'Dem Bones!

My Mom hasn't written anything for me for a while 'cuz I've been sick! Let me tell you the tale ...

Wednesday, August 6, 2008, was much like any other summer day. I guarded while my 'rents were at work and did some sniffing and some napping. When my 'rents got home, they grilled spare ribs and veggie packets made of potatoes, zucchini from the garden, carrots, and onions. It smelled really, really good and I looked my cutest in hopes that I would get to lick the plates and chew on some bones. My 'rents don't give me bones as a rule -- I'm pretty much limited to one cup of dry, brown food a day plus some plates to lick. Well, cuteness ruled the day and my Mom gave me those bones to chew on. What a surprise!

I took full advantage and ate them all up. When she came back to check on me a little later, she was surprised to find that the bones were gone. They were in my stomach.

A little later, Dad was playing online chess and Mom was downstairs watching TV and reading the paper and doing puzzles. I was laying in the living room upstairs, starting to feel bad. Major tummy ache! I moaned and my Mom came upstairs to see what was going on. She gave me a few pets and went back downstairs. A few minutes later, I just had to moan again. My tummy hurt! She came up and petted me again and I could tell she was a little bit concerned. I decided to go downstairs with her and went to sleep on the floor and stayed there the rest of the night.

Well ... the next morning, I wasn't very perky and my Mom could tell that things weren't quite right. She could tell that even more when she got home from work that night. I was sick. The next morning it was even worse and my Mom told my Dad that she thought I needed to go to the vet. He took me to Heart River Animal Hospital, told them about my spare rib bone meal, and they checked things out. They knew that bones, especially for a little dog my age, were not a good thing. They said my color was good (my Dad thought to himself, black & white?), but that I didn't seem bloated or gassy. They said I was having a little trouble digesting those bones, but that things would likely resolve themselves naturally. Still, they gave my Dad their emergency number and said to call if I didn't get better.

On Saturday morning, I was in rough shape. Really. I had gone outside the night before and ended up staying out all night 'cuz I was too sick to come in. My Dad went outside to check on me and brought me in the house. I was wet and muddy. It had rained a little and I just couldn't manage to come in out of the rain on my own. I felt bad! My 'rents were really worried. My Mom had to go to Plentywood that day to see her Mom so she couldn't stay with me, but my Dad did. I was lethargic and then I started to have a panic attack and then my right leg wasn't working right so he called the vet and took me to the hospital. And that's where I stayed for the next several days!

To make a long story a little shorter, the bones were stuck in my tummy and weren't going anywhere. Surgery was an option and my 'rents decided that's what we needed to do. My Mom came to the hospital on Wednesday morning (August 13 -- an inauspicious date!) at 7 a.m. to see me and wish me well. We were both so happy to see each other. She petted me and said she was sorry she gave me those bones and said that I was a good dog and that she wanted me to get better. When she was starting to leave, I got up to go with her, but she said I had to stay. The doctors kept my 'rents posted about the surgery. Everyone was very glad when I came through it all just fine! They pulled a lot of bones out of my stomach and saved them for my 'rents to see.

After my operation, I had to stay in the hospital for a couple more days. I wanted to go home! My Dad came to pick me up late in the morning on Friday, August 15. I was still pretty wobbly, but it was good to be home. Every day since then, I have been getting better and stronger. My 'rents had to feed me rice cereal through a syringe a few times, but now I am starting to eat on my own. They have to give me lots of meds (usually in a piece of turkey or a cheerio), too.

Today I resumed my plate licking duties! I'm back, Baby! I'm back!