Hershey Hospitalized
Hershey is in the hospital... and not for falling asleep and sliding down the couch arm. The bastard got into the trash (again) and managed to eat an incontinence pad. I had pushed away from the desk to get more tea and I saw the hall and bathroom littered with shredded plastic.
My anger sunk to horror when I realized that he had consumed all of the absorbent material. This stuff potentially plays hell with the digestive tract. My primary fear was blockage of his intestines.
Call the vet!
I hate dragging anyone away from Sunday afternoon relaxation. Still, in our panicked state, we were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Thank God Dr Kurt answered his phone.
Induce vomiting!
We were out of hydrogen peroxide. Better Half ran to Walgreens while I raced around in search of...something...anything?!... a turkey baster. The formula is one teaspoon of H2O2 for every 5 pounds of weight. So I brought the measuring spoon and a measuring cup outside.
I do not remember all that went down. Dosing Hershey with a cheap-ass turkey baster was useless. The dog struggled like fuck-all. I had to resort to dumping liquid down his throat with the teaspoon. Dr Kurt called back to assess the situation.
Did he vomit yet?
Nope, Hershey had not vomited yet. We had difficulty getting the peroxide into him. I shutter to think of our neighbors' opinions of us. The dog was struggling like a fiend while Better Half all but sat on him, and I screamed a constant chorus of "Stop fighting us! Damnit! Jesus Christ! I don't want you to die! I'm trying to save your life!"
Back him into a corner and shove that fluid down!
Nope, couldn't get enough down to make the magic happen. Dr Kurt told us to watch him overnight and then bring him in first thing in the morning.
My stomach was in knots while in the exam room. Hershey kept himself occupied by showing that he knew how to stand on the scale to be weighed. Over and over, a monotonous circle. I loved him even more for it. It broke my heart to leave him.
They performed a barium study and found two areas that could be impacted. We decided to have the emergency surgery done, and Doctor Kurt removed the bits blocking the small intestine. There were more bits in the large intestine but he felt that they should pass on their own.
He texted at 9:21 PM "So far, so good".
I'm guessing that he brought Hershey home with him.
Lock down those trash cans!
We went to Walmart after leaving Hershey this morning. The bathroom now has a larger can with a locking lid. I might pick up a more-secure can for the kitchen as well. Next month.
This month will be tight. I have no idea how much this is going to cost. We saved up a bunch to fix the bathroom and put up a real fence. I think this will greatly impact that nest egg.
But you know what? That savings account it labeled "Emergency". And Hershey is worth more than every last penny we have saved up.
Yep.