Taking the bait
So Holden's streak of going to the vet for something he ate continues.
The last such event that I can recall was around June 2006, though I'm pretty sure that there was another since then. That particular incident was memorable in that it was the only thing that sort of made me smile in the week after I got dumped. My family members kept on telling me the story in order to cheer me up.
Holden ate a corncob at some point during that same week, and after the now pretty standard trip to the vet, a watch was set by the vet to see if it "passed", because there really wasn't any thing else to do but wait. My dad was the fortunate soul who happend to be around for the resulting explosion, and Jose took to calling Holden "stretchy" for a few months afterwards.
There are numerous other incidents. A sandwich wrapped in a plastic bag in it when he was three months old.*
Probably a dead squirrel about fifteen months later.
A bone. Which turned out not to need surgery.
A pair of underwear that ultimately had to be surgically removed. I call it his thongectomy. I do note that Holden has probably in his lifetime eaten close to a hundred pair of underwear. It was only this pair that caused trouble.
Anyhow, yesterday, after retrieving not one, but two ducks from a duck hunt at the ranch, Holden celebrated by eating an ant bait trap**.
My parents and Jose were relatively calm about it. They tried to get him to throw it up, but whatever method they used didn't work. They rushed him back to Houston, and my dad kept an eye on him last night until the vet opened this morning.*** He got a lot of bread last night, to sort of give his stomach a cushion. My mom took him to the vet this morning.
According to the vet, the plastic thing doesn't show up on x-ray, and since it's probably too far down his digestive tract, going up isn't going to work.
So the remedy is this. Holden is to eat as much as he can for the next five days. He's also getting a stool softener. And the wait is on to watch for him to "pass" the ant bait trap. Apparently all the food is supposed to help speed up his digestive system. If it doesn't happen in five days, then the surgical option will be reconsidered.
Holden also has a case number with the company that makes the ant bait. Apparently this isn't the first time something like this has happened.*** Usually it's about a 50/50 chance of "passing". But they think that Holden probably will, given his size and previous experience with such things.
I'm flabbergasted that Holden's treatment for this is also his greatest wish. To eat as much as he can? If he doesn't survive this, he'll die a happy, happy dog. I don't even think that Holden has an off switch in his brain to tell him he's had enough food. He once broke into the pantry and ate most of a 10 pound bag of dog food. He once broke into the kitchen ate (and this is quite possibly the most disgusting combination of foods he's ever eaten) three pounds of cornmeal, two pounds of chocolate and a box of raisins.***** He ate nine pounds of asparagus before the Christmas Tree Cutting Party last year. He ate an entire wheel of brie at this year's. He's eaten more whole loaves of bread than I can count.
All of the food that Holden can eat? I don't think there's such a thing.
*Claudia's version of this:Okay, When Holden was about 6 months old he ate a baloney sandwich off the street. It was actually next to the Pearl Street Liquor dumpster, and I don't actually know if it was baloney (but that sounds good). I was a new mother. I had no idea what to do, so I called my older/wiser sister (who had just taken the bar exam and was very hung over). After a few terse words, the extremely short conversation was of no help.
I then called my vet, who suggested giving Holden hydrogen peroxide.
This, she said, should make him throw up immediately. Well, my little bundle of joy liked the stuff, and licked the spoon dry and asked for more. I began to panic, and roll my eyes a bit. I rushed him to the vet, where the recommended treatment was a dose of Ipecac. Ipecac, a vomit inducing concoction used before surgery to clear out peoples bowels, has since been taken off the market. Holden was dosed not once or twice or even three times, but EIGHT times. The vet was preparing me for the possibility of surgery after the sixth dose, but they kept on giving it to him.
Apparently when the vomiting did finally come it was fierce and volcanic. Poor Holden hasn't walked straight since. He doesn't like hydrogen peroxide anymore either, but he'll take a cellophane covered sandwich any day of the week.
**I don't know if it's this brand or not, but it's one of those little plastic discs that have ant bait in them and are sort of like little roach motels, but for ants.
***Holden always manages to do these sorts of things on weekends or other times when going to the vet is either impossible or ridiculously expensive.
