Scary Sunday

Everything's okay now. But earlier today, it was not.

Mom gives us a rib bone after we get our nails trimmed. She buys a rack of ribs that most people would barbecue and cuts in the meaty area between the bones. She freezes them then gives them to us frozen after nail grinding.

We were all gnawing happily on our bones, us in our crates and Isabelle on her bed. Mom stepped outside to check on the laundry. Then she heard us barking our heads off. If one of us loses our bone through the wires of the crate, we carry on. But it's usually just the one of us. A little voice in mom's head said that she should check.

When she came back in, Isabelle was laying on her side with the bone halfway down her throat, blocking her airway. Her tongue had turned completely gray, an indicator that she was getting no oxygen. She was twitching her legs, her eyes were open and her body was stiff.

Naturally, mom took the bone out right away. Isabelle's was mostly meat which is probably why it lodged in her throat so easily. It took a few horrifying seconds, but she started breathing on her own. Once mom saw that, she ran to get the oxygen tank.

Again, mom made a mistake. She kept the oxygen tank dismantled (there's three pieces to make it work) to make sure it didn't leak oxygen. We have gas for heating and cooking so mom was afraid that a leak would catch fire. She couldn't find the one piece that turned the oxygen on for 20 minutes.

By this point, Isabelle was up and walking around. Her tongue was no longer gray, and she could walk without stumbling. Despite that, mom gave her some oxygen anyway until her tongue was bright pink.

She's napping now. Oxygen makes her uber-relaxed then sleepy. Her throat is probably sore so mom gave her some honey to soothe it.

You can see her pink tongue a little

The lessons here? Never leave your dog with a bone. Mom knows better, but she did it anyway. She won't do it again. And if you have something like oxygen or an epi-pen or some other life saving thing, for pug's sake, make sure it's available to use. If Isabelle's life depended on that oxygen, she wouldn't have made it. Now, the tank is all put together except the key that turns on the oxygen. It is tied with a ribbon to the tank so it won't get lost again.

Mom always wondered if we would alert her that something was happening. This time at least, we did. Mom likes to think that we were calling for help, but she figures that in reality, we weren't. We aren't exactly known for being helpful where Isabelle is concerned. No matter the reason, at least we did make a big enough of a fuss that Isabelle was saved.

So learn from mom's mistakes. Never leave your dog unattended with a bone or chew that can be swallowed. Keep your emergency stuff ready. And hug your guys a little tighter tonight.