Friday, November 15, 2019
We starve our big dog, Anakin. At least Anakin thinks so. He was a little overweight and still healthy according to our veterinarian at his last visit so, we have been feeding him a little less. Anakin has been a food hunter since he came into our home and since he is a big dog, he is good at it. Food can never be left on a table or counter because Anakin will snatch it if you are not in the room. Trash must be behind closed doors or cleanups are required.
One day early this year, I had a sealed (I am beginning to think Anakin can smell through sealed packages) jar of peanuts in a barricaded spot on my workstation table. I was at chemotherapy treatment, and the rest of the family was at work or school. When I returned from chemotherapy (I was the last one home), I was told Anakin had manage to climb onto my workstation and set off my lifeline alert trying to get to that snack.
Not once, but twice the fire department was dispatched to check on my safety because there was no answer when the call center responded to the activation of the help button. I no longer put snacks in that location. I did learn that the life alert company does its job and when my fire department asked if they could keep extra funds that would have been refunded to taxpayers in my last election I, of course, voted yes. I have been keeping my local fire department on their toes this past year, my fire department can have whatever they want.
I have had a cold for the past two weeks. I was doing a pretty good job of holding that cold at bay until I had my first new chemotherapy treatment last Friday. Saturday morning the cold sunk into my chest. By Tuesday I was coughing so much I could not even talk. I ordered some natural remedies I use for chest colds (after clearing them with my doctor) because I was almost out of stock. When I received the order, I checked the contents and left the package on my worktable.
Today Anakin’s hunting nature could have killed him. I came home from my chemotherapy and there was a ripped-up box, a gnawed open plastic bottle, and not a single pill on the floor. Anakin ate a whole bottle of my herbs. 81,000 milligrams of fenugreek. Anakin looked okay and I called the veterinarian’s office. I was told to bring Anakin in to have vomiting induced, so I called my significant other, Donald and told him he needed to come home from work to take Anakin to the veterinarian’s office (dogs are not allowed on buses in Colorado Springs unless they are service animals, which my poorly-trained oaf is not).
This story ends well, and I am happy my chemotherapy treatments are much shorter (although much more frequent) than in the past. This story could have had a tragic ending if the discovery was made four hours later, which would have been the case on my previous chemotherapy treatment. The silver lining, for Anakin, was he got weighed today and the veterinarian said he has lost enough weight that he can have occasional snacks again.
My piece of advice to you is to not freak out when disaster strikes. I had the other bottle of my herb in my hands when I called the veterinarian’s office to give them the best available information. I was not upset and spoke matter of fact to both the veterinarian’s office and Donald. Anakin had already eaten the pills so, I needed to stay calm and direct a solution. If it had been my seven-year-old, Mika, instead of Anakin, I might not have been so calm. I would like to think that I would have been, but I really do like Mika more than Anakin (most days).
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
We starve our big dog, Anakin. At least Anakin thinks so. He was a little overweight and still healthy according to our veterinarian at his last visit so, we have been feeding him a little less. Anakin has been a food hunter since he came into our home and since he is a big dog, he is good at it. Food can never be left on a table or counter because Anakin will snatch it if you are not in the room. Trash must be behind closed doors or cleanups are required.
One day early this year, I had a sealed (I am beginning to think Anakin can smell through sealed packages) jar of peanuts in a barricaded spot on my workstation table. I was at chemotherapy treatment, and the rest of the family was at work or school. When I returned from chemotherapy (I was the last one home), I was told Anakin had manage to climb onto my workstation and set off my lifeline alert trying to get to that snack.
Not once, but twice the fire department was dispatched to check on my safety because there was no answer when the call center responded to the activation of the help button. I no longer put snacks in that location. I did learn that the life alert company does its job and when my fire department asked if they could keep extra funds that would have been refunded to taxpayers in my last election I, of course, voted yes. I have been keeping my local fire department on their toes this past year, my fire department can have whatever they want.
I have had a cold for the past two weeks. I was doing a pretty good job of holding that cold at bay until I had my first new chemotherapy treatment last Friday. Saturday morning the cold sunk into my chest. By Tuesday I was coughing so much I could not even talk. I ordered some natural remedies I use for chest colds (after clearing them with my doctor) because I was almost out of stock. When I received the order, I checked the contents and left the package on my worktable.
Today Anakin’s hunting nature could have killed him. I came home from my chemotherapy and there was a ripped-up box, a gnawed open plastic bottle, and not a single pill on the floor. Anakin ate a whole bottle of my herbs. 81,000 milligrams of fenugreek. Anakin looked okay and I called the veterinarian’s office. I was told to bring Anakin in to have vomiting induced, so I called my significant other, Donald and told him he needed to come home from work to take Anakin to the veterinarian’s office (dogs are not allowed on buses in Colorado Springs unless they are service animals, which my poorly-trained oaf is not).
This story ends well, and I am happy my chemotherapy treatments are much shorter (although much more frequent) than in the past. This story could have had a tragic ending if the discovery was made four hours later, which would have been the case on my previous chemotherapy treatment. The silver lining, for Anakin, was he got weighed today and the veterinarian said he has lost enough weight that he can have occasional snacks again.
My piece of advice to you is to not freak out when disaster strikes. I had the other bottle of my herb in my hands when I called the veterinarian’s office to give them the best available information. I was not upset and spoke matter of fact to both the veterinarian’s office and Donald. Anakin had already eaten the pills so, I needed to stay calm and direct a solution. If it had been my seven-year-old, Mika, instead of Anakin, I might not have been so calm. I would like to think that I would have been, but I really do like Mika more than Anakin (most days).
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.