Hello Out There

I can’t believe it’s been two months since I have posted anything to my blog. Well, I need to be more deligent about posting more often.

Fact is, life has been going right on along. One day after another work, eat, sleep…work, eat, sleep.. So, I haven’t had much time to sit down to put my words on the screen.

Thought I would add some stuff that has been happening at work. I love my job. I really enjoy the people with whom I work. (Heard from my boss that they are now no longer teaching in High School that you should not end sentences in prepositions. My…My.) I enjoy most of my tasks. Although, I have to say I would rather not have to wash dogs. I will take collecting poop and pee over washing a dog any day of the week.

This past Thursday must have been “one of those days”. If you have had one, you know from whence I speak. Seems that oddness came from everywhere. And I wasn’t the only one that experienced it. I have heard from several of my friends that they day was weird also.

Anyway, we had two dogs who came into the office after having eaten chocolate. Chocolate can be deadly to dogs. There is somthing in the cocoa that the dogs cannot process and it can literally cause a dog to die.

Well, we were lucky enough to have two on the same day. One had eaten Valentines chocolate the other had eaten a chocolate brownie bar.

At this point, you may ask…”What do you do for a dog that has eaten chocolate?” And, I would be able to tell you that you have to induce vomiting. Well, you can’t stick your finger down a dog’s throat to make him vomit…he does not have a gag reflex like a human. So, there are two ways to cause vomiting. One is to give a huge dose of hydrogen peroxide (just like the one found in most homes) and the other is a shot of morphine. Morphine will make a dog yak if he is not in pain. Go figure…Doesn’t get high…he yaks…

One dog was a huge Setter. He had eaten the brownie bar. He came in first. It is important to make them vomit right away to get the chocolate out before it is digested and reaks havoc. So, we gave him 30ccs of peroxide right down the hatch.

It was my wonderful job to sit and watch him. If he did not throw up in a certain length of time…morphine would have been added to the mix. The doggie was really sweet. His name is Slider…big goofy dog.

Anyway, I sat and talked with him. Watched him pace the room. Watched him burp quite a good bit. You know the burping…like a person would do who is trying to hold down his bile…Then Slider started heaving. Poor pup…he must have yaked up not only the brownie bar, nuts and all, but his breakfast and probably some of his dinner from the night before.

I am sure those with weak stomachs or faint of heart have stopped reading by now. But those of you who have chosen to continue, be warned, the mental image is disgusting. Huge blobs of yak around the examination room. I would clean up one just to see another appear. I knew we were out of danger when there was nothing solid left to come up and bile of the most slimiest kind started coming up.

The other dog was a Pomerainian named Jazzy. He had gotten into the Valentine’s candy by ripping open the sack and helping himself. He ate chocolate covered marshmellowy stuff. But not to discrimanate, also ate some milk and dark chocolate for good measure.

When is “mom” called, we told her to give him some peroxide. First I heard our receptionist asking if she had some. Then telling her it was in a brown bottle (peroxide comes in brown plastic bottles). I was hoping that they did not have any other brown bottled liquid in their medicine cabinet!

Well, Jazzy took the peroxide in stride. He burped a couple of times but refused to vomit. So, he also came in to the office.

The vet prepared a morphine shot for him and injected him. It wasn’t long before Jazzy was yaking too. For such a small doggie, an awful lot come up. All gooey and marshmellowy smelling. But, at least he yakked…

So, here is a lesson for you. Always put chocolate very far out of your doggie’s reach. And, if they happen to get some, call your vet to determine how much peroxide you need to have forced down their throats…(They won’t drink it for you people. You will have to use a turkey baster or something to get it into them…) Watch and see if the vomit. If they don’t withing 10 minutes of being given peroxide…a trip to the vet is warranted.

Reminds me of the time my mom thought I had eaten something I should not have…here we went to the doctor…I was 4 but I remember them pumping my stomach. Took 4 adults to hold down a screaming smaller version of me….