meal heavy on the fiber and then check their poop, or bring them to the ER. The trouble with the first option was the potential for damage to be done while waiting for them to poop. The trouble with the second option is that Holly has major car problems and it would absolutely make her puke.
We decided to take them in. The drive is about 45 minutes and Holly made it about 40 minutes before she puked. I sifted through it (with my bare hands) and found 2 different kinds of plastic and definite bits of soda can so at least we knew we were justified in bringing them in.
Once there, they were examined and x-rayed. Nothing showed up so either they’re both clear or the pieces are too small to show up.
We were sent home with orders to keep an eye on their behavior and poop and with medication. We got one pill that will coat any lacerations in their digestive systems and we also have to give them Pepcid.
We got off lucky. The lady who got there right after us left without her dog. I heard “heart condition” and “water in the lungs”. There was a huge language barrier between her and the doctor which probably didn’t help to make her feel better. She was crying while waiting for them to tell her it was time to go home.
The next couple came in with a 3 month old puppy who started head tilting and stumbling for no apparent reason. They were also probably going to leave without their baby.
We’re home now with 2 very very tired dogs and I have to now make them take medicine. But, they’re ok and they’re home with us. We are seriously considering emptying the spare bedroom so they’ll have a completely puppy proof place to play while we’re gone.
I am exhausted and the homework I was supposed to get done today hasn’t been touched. I thought about bringing it with me to the ER, too bad I was half an hour away from the house when I thought about it. I have leave in 6 hours for a very long day. I have tutor training, a kid birthday party, and I have to visit my mom in the hospital. At some point, I really really need to do homework.
This has been an extraordinarily shitty week. I’m going to go curl up in bed with my sweetie and my babies and try to get some sleep for at least 5.5 hours.
My sister just told me that I should have my own TV show. Instead of 1,000 Way to Die, it’ll be called 1,000 Ways to Kill Your Dog. It’s been almost a year and I still feel guilty about the grape incident.
The good thing is that they checked Ginger’s head and the tick head doesn’t seem to be causing any problems so at least I can stop feeling guilty about THAT.
I think that making a puppy playroom is probably the best idea yet … it could be fantastic, with a feeding/watering station in one corner, and a pee/poo area in another corner [made from those little faux grass housebreaking thingies] and nothing dangerous lurking.
It would also give you a place to corral them if visitors come over that you need to move the dogs out of the main part of the home for [scared, or workers/repair types]
I missed your earlier incidents, but this is a very good argument for crate training. Crating isn’t only to protect your stuff, floors, furniture form the puppy, it’s about protecting the puppy from doing stupid puppy things. A room is good, but I’ve heard more than one story about a dog chewing through drywall. If she chews a can, drywall isn’t out of the question…
My pup is 1.5 years and is still chewing things. I took some couch pillows out that had been put away since he was a baby and he chewed the corner off one.
They are crate trained. We have 3 options (at the moment) for when we leave; the crate, the kennel, the kitchen. We didn’t know how long we’d be gone yesterday and we wanted them to have room to play but it was really cold out yesterday (for them, the little wimps) and we still don’t have a dog house so we opted for the kitchen. That way, they could play with each other and have water. Unfortunately, the counters are no longer puppy proof because they got taller when we weren’t looking.
We actually haven’t had that many incidents. I was being melodramatic because it has been a shitty week. The first incident was in January, on the day we got them. No one mentioned that grapes are poisonous to dogs and I didn’t research it until it was too late. We took them to the ER for that one. The only other incident was earlier this week when I totally screwed up the tick removal and ended up feeling incredibly guilty over it.
Oh, drywall isn’t a problem. Our house is a log cabin and that makes it one large chew toy. Luckily they haven’t figured it out yet.
The good part is you still have everyone to curl up with.
Also, it means they might grow up to be President.
Curiously parallel to your pack’s issues, our Simone threw up today (reason unknown) and I found a tick on the side of Sadie’s face last night. The tick had already gotten somewhat inflated, which is really gross, and I have NO idea how we missed it long enough for it to feed, since it was obviously right there on her face like a zit on a teenager. I removed it, but it was so close to whiskers and facial hair that I had trouble gripping it with the tweezers and not pulling hairs, so I wound up carefully scissoring a few hairs away, and she now has a tiny “hole in the fur” on her cheek. She put up with the removal process okay, except for a great deal of histrionic eye-rolling and flinching.
Poor things are napping right now.
Simone just finished a course of antibiotics for a UTI. I have to schedule the follow-up urinalysis next week, if we can scrounge up the money.
Aww, poor Simone. It always makes me feel so much worse when animals are hurting than when humans are hurting (well, except my mom. Her epidural pain relief fell out during the night so she’s on oral Percocet now and it’s just not as good.)
Ginger vomited on our bed around 10am and we have no idea why but here was no sign of metal in it.