I love drinking ice cappuccinos (from Tim Hortons). Apparently, Finley shares this affinity. I knew she liked the smell of it and would probably love to taste it. I’ve known this since I got her. I had one in the car the day we went to adopt her and she obsessed over sniffing it and trying to stick her nose in the opening to get at it and by stealing the straw.

I often get one when we go out and now that I have the seat belt, I have left one in the cup holder while I ran into the store a couple times. I will no longer be doing this. Today, I bought a small one and left in the car with her while I ran into Omer DeSerres (art supply store) and then Staples. I came back to the car and my ice capp was untouched.

Then we went to the pet store to get her shampoo and a pet water bottle. It was safe again but only because she gets to go into that store. Then I ran to Wal-Mart to get a different shampoo for her. So while I was in there, somehow she managed to step on the seat belt latch and undo her seatbelt. I was surprised when I walked out the store and she was lying down on the seat, instead of watching for me or barking at strangers.

I got to grab my drink when I realize that something is missing. At first I thought I might have knocked it over with my purse since I’ve done that before but no. Then I notice that someone is playing with a plastic cup that’s been licked clean. Intense panic sets in. There’s coffee, chocolate and loads of sugar in these drinks...all things dogs aren’t supposed to have. I immediately call my dad who calls the technicians at the vets. They have to go and consult with the vet on this, apparently this doesn’t happen often.

I was told not to worry about the chocolate and coffee in the drink, it wouldn’t be toxic to her since she only got a small portion of the drink. Thankfully I drank most of it by then. The sugar however worried the vet because it can affect her pancreas. Just have to watch her for the night, feed her a smaller supper and make sure she doesn’t throw up, if she does  I have to take her to vet’s. After hearing this I started to feel calmer and a little less worried.

It’s been almost 4 hours now and she isn’t showing signs of being sick, so I think she will be okay. However, we just feed her supper so it’s still wait and see with her. 

So a couple weeks ago Finley was feeling a little under the weather as I mentioned previously in the Pepto Bismol post. We never did find out what was wrong with her since we didn’t take her to the vet to get checked out. I’m not sure when she starting feeling off, but on the Saturday, we had played in the leaves and she likely ate pieces of them and possibly something else because she threw up when we came inside. I wasn’t too worried about this because it had happened before when she ate something a couple hours before running around and then drinking lots of water a little too quickly afterwards.

The next day, we went to the dog park while I was waiting for the pumpkins to warm up so I could work on them. She ate some pieces of pumpkin that night. Suddenly around 1:30am she begs to be let outside, which is not like her at all. She immediately runs to poop. Since I like keeping her pen area clean, I went to pick it up and noticed that it was very usual and it smelled. Yes I realize poop smells but I normally can’t smell it from 25 feet away and it only got worse as I got closer. I was gagging as I picked it up. I didn’t think too much of it since this does happen every once in a while to everyone, dogs and humans alike.

Well over the next 2-3 days she wasn’t getting any better, poop wise that is, the rest of time she was acting normal. I was starting to get quite worried. So I looked up stuff online. I should know better by now that Google does not bring you peace of mind in cases like that though I did find some useful information. I read that when a dog does have diarrhea, you can fast them for a meal or two and then give them some boiled chicken and white rice. Since I had never done that, we called the vet and check if this would alright.

The vet technician there told us to skip one feeding, give her some Pepto Bismol (which lead to the pink disaster) and then give her a tablespoon of boiled hamburger meat and white rice at her next normal feeding time. We slowly had to re-introduce food, one tablespoon per hour. They gave us an appointment for the next evening to get her checked out anyways. We were told that the Pepto Bismol coats their stomach and intestines and gives them some relief with what is happening inside.

Let me tell you people, if you have never boiled hamburger meat before, it’s not the prettiest thing looking during the cooking process, but it looked and tasted alright once it was mixed with the rice although I will admit it tasted really bland. I think cardboard might be tastier. Finley LOVED this concoction so much I would find her sitting in the kitchen looking at the fridge hoping for more.