****To be fair, the label says something about keeping it away from animals and children.
*****Don't even try to imagine the aftermath. Really, keep your brain away from this.
The last such event that I can recall was around June 2006, though I'm pretty sure that there was another since then. That particular incident was memorable in that it was the only thing that sort of made me smile in the week after I got dumped. My family members kept on telling me the story in order to cheer me up.
Holden ate a corncob at some point during that same week, and after the now pretty standard trip to the vet, a watch was set by the vet to see if it "passed", because there really wasn't any thing else to do but wait. My dad was the fortunate soul who happend to be around for the resulting explosion, and Jose took to calling Holden "stretchy" for a few months afterwards.
There are numerous other incidents. A sandwich wrapped in a plastic bag in it when he was three months old.*
Probably a dead squirrel about fifteen months later.
A bone. Which turned out not to need surgery.
A pair of underwear that ultimately had to be surgically removed. I call it his thongectomy. I do note that Holden has probably in his lifetime eaten close to a hundred pair of underwear. It was only this pair that caused trouble.
Anyhow, yesterday, after retrieving not one, but two ducks from a duck hunt at the ranch, Holden celebrated by eating an ant bait trap**.
My parents and Jose were relatively calm about it. They tried to get him to throw it up, but whatever method they used didn't work. They rushed him back to Houston, and my dad kept an eye on him last night until the vet opened this morning.*** He got a lot of bread last night, to sort of give his stomach a cushion. My mom took him to the vet this morning.
According to the vet, the plastic thing doesn't show up on x-ray, and since it's probably too far down his digestive tract, going up isn't going to work.
So the remedy is this. Holden is to eat as much as he can for the next five days. He's also getting a stool softener. And the wait is on to watch for him to "pass" the ant bait trap. Apparently all the food is supposed to help speed up his digestive system. If it doesn't happen in five days, then the surgical option will be reconsidered.
Holden also has a case number with the company that makes the ant bait. Apparently this isn't the first time something like this has happened.*** Usually it's about a 50/50 chance of "passing". But they think that Holden probably will, given his size and previous experience with such things.
I'm flabbergasted that Holden's treatment for this is also his greatest wish. To eat as much as he can? If he doesn't survive this, he'll die a happy, happy dog. I don't even think that Holden has an off switch in his brain to tell him he's had enough food. He once broke into the pantry and ate most of a 10 pound bag of dog food. He once broke into the kitchen ate (and this is quite possibly the most disgusting combination of foods he's ever eaten) three pounds of cornmeal, two pounds of chocolate and a box of raisins.***** He ate nine pounds of asparagus before the Christmas Tree Cutting Party last year. He ate an entire wheel of brie at this year's. He's eaten more whole loaves of bread than I can count.
All of the food that Holden can eat? I don't think there's such a thing.
*Claudia's version of this:Okay, When Holden was about 6 months old he ate a baloney sandwich off the street. It was actually next to the Pearl Street Liquor dumpster, and I don't actually know if it was baloney (but that sounds good). I was a new mother. I had no idea what to do, so I called my older/wiser sister (who had just taken the bar exam and was very hung over). After a few terse words, the extremely short conversation was of no help.
I then called my vet, who suggested giving Holden hydrogen peroxide.
This, she said, should make him throw up immediately. Well, my little bundle of joy liked the stuff, and licked the spoon dry and asked for more. I began to panic, and roll my eyes a bit. I rushed him to the vet, where the recommended treatment was a dose of Ipecac. Ipecac, a vomit inducing concoction used before surgery to clear out peoples bowels, has since been taken off the market. Holden was dosed not once or twice or even three times, but EIGHT times. The vet was preparing me for the possibility of surgery after the sixth dose, but they kept on giving it to him.
Apparently when the vomiting did finally come it was fierce and volcanic. Poor Holden hasn't walked straight since. He doesn't like hydrogen peroxide anymore either, but he'll take a cellophane covered sandwich any day of the week.
**I don't know if it's this brand or not, but it's one of those little plastic discs that have ant bait in them and are sort of like little roach motels, but for ants.
***Holden always manages to do these sorts of things on weekends or other times when going to the vet is either impossible or ridiculously expensive.
****To be fair, the label says something about keeping it away from animals and children.
*****Don't even try to imagine the aftermath. Really, keep your brain away from this.