Stomach in a Knot

I've already had my fair share of doggie health scares. Doggie eats paint, doggie has upset stomach, doggie falls out of a tree house, doggie gets attacked by another aggressive dog, doggie gets slashed in the face by the cat, doggie runs out in front of a car, doggie tears ACL (darned bouncing boxers...). The these heart-stopping mini-disasters are lurking everywhere, waiting to pounce on new dog owners and catch experienced dog owners by surprise. We can prep ourselves with all veterinary advice in the world, but sometimes these emergencies just happen.

There are right and wrong ways to respond when something scary happens to your dog, such as sickness.

Sometimes we overreact. For instance, about nine months ago, my little baby Linus gobbled up some black acrylic paint during an art session. Despite the fact that the tube was labeled clearly as "non-toxic," my hysteria costs me a needless $75 poison control caller fee (and likely a couple grey hairs down the road). The worst outcome was that Linus' catfish mouth remained black for a couple days.

Sometimes we get angry. I remember the time my sneaky first boxer, Socks, snatched a bag of hershey dark chocolate kisses off our kitchen counter top. When we found the silver remnants of wrapper streaked with chocolate across our hallway carpet, I was immediately infruriated. "That idiot dog!" Nevermind that dark chocolate injestion is a huge health hazard dogs and can cause death. It was moments later that anger turned to worry, and we were on the phone with the vet. (Don't worry, Socks paid the terrible price of a lengthy stomach ache for her indulgence, but she survived her chocolate consumption).

Sometimes we find someone to blame (even if that someone is ourselves). The first time Linus started hung out with my Dad's dogs, he contracted fleas. While he was treated regularly for fleas, my Dad's dogs were not being treated at the time, and Linus consequently pick them up. When we made this discovery, I marched to my Dad, accused him of being an irresponsible dog owner and hinted at the fact that he was to blame for my trouble ridding all the dogs of their fleas. But we should all note, the blame game leads to nowhere and is ultimately a waste of time.

And, sometimes we have to go with our gut. After several days moping around the house and a precautionary vet visit, my aunt's laborador retreiver Jake started burrowing away in the backyard last week. His breathing was labored and he was out of energy. One night, when his breathing had gotten to a horrific point, my aunt called her vet begging to bring him in. The vet advised that she should "watch him" overnight and revisit his condition in the morning, but Amy refused. She demanded to take him to the clinic right away.

They hauled Jake into the car and helped him into the clinic, where he immediately collapsed on the floor of the lobby. X-rays revealed that he had a knot in his intestines, which the veterinarian had only seen a couple times before. They operated on Jake the next morning, extracting some of the intestine that has essentially "died." Today, with the exception of sporadic itching sprees where the stitches had been, he's doing fine.

Your response to a doggie health scare can make a huge difference in the outcome of the situation and your own sanity. The best way to respond to a doggie health scare is to:

• Stay calm (nothing ever gets resolved in the midst of hysteria)
• Contact your vet's emergency office immediately (depending on the nature of the scare) and always have your vet's contact readily available
• Ask for assistance from a neighbor, trusted friend or family member (having someone around to support you during a scare makes a world of difference!)
• Focus on the solution, rather than the problem (never get caught up in the shoulda-coulda-woulda mentality)

And try to prevent doggie scares by knowing your doggie's vulnerabilities (ie. escaping the yard, attacking other dogs, eating unhealthy foods) and taking steps to make sure worst-case scenarios are unlikely.