It was pretty funny at first when we would give her one tablespoon of the rice mix. I could see it in her eyes “Come on Mommy (or Daddy) only one tablespoon?? but I’m sooo hungry” she must have been saying. We called the vet back the next day and talked to the technician again because she hadn’t gone potty yet that day since we only started feeding her in the early afternoon. She said to start feeding her more for 12 hours and then mix it in with her dry food for another day or so and call them if it didn’t get better. We cancelled the appointment we had for that night to see if time was all that was needed.

It took a couple of days from the time we initially called the vet for her to go back to totally normal and I was (almost) ecstatic when she starting pooping normal again. I could tell Finley was getting better too, she had a little bit more energy after whatever it was stopped bugging her. It was such a relief for me as well, I tend to worry like crazy and this was the first real time she was sick with us, even though she had an ear infection when we got her. I remember those with my last dog and knew it was nothing to worry about.

The other week, Finley’s tummy wasn’t in a good mood. She was acting normal, her usual happy self, except when it came to potty time. At times it’s the only way you’ll know that something is wrong and in this case her poop definitely wasn’t normal. I became somewhat of a poop aficionado that week, too bad that’s not something I can put on my resume during this job hunt, although I’m sure it would get a chuckle out of someone along the line.

After a couple days, she wasn’t getting much better so we called the vet’s office for their help. At first, I had thought that maybe it was the leaves that she played in and accidently ate a few or she got into something and I didn’t notice and that it was just working its way through her system but after two days, I was worried. The suggestion we got from the veterinary technician was to skip one of the meals (since she’s small) and give her some Pepto Bismol. Next time I’m going to suggest she come over to do it herself - who would have thunk that dogs don’t like Pepto.  We were supposed to give her a little over a tablespoon up to three times in a day. I gave up after the second time and I don’t wish to repeat that anytime soon.

I had never tasted Pepto, so after going to the store to get some, I tried it. Tastes pretty much like those pink mint things that I loved as a kid, I’m not so sure I’d like them today cause that Pepto was gross. I put some on my finger to see if Finley would lick it. She sniffed it and took a small lick and then stuck her nose up at it. It was then I knew this was not going to be easy.

I was able to force her mouth open and get a tablespoon of it down...or most of it. Some of it ended up in the fur around her mouth. Overall, I’d call it a success. We had called the vet in the evening, so the second dose would fall at bedtime since Fin and I go to bed late, around 2-3am.

Trust me, 2am forced Pepto feedings don’t go well, especially when the dog wises up.  So I go about getting it measured out and put it in this little cup thing I had used previously, the results weren’t so bad so I figured I’d just do the same thing again. Oh how wrong I was.

I sit down with her in my lap and I have the Pepto all ready to go on the counter next to me. She knows what’s going on now, so getting and keeping her mouth open nearly causes me to lose a finger. After fighting her, I start pouring it down her gullet. I think I’m having some success and that’s when I notice the pink nightmare.  She started twisting and flaying while I was pouring and it ended up all over her. I didn’t get much on me but it was on her snout fur, a little on her chest but most of it ended up on her back. Yes, her back.

Now anyone who thinks cleanup would be quick is sadly mistaken. Getting Pepto Bismol out of dog fur is darn near impossible and made worse by the late hour. Using a wet paper towel doesn’t work and neither does dumping water over the spot in hopes that it will wash out. Scrubbing the fur with shampoo, not once but twice, was the only way to get it out. This results in a very unhappy doggie that almost attacked the hair dryer when I attempted to dry her since we were going to bed. I ended up letting her go to bed wet, it was 3:00 in the morning by that time and I just didn’t care anymore, if my sheets and blankets got wet.

By the way, I did end up feeding her another tablespoon before cleaning her up. Next time maybe I’ll use a needleless syringe for this endeavour.