Sorry for not posting two days in a row. We had some drama with Archie that took things over.
Typically, he is a very light eater. He is a grazer, in that we put out his food and he doesn't just dive in and gobble it up like our previous dogs have done. He gives it a once-over, but often just passes it up and takes a nibble or two during the day. He rarely eats very much at a time.
Well, on Wednesday, he seemed to have more of an appetite than usual. He ate up his bowl of kibble right away and kept coming around looking for more. I thought he must be hungry, so I put another helping of kibble in his bowl, thinking he would nibble at it over a longer period of time as he usually did. Well, he gobbled that bowl right up too. So, he ate a lot more than usual.
In the early evening, we noticed that he seemed kind of agitated. He was pacing around and going to the door to be let out. When he was outside, I noticed it looked like he might be eating grass, which typically indicates a dog isn't feeling well and needs to regurgitate the contents of their stomach. When he came back inside, he was more agitated than ever, coughing, swallowing with big gulps, and acting as if something was caught in his throat. We did not know what to do with him, so I offered water, bits of soft bread to push things down his throat if something was stuck, etc. Finally, he calmed down a bit, and we all went to bed.
In the morning, it was clear he had indeed evacuated the contents of his stomach, which included a large amount of grass. He was still acting quite unlike his usual self, so I called the vet to bring him in for an emergency visit. We were so worried that he had something stuck in his throat.
Well, long story short, the vet had to sedate him to have a good look down his throat. What he discovered was two pieces of grass stuck behind each of his tonsils! Even though these bits of grass were small, they were extremely irritating and caused all the havoc. The vet's theory was that Archie overate, wanted to vomit, and ate grass (which dogs instinctively do). He got grass stuck where it shouldn't have been and felt like he was choking. The vet removed the bits of grass, and we were able to pick Archie up and bring him back home. He was super groggy, as we were told he would be. In the picture above, around eight hours after the anesthesia, he was still a zombie. He looks like he has no bones.
He is a bit more lively now, but still feeling very mopey and sorry for himself.
Typically he perks up when Eva is with us, but he was just as puny with her.
Wish us luck, that he is back to his usual frisky self today! What an ordeal. The little prince isn't used to things not going his way.