This Day Was Inevitable

I've known for some time this day was coming--it wasn't a matter of If, only When. I'm talking about the day Roscoe would have to go to the vet for a possible blockage because he ate something he shouldn't. That day is today, and of course it's the day I'm supposed to go on an overnight work trip with Jamie.

Roscoe is a Lab mix, mostly Lab when it comes to chewing and eating. Seriously, the boy eats cardboard, sticks, paper, and the fabric covering of his dog bed. It's this fabric that has him at the vet right now having a barium study.

Roscoe only ever attacks & chews on his dog bed when we're out front & he can see us from the window & he really wants to be outside with us. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, he grabs the bed and drags it across the living room and bites the fabric. And it doesn't matter one bit to him if The Littles are occupying the bed at the time. He never messes with anything else, only HIS bed, and he never does this in front of us so we can correct him properly.

Yesterday evening, we were out front doing some yard work. When we came in, the bed was dragged out and a very large piece of fabric was missing. This is the flip side of the above photo:

This is the largest piece he's ever torn at one time. (I never see the fabric again until I do poop pickup in the backyard.)

Close-up photos of the fabric show it's definitely NOT cotton...

Last night just before midnight, he started acting like he didn't feel great. He refused not one, but TWO high value treats. That was a first; the boy has never refused food of any kind. He had the sad eyes so I added a sheet to our bed, and he slept with us.

He still seemed off this morning, quiet and wanted to be near me. (He's Jamie's boy and if he isn't outside in the mornings, he's near his Daddyman.) He wanted to be on the bed and wouldn't stay off while I made it. I finally just threw a sheet over it, and he hung out there for awhile.

He ate his breakfast but very unenthusiastically. (very not like him; he's a food hound.) I wondered if he'd gotten ahold of something in the yard the night before that upset his stomach. It wasn't til I was in the shower that it hit me like a brick: he ate that giant piece of fabric. Well, I thought, he feels bad, but he's eating. That's a good sign. Nope....after my shower, I walked the yard and found no poop. (Okay, he's got a strict schedule and a spot. Since I had picked up yesterday afternoon, I knew he didn't poop last night. He poops EVERY night.) A little later, he threw up the chicken neck from his breakfast.

I talked with my friend, Susan, who has been through this with her Lab, and we decided a call to the vet was definitely in order. They told me to bring him right in. X-rays were inconclusive, so they're doing the barium study. The doctor said if that showed everything moving properly, I'd hear from her in an hour or so. That was at 9:30; it's now 1:00 without any word. Obviously I didn't go on the work trip with Jamie, and now I'm just hoping Roscoe will poop and be spared a surgery.

And it's a little quiet here without his sweet face.