I can't believe it's Leo's 2nd birthday already! Seems like just the other day I was bringing the 10 lb furball home. I'm thinking that's the last time I ever get a puppy, or anything else that has to be walked at all hours of the night in Dec. That was one cold Dec we had, and I was the only one taking him in and out. I thought we were going to freeze to death! But, we didn't. We survived that, and we survived Leo's little incident last week, that apparently happened more than a week ago. I started noticing he had some stinky smelling breath, and it wasn't from the salmon/rice food he eats. So, I clippered his face thinking maybe that was where it was coming from. Then, I decided I'd brush his teeth and scrap the tiny bit of gunk that was on his canines. He was such a good boy and didn't fuss at all. Then I noticed later that even when he was sitting at my feet, I could smell his breath. So, he jumped up in my lap and I was loving on him and noticed the smell was even coming from the air that was coming out of his nose when he was breathing. I told my hubby, that wasn't a good sign, and that I was taking him to the vet ASAP the next morning so we could figure out what was going on. I had half of the going to the vet part out of my mouth, when Leo leaned his head back to yawn, and I saw what was causing the stinky breath. The poor boy had a broken off stick partially embedded in the roof of his mouth! He never acted funny, was eating/drinking normally, chasing Cosmo and the kids around in the yard... you name it and he was still doing it. I felt so bad! Thankfully, the vet was able to remove it without using general anesthesia. She gave him a little shot to make him a little woozy and got it right out. Two days into the ten days of antibiotics and no more stinky breath. Since Friday, the area inside his mouth is pretty much all the way healed, minus a small spot that was the deepest. So, lesson learned. Must make checking the mouth for foreign obstacles a more regular thing. I was lucky in that he'd not done more damage to his mouth, and possibly lost teeth. Also, that he'd not swallowed it and caused major internal damage that could have resulted in death.
So, tomorrow we're celebrating Leo's 2nd birthday with some extra special goodies, and are looking forward to many many more birthdays to come!
Happy birthday also to Leo's brother, Scotch. Hoping he comes back to SC sometime soon so we can see him again!
PS The vet gave me the stick she removed from Leo's mouth. I still have it and am pondering if I should just pitch it (well, it did end up costing me $85, which was reasonable considering) or turning it into a Christmas ornament, the most expenisve by far, on my tree, and having it be the inside joke that only my family "gets"......
