The Pony Dog Blog

One day recently, Miss Veda decided it would be a good idea to eat part of her rope toy, and after her tummy promptly rejected it, she appeared better. For a while. She ran around and played just as she always did. For a while. :-( That evening she refused dinner, and though it was concerning, we didn't think too much of it as she had just thrown up a good chunk of rope toy, and perhaps her tummy still wasn't quite right. However, when in the morning she had diarrhea and refused food or water, it was time to get her to the vet.

We arrived at the Animal Emergncy Clinic at a little after 8 in the morning. Miss Veda was not acting normally. Still having diarrhea and somewhat lethargic, we were afraid she had an intestinal blockage. Even though she was not feeling herself, she was still the hit of the clinic. There must have been 30 photos taken of her that day. She obliged nicely, wagging her tail and giving kisses.

After about 7 hours and several tests, waiting to see if it would move along itself, meds to make her vomit, x-rays, more meds to make her vomit, Miss Veda was holding steadfastly the little blob of something that we could see on her x-rays. If we couldn't get her to move it along or hack it up, they would have to open her up.

Finally, we got it. And it was not the blob of rope toy that we'd all been expecting. It was--of all things--a CAT HAIRBALL. One of the cats had yacked up a nasty hairball and Veda had eaten it. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww! So NASTY! Never would I have dreamed that a cat hairball (and not a very large one at that) could do that much damage to a dog who honestly would eat tin cans if I let her. But thank goodness, she would not have to have surgery. After a last check-over by the vet, she was sent home to recuperate. Worn out from the exhausting day, poor Veda felt less than stellar on the ride home...

Thank you to all the well wishes we received from friends and strangers alike. We are happy to report that Veda is feeling herself again, terrorizing the other dogs and zipping through the house at breakneck speed. She's back to testing cookies again, but we're leaving the hairballs OFF the menu.