1st Emergency Vet Visit

As you may recall from previous posts, I like to "counter surf" or put my front paws on the counter to make myself as tall as I can get to see what yummy things I can find. 

Well, my daddy made homemade fried chicken for dinner one night and left the pan with the vegetable oil on the back burner of the stove top.  The next morning while my mommy and daddy were in the other room I helped myself to the pan.  I heard my daddy coming down the hall to check on me so I jumped down.  He didn't catch me in the act, but he noticed that vegetable oil was splattered all over the counter and floor and about half of the oil was missing from the pan.  The fact that my face smelled like a a deep frier made my crime a dead give-away!  

Mommy and daddy immediately googled "dog ingestion of vegetable oil" and saw that it could be toxic if ingested in large amounts.  In the meantime, I puked once outside and my daddy called the vet.  The vet said that it was up to my mommy and daddy whether or not to bring me in but if I get more lethargic then they definitely should bring me in to be seen because the ingestion of vegetable oil could cause pancreatitis.  They weren't sure if I was just napping because I hadn't yet that day or if I was lethargic--so my daddy took me to the vet.  Mommy was a nervous wreck because she had to go to work at 3pm and couldn't come with us.  

At the vet I puked once in the office while the vet was examining me.  She said it was very good that I was puking and ordered that I not eat anything for 24 hours.  We opted not to do any blood work to check for pancreatitis since I was acting normal (and because they were so expensive!) When I got home I puked one more time in the bedroom--this one was the worst of them all and took my people a long time to clean it all up!  However, I felt much better after that and slept for the rest of the night.  

In the morning when my mommy woke up with me, I sat by my food bowl waiting for breakfast but I couldn't eat anything yet.  The vet ordered me to eat only bland foods like boiled chicken or turkey and rice.  So for lunch my daddy made me some chicken with rice ....and I loved it :)  I could definitely have gotten used to that meal but the next evening I could go back to my dog food.  I tolerated it fine and didn't puke anymore.  My stool was a little runny for a few days after but luckily I dodged the pancreatitis bullet!  Phew!  

Hopefully I won't have anymore emergency vet visits in my future.  My mommy said that the initial phone call to the vet cost more than the visit itself!  I'm glad they called though instead of having me drink hydrogen peroxide to make me puke like my daddy read on the internet... mommy put the kibosh on that one!  I think we all learned our lesson--well I might still counter surf, but at least my daddy cleans up after himself when he cooks dinner now :)