Saturday, April 29, 2006

This Dog!

No more DentaStix for the DailyDog. I gave her one when I left the house, but she saved it until I got home. Instead of eating it in the house, she decided she wanted it al fresco. While it was raining, no less. That was bad enough; then it got worse.

She stayed out there quite a while. This isn’t so unusual, but I got tired of waiting at the door with a towel. So, I peeked my head outside, and there was my little drowned rat of a dog starring at me. She looked funny—not funny ha ha, funny weird. I called her in, but she didn’t move, just sat there, breathing through her mouth. This, also, isn’t unusual since she has congested heart failure and sometimes pants when she can’t get enough breath. But it just didn’t seem right. By the time I got my shoes on, she was coming inside. She rolled around on one towel while I rubbed her with another, but she was swatting at her mouth in a spastic way. What the hell? She did it again, and it was the frantic way she did it that scared me. I opened her mouth and saw that a chunk of the DentaStix had gotten lodged lengthwise across her upper jaw. Poor puppy! She relented and let me get it out for her (ew), then, of course, ate it (ew). Just scared the shit out of me.

So, now that I’m her savior, she’s a little clingy. She took her medicine (buried in peanut butter) and I brushed out all the wet tangles and dried her off as much as I could. She’s now asleep next to me on the couch. Poor puppy. She wore herself out.

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Ooh, poor dog! I'm so glad you were able to save her!

Mine prefer pig ears (or "peeg eerz," as they would write if they could). But Orley has such bad teeth that it takes her a while to eat hers. Kip, having no such problem, dances around and worships the pig ear before consuming it.

Kell said...

We had to stop the pig ears because Daily would get obsessed with it. If anyone came into the house, she's lay on it to protect it from anyone else who might want to eat it. She drove us crazy!

Anonymous said...

Please don't let your puppy suffer, but don't be too quick to put her down either. It is very tough, I know. Have you thought of a second opinion?

Kell said...

Sorry, anonymous, I haven't checked this in a while. We just went to the vet Friday and he said we're doing a good job taking care of her and that we'll know when it's time. She's had the congestive heart failure for almost 3 years now. I don't need a second opinion because I've see her X-rays to compare when she was well and now. Her heart is bigger than a softball and now her abdomen is filled with the fluid that her heart can't handle. Don't worry! As long as she's happy and not in any pain or suffering in any way, she's one spoiled doggie.