The dog who ate Christmas

Just two hours before I was to taste sweet, sweet freedom and hit the road to visit family and friends in Montana, Miss Cheeto decided to taste some sweet, sweet chocolate. I believe it was a suicide attempt.

She ate this:


And this:

And a bunch of this:



And, for the record, when I say she ate these:


I mean that she ate everything. The paper bag. The foil wrappers of the individual chocolates. All of it. Even the wrapping paper. (Well, *most* of the wrapping paper. It's how we knew she got into the chocolate.)

We found this out shortly after she did the deed, so I assumed we could rush to the vet, get her stomach pumped, and all would be well.

I was wrong.

First we rushed to the vet, who said that it was good we got her in before the seizures started. Seizures?!

Then we went home while they knocked her out and pumped her stomach. They called to tell us there was a lot of stuff in her belly (no duh!) and that we'd maybe be able to bring her home the next day.

Later, worry set in, so I had the boyfriend call and check on her. I asked if we could go visit her.

When we got to the vet's office, they brought out a limp Cheeto and laid her on the floor. Her face was scrunched up in pain and she was breathing very, very hard. I watched her little doggy cheeks puff in and out with each breath. (This was definitely not the same as panting.) Then I cried. She struggled to try and sit up to greet us, but failed. About ten minutes later she managed to gather enough strength to put her head on my foot. More crying.

We went home, worried through the night, then called the vet in the morning.

Apparently she had seizures throughout the night and went to the doggy ICU to keep her organs from failing. She also had a doggy EKG after she developed a heart murmur.

We went back to the vet to visit. She looked haggard and I was told she hadn't bitten anyone.

The biting thing is actually significant. She HATES strangers. HATES them. She bites and she bites regularly (we're working on that, she had a traumatic little life before us). We saw the staff pick her up, bathe her, etc. without so much as a "Grrrrrr." This made me worry.

She stayed another night and we went to pick her up in the morning.

The vet suggested that we go to a doggy surgery center for an endoscopy, just to make sure there wasn't anything else stuck in her tummy (the x-rays were inconclusive on that front). The boyfriend and I struggled with the decision. It was probably going to cost a lot, but we do have pet health insurance. It was also going to be a big strain her little system, and considering she was in danger of her organs failing, I was concerned that it would be too much for her to be put under again.

In the end, we decided it was better for her to have the endoscopy, as they assured us that they could pull out any stray wrappers during the procedure. The boyfriend and I drove her to the doggy surgery center and dropped her off. They said that they'd call as soon as they knew anything.

We went to the mall to kill some time, and I managed to freak out at my poor boyfriend. There wasn't any good reason, I was just stressed as all hell. You're not in a good place if you're bursting into tears at Nordstroms.

A few hours later, we got a call from the surgery center. Cheeto's stomach was completely blocked with an immovable mass of wrappers, cherries and who knows what else. Surgery was happening, and it was happening now.

More crying.

Another night of waiting and we got the news that she could come home. We were also told that she was clear for traveling with us to Montana, as long as we were careful with her.

Her little tum-tum looked like this:


Finally, four days after our intended departure date, we hit the road with doggy and lots of medications in tow. (One for pain, one for her thyroid, one for her heart, and an antibiotic.)

I can't tell you how stressed out I was. I mean, I can try, but there's no way that words can express exactly how frantic I was.

Work has been very, very busy. Both dayjob work, 2nd job work, and my own side projects have managed to take up nearly every second of my free time. Los Angeles has felt oppressive, as I hit the point of despising my daily commute (freaking traffic). I wanted nothing more than to start my vacation. Then, two hours to freedom, I got hit with four days of thinking my baby puppy doggy was dying.

It was horrible. Just horrible.

And who knew chocolate was *that* toxic. I knew it was a no-no for dogs and cats, but I didn't realize that 13oz. of mixed truffles and chocolate covered cherries could kill a 22 pound dog. Had we not rushed her to the vet immediately (the office is just two blocks from our house) Cheeto would be dead.

