Dogsitting

Dog-like substance was delivered earlier this morning.
Cats have scattered, returned, scattered and perched, been watchful, wary, and weirded-out.

Somewhere around 7AM the kids pulled into the driveway, running behind schedule and concerned with leaving their pup in the care of someone else who may - or may not - keep him from harm.  They didn't say so, but I knew it was an issue for them.  Ted has stayed with us in the past - overnight, even - but that was before recent events, so the kids are understandably nervous.

A little history -
Several weeks ago Teddy was with the other dog grandparents for a long weekend, and when they got home from church they found that he had gotten into a hazardous situation involving a bottle of fish oil pills.  Yup, an entire bottle of fish oil (meant for humans), left where the opportunistic Ted could get his muzzle on it.  And, boy howdy, did he make a job out of it; not even a few pills escaped his notice.  By the time the g'rents arrived home, Ted was beginning to exhibit signs of toxic proportions, but nothing was done to get him care at a vet's office.

Time was of the essence but the errant parents made no move to get Teddy help - and it would be hours before the kids found out something had happened.  Hours that could make a difference for their beloved pooch.  Hours that would determine Ted's long-term health prognosis.

B&A returned to find their lovely pooch had been fairly ucky for a while, were made aware he had ingested 'some' fish oil pills, and knew his poops were growing 'schloopy', so they grabbed up the sweet pup and made plans for how to prep him for what they figured would be eventual diarrhea.

During hair trimming, Ted began the horrendous vomiting which signaled a violent turn in the toxic mess to come.  There was blood mixed with other matter, and with each successive puke there was more blood.  Bud tried to remain calm (while asking for a pair of clean socks), and helped a somewhat frantic Angela with 'what next'.

Even though she works in a vet surg' arena, it's a whole other ballgame when the patient is actually your baby.

I believe they were both panicky to a degree, but they managed to find an emergency vet close to home, and to get the three of them there in one piece.  From that point on it was finding out what was going on, what might happen next, and making choices on how to proceed.  By this time it was closing in on midnight, and they were faced with some challenging decisions.  It was far too late to give Teddy ipecac, so waiting and treating was pretty well the order of things for the immediate future.

Ted was terribly dehydrated and a mess at both ends, so he was left with the vet and the kids went home for anxious hours and fitful sleep.  The waiting game involved possible aspiration of vomit, which could result in pneumonia.

That was immediate issue numero uno point-B.  Numero uno Point-A was the dehydration, and helping to stop the Mount Vesuvius-ness of Ted at the 'in hole' and the 'out hole.'  Once released, he was on a course of meds to help flush the toxins from his liver and kidneys (and at the very least, hopefully mitigate the damage to an extent), but it's all still a wait-and-see sort of thing.  Had the parents reacted with a call to poison control, or a trip to their vet as soon as they found he had ingested so much of the fish oil, things could have been set in motion to keep Ted from such a serious, and life-threatening ordeal.  But you can't go back.

It can take up to a year to find out if he will develop pancreatitis from the extreme amount of fish oil ingested (which would bring with it a horde of additional health issues).  Worse yet, he is now at a much higher risk of becoming diabetic, and that won't be evident immediately, either.  For the time being, Ted is doing well, and is more like his old pre-fish oil self.

History aside, Karl and I are large and in charge today, and I find myself surrounded by boys.
Furry boys, antsy boys, nervous boys, hissy boys, and displaced boys.  Round, skinny, bristling, and tall boys... and I love 'em all.  Let's see what the day brings, shall we?  Have fun at Yuma-con, B&A.

What's on your calendar?