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Animals like to eat. Some, like cats, are smart enough to stop eating when they are full. Others, like certain dogs whose name begins with a C and ends with an S, don't know when to stop and will eat until they make themselves sick. Literally.
I spent much of last night at the Emergency vet with our Norwegian Elkhound Chaos. Her breed loves food. They act like they are starving most of the time and are masters at tricking humans into giving them more to eat. They are also prone to obesity because of these tendencies. We always check with each other to make sure we don't double-feed her. (Yes, we've been tricked more than once!)
When I arrived home after picking up kidlets from soccer and swim practices, the pantry door was open. The one thing I hadn't put into a container when I organized the pantry last week was Chaos' dog food. (I needed to wash what I wanted to store her food in, but got distracted with Easter.) But there wasn't a mess so I thought neither the cats nor the dog had been scavenging in there.
A little while later, Chaos wouldn't eat dinner. This is as close to Hell-Freezing-Over as our household gets. Immediately my daughter who shows Chaos in Jr. Handling was concerned. I looked over the dog and noticed she looked swollen. It was very clear she didn't feel well. Hubby agreed. He checked her abdomen and she started whimpering.
We replayed the last twenty-four hours. The pantry door being open earlier. She'd gotten into the garbage last night and found the ham bone. We thought she'd only had the bone about 3 minutes before we saw it, but who knew what she'd done with it during that time?
I called the animal hospital. A few minutes later, Mackenna, Chaos and I were on our way. After losing so many beloved cats these past months, it was a worrisome wait. I was scared something was seriously wrong with her.
The vet was nice and thorough. X-rays discovered Chaos' problem...she had gorged herself. Chaos hadn't left the pantry alone. She'd had a bountiful feast on her dog food. She was either very careful not to make a mess or she cleaned up after herself. I'm guessing the latter.
I was so relieved that it wasn't something more serious, but I was also annoyed with myself for not taking care of Chaos' food last week. (Want to guess what my procrastination cost me $-wise?) She may need another X-ray today depending on how she acts and what she does, but so far so good. She even wanted breakfast this morning!
I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for a very quiet Friday with time for a nap and no more visits to the vet!
