Tank

We love our new dog. He has become one of the family. We weren't so sure how we'd like him. The first day we brought him home he was so excited and crazy that he jumped over the sofa. Olaf and I just looked at each other. But he has adjusted to our family and become another member. He has been wonderful with the boys and helps to heal the hole in their hearts.

Last Thursday he was sitting under the table, anxious for scraps, we were having pepperoni and italian sausage pizza. He loves meat and cheese. Then he was running around with the kids. Middle Child headed to bed a little later and Tank followed, he usually sleeps with one of the boys. But 15 minutes later Middle Child brought him up and put him outside. He was acting like he needed to throw up. Dogs do that sometimes.

But an hour later he was still trying to throw up so I went out and checked on him. His belly had swelled! It was larger than his ribcage. It scared me. I ran in and told Oaf, "He has to get to the Vet now!" Olaf went out and checked and when he saw him he scooped him up in his arms, put him in the truck, honked for me, and we took off. He drove like a Bat out of Hell to the Emergency Vet in North Orem. They took one look at the poor dog and said "He needs surgery. While we get him prepped we'll work up an estimate." So we anxiously waited around for a little while.

Once we knew he was in surgery we went home. But neither of us could sleep. I had finally drifted off just before 2am and the doctor called (we had told her to call when she was done.) She said the operation had been a little scary but he had come out of it okay. He would probably need to be hospitalized and on fluids for a day or two. So I went and picked him up in the morning and took him to a regular Animal Hospital. They hooked him up to an IV and got fluids, antibiotics, pain medicine, muscle relaxant, and (of all things) a doggy antidepressant running through his system. When the vet called to update us they said he was depressed. I'm sure he was! He had just been through major surgery and then we just dumped him off at the vet. I'm sure he thought he had been abandoned again.

We went to visit him Saturday and he looked so much better, but still sick. We were able to go Monday and they said he was doing better. He had even barked at the cats that day! They said they wanted to keep him till he had eaten some solids to make sure his stomach could handle it after his major surgery. At this point he hadn't eaten any dog food. I didn't have the heart to tell them he doesn't like dog food. I know you're asking, "What do you feed him?" Dog food. He just eats it as a last resort when he doesn't get anything else, which is 95% of the time.

Wednesday I finally was able to bring him home! He even jumped in the car. I knew he had been cooped up for the last week so I drove home on the back roads and rolled down the back window so he could hang his head out and feel the wind on his face. He was so happy to see Baby! He jumped up and down and licked him. He ran around the house and in the backyard, just glad to be home again.

I brought home an arsenal of medicine. I have antibiotics, pain pills, anti inflammatory, and antinausea. They also gave me this thickish stuff that he's supposed to eat 20cc's of twice a day till it's gone. I put some in the tube, sat on the floor, hung on to him (I knew he wouldn't like it), and tried to feed it to him. He may have taken it for the vet but he sure wasn't taking it from me. He spit it out, he dribbled it on my pants, and he ran away. Poor thing. Then I mixed his special canned food into his regular dog food. He turned his nose up at it until he finally got hungry enough to eat. I would say he is on the mend! We are just happy to have him home again. I've missed him.