Vet Bills for Takoda

The cow dog is happy to round up sleeping seagulls and chase them back into the ocean. He would not hurt them and has proved on many occasions. When a sick bird drifted into the waves and ultimately to the shore to die, he pushes the bird with his nose back towards the water. In 10 years, I have never seen this dog hurt anything. The Malamute, Takoda is known to chases cats, or anything that runs. She also has a mind of her own and when we walk the beach, she goes to the edge of the beach to smell and see what the humans have abandoned. Once the sun sets and we can no longer see her, no matter the amount of pleading, threatening, begging, promising treats we do, she is on her own path. She magically appears, as we load the van with wet dogs and head home. We give her leniency for holding her hostage while we work in a 10 x 14 back yard. Takoda is our angel, our amusing dog that is perpetually shedding and a happy spirit welcoming everyone in the world with a wave of her paw.

Last night at the beach, she wondered as usual, only the few days she didn’t eat her food (always a cause for concern in a 120-pound dog), and then my husband said that aliens had been coming into the backyard stealing dog poop. With a simple Fruit Loop test, I knew where the problem lay.

The Fruit Loop test is a game where Gary takes cereal and lines it up on the table and flicks it at the dogs. They all lunge for it and gobble up the rainbow goodness. This game makes Gary howl with joy and the dogs rejoice in his glee. The next day, each of the dog’s leavings is a rainbow of color and being that the dogs are of considerable different sizes, it is easy to tell one from the other. This conversation happens nightly in our house, the color, consistency, amount, and texture of their poop. It is like a thermometer with the kids.

Bottom line was the Malamute size (colored or other) was non-existent. I give her my elixir of olive oil, mineral oil, and caster oil mixed with raw egg and rice ensuring movement within an hour. Two days went by with no movement and I was worried. I love this dog and would do anything to make her live as long as I do. We took her to the emergency vet, and was diagnosed with eating something toxic ( I am immediately blaming the kids for leaving pot or some other nefarious substance out). She flushed her subcutaneously and said to wait for it to all come out. Three days go buy and still nothing from the either end of Takoda.

I make an appointment with a new vet and she trots happily in (no matter what the agony Malamutes are always happy). He puts in a small room, takes her weight, vitals, and says he will be right back. While he is gone, all the home medicinal remedies I have been giving her explode out Takoda’s ass. Like a geyser it is coming in full force and she is running from it and so am I in a 4’ x 6’ room. The vet tech hears the screaming and comes to rescue us, but it is only rewarded by being covered in squirting dog excrement. We finally stop the geyser and get x-rays. We discover she has eaten a very dead and decomposing seal and that she has the worst case of salmonella poising the vet has ever seen. He flushes her, gives us $300 in pills to help, and sends us home. My dry cleaning bill was my responsibility.