Four days and $4,500* later, the boyfriend and I started our winter vacation. More on that soon.

*Here's hoping that VPI pet insurance delivers. Anything would be helpful.

For future reference:

1) White chocolate is by far the safest chocolate a dog can eat. Generally, they shouldn't even be phased by it.
2) Milk chocolate is also relatively mild. It's worth calling the vet about, as it can be dangerous in large quantities (which depends on the size of the dog).
3) Dark chocolate = death. It doesn't take too much (also depending on the size of the dog) to kill them.
4) Baker's chocolate = ultra death.

The boyfriend and I have resolved to keep chocolate out of our house entirely.

A few resources:

Dogs and Chocolate
Chocolate Toxicity and Dogs

Birthday/Anniversary Weekend Round Up

Brace for rambling. After that: photos.

My weekend turned out infinitely better than expected (no offense, Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine).

After a lot of worrying on my part (and nagging about making sure Cheeto and Little One were taken care of), my boyfriend picked me up from work on Friday. The kick-buttiness commenced. First we dropped off Cheeto at her old foster mom's house (she's a celebrity dog trainer, apparently, but gives a nice boarding discount to rescue animals). Next we picked up delish Earl Grey tea bobas and pot roast sammiches from the Urth Caffe (you're probably going to notice an eating theme here, btw). Then Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine asked me to enter our destination into my phone's navigator application.

Our surprise destination: "Cat's Favorite Beach.*" Nicely done, Mr. Boyfriend-O-Mine.

We left early enough in the day to enjoy the sights on our way up to the Bay Area. Traffic moved along nicely, though we passed two separate cars whose engines had caught on fire. Not just smoking fire, actual flame fire. Scary. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my camera in time.

That camera comment sounds callous, upon second reading. The people in the cars were fine. For the record.

Anyway, we ate dinner at a favorite burrito place in my old neighborhood in San Francisco, stopped in at a Safeway to grab an It's It (which I hadn't had for over 10 years - just as amazing as I remembered) and arrived at the beach at about 10 that evening. I hopped out of the car to find he'd rented a cabin, complete with a fireplace and kitchen. Awesome.

What made this all extra sweet was the fact that I practically grew up at this beach. My family and I spent weeks upon weeks staying in a family friend's beach house. In other words: my boyfriend not only listened to what I had said about these fond memories - he actually remembered. (He's a keeper.)

Morning one involved a breakfast of biscuits & gravy, potatoes and eggs. AND a mocha with whipped cream. Mmm. Then we went for a long walk on the beach, unfortunately spotted a rotting seal carcass being consumed by turkey vultures (sad!), then got caught up in the tide. We retreated back to the cabin just in time for lunch. Yes, lunch. Breakfast was heavy, but I made a point of not eating all of it. Anyhoo, I indulged in a free-range organic beef burger from my old favorite burger stand, a couple of fries and a half and half soft-serve ice cream cone. Heaven. And yes, all diets are off on birthday weekends. Besides, winter is upon us. I need to prepare to hibernate.

Post lunch, we wandered around the tiny beach town and hit up my old haunts - the charming bookstore whose owner hand picks each and every book (I found a coloring book that I remembered filling in as a kiddo) and a supermarket with a surprising array of organic and other nummy foods. Then we went on a drive past a lagoon (gooorgeous AND there were lots of cute duckies) and ventured into a rather secretive smaller beach community. Also gorgeous with enormous trees and lots and lots of green foliage all around.

Next we drove back into San Francisco, wandered around the Palace of Fine Arts, then hunted for Manchurian beef (not the same as Mongolian. Apparently it's a NorCal thing).

Sunday we had brunch at the same restaurant we ate breakfast in the day before. I think I had soup, but it was overshadowed by a really awesome smoothie and a cute dog inhabiting the doorway of the restaurant. We then took a looooong walk on the beach, showered and primped for socializing, and drove to Vallejo to chill with my super awesome cousin. Post chillin', we wen't out with a few other super awesome cousins (and one's super awesome girlfriend) for Chinese food. Post-Chinese food, we went to a super awesome cousin's house and hung out with their super adorable Corgi/Jack Russel mix. Which reminded me of Cheeto, but I made sure I didn't focus on missing her for too long.

