Friday, January 16, 2009

Late night fun at the emergency vet

Last night Charlie was running around the house like she usually does. You have to stop what you're doing to check up on her every few minutes. She had been at my feet while I was at the computer and then she ran into the tv room. Almost instantly I heard her gagging. I ran in there just as she was coming out, running and acting very distressed. She threw up a couple times and then settled down. Paige came home right then and we both gave her a going over. She seemed mostly fine except she would gag every once in a while and then sit and blink her eyes. That was a strange behavior. Paige thought it was her way of wincing.

We took her to the emergency vet. That's always an exercise in extreme waiting. Paige and Gabe and I sat for a long time in the waiting room and then in the examining room before the vet came in. We couldn't let Charlie down because her shots aren't complete yet. We had to hold her the whole time. Unhappy puppy! Her ears kept getting lower and lower.

When the vet came in and checked her over she couldn't find anything. She took Charlie to the back so she could sedate her and check her throat. Within a few minutes the vet tech came out and showed us what Charlie had swallowed. A threaded needle! Oy! We waited a bit longer for Charlie to wake up, paid the $200 vet bill and came home. Charlie gets to choke down some antibiotics for a few days.

I had already started on getting the floor cleaned up and now we're going to step up the effort. The vacuum cleaner has just been fixed (after getting its cord chewed by rabbits). Gracie swallowed a threaded needle a few years ago. That one worked it's way through her body and started to come out her side. Charlie wants to eat everything she sees so we need to get things picked up.

So glad it's the weekend.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good heavens, Donita! Good thing you took her to the vet! Yikes!

Mary

VO said...

What a crafty way to visit the vet.

You have a puppy dog that stabbed herself in the throat, I have a puppy dog that ate enough hard plastic that it made him bleed (in a very bad place).

I hope they get smarter or less expensive or something.

Anonymous said...

Oh the poor thing! I can just see that look on her face when she swallowed and it hurt and her eyes teared up and she couldn't figure out why she couldn't swallow. Ow ow ow. Good thing you were right there looking at her.

Rosie got on the kitchen counter yesterday and ate half an apple pie. Rosie's never been a counter raider. This is new behavior.

dean

obidadju--karmic luck combined with training and talent, as in "The pilot's obidadju was so strong that everyone survived the water landing on the Hudson."

Anonymous said...

Aww- poor Charlie! How horrible! Hope he & everyone is feeling much better now-
Mommala

Donita Curioso said...

She's fine and dandy now. Back to being her usual wiggly cutie pie self. I cleaned up the floor but she still manages to find stuff.

Vo- Har! Less expensive or smarter. I'd take either one.

Dean- Ooh, bad Rosie. Gracie used to be very good about the food rules but when she started to go blind and had to be on Prednesone it made her crazy hungry. That's Gracie's excuse. Maybe when they get older they figure out they can get into stuff and you'll forgive them anyway.

I can just see big ol' bushy face Rosie up on the counter.