Dog Diaries #5

The next installment of my dog diaries was to talk about separation anxiety, but I’m interrupting the schedule to talk about a major event that happened last week. 

During the holidays, Rambler ate a stuffed dog toy. There were three Santas. Keefer was playing with Santa #1 and Rambler had the other two. I saw him lying on #2 and he was chewing #3. The Santa’s had thick stuffing and a small squeaker inside. I bent to take Santa #3 out of his mouth, and he swallowed before I could grab it. I immediately took #1 from Keefer, not that he would eat it, he just tears things apart and spits them out. But I didn’t want Rambler to steal it. When I looked for #2, it was missing. 

Fast forward two weeks as we waited for Rambler to ‘pass’ the Santa(s), but I knew this wouldn’t happen because the toys were four inches long and two inches thick. He wasn’t vomiting or having any issues pooping until a few days later I saw blood in his stool. I knew we had to do something fast. 

We called our vet, but because they were booked until the 25th, they gave us a referral for the animal hospital or the animal emergency. I contacted the animal hospital and got an appointment for x-rays two days later.

 
I told the vet surgeon I was certain he had swallowed two Santas because we searched the house everywhere for #2 and couldn’t find it. Sure enough, the x-rays showed the shape of two Santas. We were very lucky they were still in his stomach and not near his intestines. Surgery was scheduled for the next day.

After a three hour surgery, the vet doctor gave us a bag with the two Santas still intact, which I am going to burn in our fire pit.

Rambler’s incision is quite long, but the doctor put stitches on the inside so he can’t lick anything. Rambler is recovering well. He had to wear a onesie for a few days, which was cute, but it had eight snaps that had to come off and on each time I let him out to do his business. He isn’t allowed to play, jump, or go for walks for two weeks. It’s going to be a long two weeks.

A week after surgery, Rambler is back to himself, driving me and Keefer crazy. It’s difficult to stop him from jumping, but the incision looks good. I let him and Keefer play in the snow this morning but had to stop him when he started running.

This wasn’t just a stressful situation for Rambler, but for our whole family. We were very worried about him. I can’t thank the vet surgeon and her staff enough for making this scary situation a little easier for us. The care Rambler received was exceptional. And we’re taking him back there to be neutered once he is over a year old.

My advice to anyone reading this who has dogs is…if a toy fits in your dog’s mouth, take it away. No stuffed animals or small toys are permitted in our house again. We learned a very valuable and expensive lesson the hard way.