Freaky Friday, Minnie Needs Juju

This dog 

and this dog 

plus this 18 lb bag of food 

plus this delivery service = trouble

This is how it all started on Friday afternoon:


What at way to end the week.....it all started this afternoon when the FedEx guy dropped off a big box of dog food from MrChewy.com.  I brought the big shipping box inside and left it in the foyer.  Then I went upstairs for a while. Mario wandered in later, I was sitting on the floor watching TV.  I then noticed that he was licking his chops, not sitting, by trying to lay down on the floor, then he would retch but nothing would come up.  His breathing was rapid.  I watched him for about 45 mins praying that nothing was wrong.  But it was getting worse. Being a foster dog, there is only one vet in the area that gives MAPR a big discount and we are required to take foster dogs there if at all possible.  I called the foster vet, said Mario needed to be seen today, they said, sorry no room at the inn.....I called my foster coordinator and told her the story.  I called our regular vet, they said come right in.  So off we went to our local vet, less than 10 mins from home.  The foster vet is 30 mins with no traffic...


When I went downstairs to get ready to go to the vet, I found the big shipping box in the family room, open.  The bag of Orijen red dog food was also open.  Someone had chewed a nice hole in the corner and some of it was gone. I don't know how much....(Last night, Mario also ate a 1 1/2 inch fabric pom pom. He's quick).... Mario had dragged the big shipping box from the foyer, down the step, down the hall and through the family room before opening it. Not a crumb was found anywhere in the house.


So I'm thinking pom pom is an obstruction and he'll need surgery....


We got to the vet quickly, talked to her, xrays taken.  A few minutes later she called me  in to see the xrays.  She said "Exactly how much food did Mario eat?"  He stomach was 5x the size it should have been.  They couldn't believe it. No wonder he was so uncomfortable.    A quick shot of some drug made him vomit, (I didn't witness this, thank goodness)  A little later they brought he out to me and said NO FOOD UNTIL TOMORROW! They also put him on the scale and he was 3 pounds lighter than when he came in.  He was woozy and sluggish and vet said he would sleep good tonight.


When we got home, it was time to feed to other dogs.  Funny thing, Minnie, our puggle didn't touch her food....I guess Mario had an accomplice!


Update:  One day later. (Saturday 5PM)...Mario is fine.  Minnie, not so good.  Apparently Minnie was an accomplice of Mario in the gorging of the dog food.  She did not show any signs until after we came home from River Dance Friday night.  She was uncomfortable but otherwise seemed fine.  I was awakened during the night by foul smelling fart gas.  I thought it was Mario.....when I got up the next morning, there was vomit and diarrhea around the house and Minnie was def not feeling well.  The vet saw us quickly.  So Minnie also ate a whole lot of Orijen Red.  The problem is that she is a pancreatitis doggie.  The blood work showed that her numbers were sky high.... an impending episode of pancreatitis was possibly coming.  Minnie got  fluids, meds and the vet sent her home. (Our vet isn't a 24 hr vet and only open until 12 on Saturdays.)  We were told if no improvement by 4pm, then we need to take her to ER vet.  No food/water for 24 hrs for Minnie, which is one of the treatments for pancreatitis.   I was really scared. But little by little she started feeling better.  By 4PM her urgent thirst for water had subsided and she was napping.  At 5:15 when the other dogs were fed, she was actually hungry and very upset that she only got 1/4 cup of WATER.  She even picked up her ball and wanted to play....So she made it so far and I think she's turned the corner toward recovery!


I will post a follow up Sunday.


Please send Minnie some Juju!