I wrote a post similar to this last May when my dog ate rat poison. I was a nervous wreck, but remained cool, calm, and collected, calling the emergency vet and Animal Poison Control. Waiting up with her all night, listening to her breathe while she slept on the pillow next to me. She ended up being totally fine, and it shook my nerves to the core, but what really stunned me was how in control I was about the whole situation. I truly felt like a mom during those few days until I knew she'd be alright.
The stomach flu is running its vengence around town - my colleages have been out of the office taking care of their children who are up all night vomiting, nursing them with cold compresses and Gatorade. They come back to work, eyes bleary and downing coffee to keep alert.
When my darling yellow labs were not so darling a few weeks ago, I experienced the same thing. They found a way into the closet where we keep the dog food, and ate about 20 pounds of kibble. Their stomachs were noticeably larger and I was terrified that they'd get Bloat, a dangerous condition dogs can get from eating too much or too fast. And, so went a night of getting up every two hours to take them out to poo, and worrying about their intestinal track.
And, although we raced out the door to the backyard for their relief, we still found some unsavory piles in our brand new carpet pile.
On top of that, one of our cats (or perhaps more than one of them), vomited on our brand new chair. As I'm sure other moms can attest, thank goodness for ScotchGuard.
And, although we thought the closet and the food was secure. We were wrong. A day later was round two of pooping puppies.
So, after 48 hours of cleaning up my pets' bodily fluids, and being up for two straight nights, I know what it's like to be a sleep-deprived, poo and puke-cleaning mom.
Yep. We adopted a cat right after we were married and the night his intestines went crazy was a night to rememember, though I'd like to forget! Dealing with body fluids, be they human or other, is definitely one of the hallmarks of parenthood!
ReplyDeleteI remember when Jack (my kitty) had eaten some tomato sauce (he snuck on top of the table when I was clearing dishes and he had a few bites or licks of the left over lasagna). The next day he wouldn't let anyone pick him up let alone touch his stomach. And he gave that hideous deep groan meow until he puked the offending food out. Afterward I found him in my husband's closet sitting in the towel hamper all curled up and purring. I felt so guilty when I had to leave for work, but by that time he was starting to feel better. And we have had those scary moments too when we've had to jump in the car and drive to a vet that was open.
ReplyDelete