* Cat's favorite beach = this place:


Found at my fav. burrito place:


Japanese tea garden goodness:





These guys reminded me of this. "They see me roll on, my Segway, I know in my heart they think I'm white n' nerdy!" Thanks, Weird Al.


Pretty drive near the ocean:
Palace of Fine Arts:


Mmmudpie:
Beach:


More Japanese Tea Garden:


It's them!
More Beach:
Cool cousin and cute puplet:
Additional Japanese Tea Garden:
Biscuits-n-Gravy:

ManLandia

So, Austin GDC was awesome. I had a blast. I'll fill y'all in on details soon. :)

Catching up...#4? I think. Maybe.

My boyfriend, guinea pig, and I spent an extended winter break in Montana. I should warn you, the photos below highlight the sexy, fast-paced existence that is small-town Montana.

Enjoy...

Between Los Angeles and Vegas, we saw this:

Snow? Weird.

Later that day we were forced to stop in Utah, thanks to a major snowstorm. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the ginormous snowflakes. But, I DID pick up a gift for a friend...

It was a book written by a Mormon, published in Utah. It was called, "Understanding Women," and MAN was it sexist. I thought it would make a fantastic gag-gift.

When we escaped Utah and finally made it up to Montana, this guy greeted me at my parents' house:

Domo.

The temperature was in the negative degrees, so most of our activities occurred indoors. Luckily, the glow of my fam's nuclear Christmas tree was rather soothing, so I didn't mind staring at it for hours at a time.


After some chillin' with the fam, we went to see Benjamin Button. When my boyfriend and I went into the theater, the roads were clear. When we came out after the movie, everything was covered with a thick layer of snow.

When we got home, my parents' porch looked like this:


Here's the view from their front door:


Remember - I got home from the movie, walked through the house to photograph the porch, then came back outside to snap a shot of the front. This is the car I drove home in, minutes after driving it:


After that, I hung out with my family in the living room. Enjoy the photo of my dog making a face, and my little brother's foot.

Two things: 1) Pictures of feet totally gross me out, so I'm sorry for that. 2) I wanted to show off the fact that my dog matches the carpet, so feet photos were hard to avoid.

Seriously though, I love my dog. She's awesome. And, she loves the snow:


A few days into the trip some friends and I decided to pity heckle Screech - The Nerds of Comedy Tour hit my town, and really, there wasn't anything else to do.



I think "J" had fun, don't you?


"A" looked annoyed. As she should. We were forced to sit through a "My German Shepard totally doesn't understand me. He doesn't speak ENGLISH!" joke. We died a little bit then, on the inside. (I should note that the joke did not come from Screech. He deserves credit for that.)

Ladies and Gentleman...Screech:


Apparently all of the painful humor made "A" hungry:


In order to save myself, I suggested we get cheese fries. Here's "J"'s post-fry glow:


I spent a lot of time in bars on this trip. I didn't spend a lot of time drinking, there just weren't many places to go and it was freaking cold outside. Here's "A" at a bar that has mermaids. Yes, mermaids - they seriously have people dressed as mermaids in a tank of water. I think "A" is judging them:


A few days after that, "A"and I got makeovers at the Laura Mercier shop in one of the college towns. I think she looks lovely:

We had sushi in the college town. Luckily it was quite good, surprisingly.

"T" at the start of a post-sushi food coma:


Here I am greeting 2009. Either someone slipped uranium in my drink, or my phone's flash makes me look radioactive:
The trip itself was fantastic, but the drive home was utter hell. Let me introduce you to the sheet of ice we got to brave at 15 miles an hour:

See the shine? That stuff was *slick.* Any faster and we began to slide. It added several hours to the trip.

Thank goodness the scenery was gorgeous:

Not terribly exciting, but it was a good time. :) At least we got home safe, despite the hellish roads.