A Royal Tantrum

Thursday

Let me begin by saying, Mommy should never have taken me in for vaccinations. I do NOT need vaccinations because I keep company with only the highest of canine companions. I ruled over Hatfield House when I lived in England for goodness sake! I have proof that I am royalty. There is a framed photo of the Queen holding a Dachshund in Hatfield House! That is proof that it’s my ancestral home! Mommy said it didn’t matter how Royal the company I kept was, I still had to have my yearly check-up. So we got it done. After I got my vaccinations, I started running a fever. I didn’t want my dinner. Then the throws-ups and poopies started. It wasn’t pretty. Mommy stayed up all night with me.

Proof of my royal ancestry!

Friday

In the morning she took me to my dogtor. He gave me some medicine to break my fever and calm my system down. I still wouldn’t eat, but I did drink a lot of water. We thought we were in the clear because I went a whole night without getting sick.

Tom Bentley tried to comfort me.

Saturday

I was still feeling bad, but since my fever had broken and I made it through the night ok, Mommy and Grammy decided I could have a little watered-down broth. I throws-upped. This time, it was “coffee ground” barf. That means it was grainy and not good. Not to gross you out, but it was my tummy bleeding and trying to digest it. I was feeling really ruff. I was so weak I could barely stand and I kept throwings-ups. My regular dogtor was already closed for the day and it was a holiday weekend!

Saturday Night

Mommy and Grammy decided that I needed to go to the ER. Especially because my dogtor was going to be closed for the July 4h holiday weekend. Mommy bundled me in a blankey and Grammy had a wee wee pad in case I throws-upped again. When we got to Veterinarian Emergency Group, they let us in and to my surprise, they let Mommy and Grammy come to the back with me! The tech explained that that is the philosophy at VEG. They do everything right there in front of you. There’s an area where the hoomans can sit and hold their furbabies while they wait. This made the hoomans relax and it kept the furbabies less nervous. I sat in Mommy’s lap while they checked me in. They let Mommy come over to the table to hold me while they took my vitals. They let Mommy stand beside me and pet me while they put in my IV. They gave me a few injections and took my blood. It was absolutely terrible! But Mommy was there the whole time. Then while we waited for the dogtor, Mommy and Grammy where able to hold me. We watched other patients too. Some didn’t have hoomans and that made me sad. I thought Mommy and Grammy might decide to take the ones without hoomans home with us! There was turtle and a bunny though I’m not sure what they were there for. There was a kitten nicknamed Rotisserie Chicken. It had burns on its back legs. She was all bandaged up and had a cone of shame. I think she had some good pain medication because she was pretty chilled out in her penthouse. There was also a black kitten with mange. He was really feisty! He chewed up his cardboard litter pan and then fell asleep in it! There was a big silver pit bull mix that had surgery on her leg and two super cute black and white kittens! They were about two weeks old and were being bottle fed. Their little mews were the loudest thing in the whole place. Like I said, everyone seemed more relaxed because they got to stay with their hoomans. The pets without hoomans were constantly being checked on by people working there and they seemed happy to be somewhere safe and quiet. Finally, my bloodwork came back. My levels were all over the place. My pancreas levels were particularly high, even for pancreatitis. They decided to keep me overnight. The dogtor said she would give me medicine and fluids. Once I stopped throwings-ups and the medicine had time to work, they would feed me and make sure I could keep food down. Mommy got to put me in my penthouse herself with my blankey! Once I was settled in, she said she loved me and she would see me in the morning! The people said Mommy could stay as long as she wanted – even all night! I was really mad that Mommy and Grammy left.

I am mortified that Mommy took this picture!

Saturday Morning

The dogtor called Mommy around 8:00 am to say I was doing well. Bright eyed and no throws-ups. They were going to try feeding me and see if I could hold it down. She also told Mommy that she noticed my pupil was small on my left eye. She put some dye in it and found that I had somehow managed to scratch my eyeball! So now I had to have some gross gel put on my eyeball twice a day!

Saturday Afternoon

The dogtor called Mommy and said they had tried everything but that I wouldn’t eat. Mommy warned them that I was a picky eater and if I was nervous I wouldn’t eat. She thought it would be best if Mommy came and got me and took me home to see if I could eat where I was comfortable. Mommy arrived shortly after that and oh my goodness...Those techs ratted me out! They told Mommy that I had the most personality out of any other animal there – and NOT in a good way. Mommy walked back and saw that I had been moved from my penthouse. I was now in the back corner of the room, down on the floor in a sound proof room. Yes! I said sound proof! I barked so much that I was disturbing EVERYONE. This really surprised Mommy because I am NOT a barker. At all. The tech continued to tell on me and all of my shenanigans. He told Mommy that I would target different techs and bark at them non-stop until they came over to give me attention. They took me outside to potty. The grass was wet so I refused to go. I mean, I am royalty! What do they expect?! They tried giving me kibble. I pushed it under my blankey. They gave me mushy food. I ignored it. They gave me chicken. I turned the bowl over on my blankey. They thought they would try one last thing - macaroni and cheese. It was made especially for the animals. Plain macaroni noodles and fresh cheese. Well, if you know me you know I LOVE CHEESE! They put that macaroni and cheese in my soundproof room and do you know what I did? I turned it over onto the floor and I PEED ON IT! Oh yes I did! I wanted them to know that I was DONE with this place. I wanted my Mommy and I wanted her NOW and only a Royal tantrum would get me what I wanted! I must have been on adrenaline because when they opened the door to my soundproof room and handed me to Mommy I literally collapsed and passed out. The techs went crazy! They could not believe how different I was in Mommy’s arms! I tell you what, they sent Mommy home with a really big vet bill, so I made SURE that they worked for every penny they made Mommy pay. They sent me home with eyeball medicine, two tummy medicines, and pain meds.

Saturday Evening

Mommy and Grammy said they didn’t care how much the bill was because I am worth every penny! I would have to agree with them. They said that the dogtors and techs were amazing! They really loved what they did and it showed in their interactions with the hoomans and furbabies. When we got home, Mommy gave me little mini meals of plain chicken. I was able to keep it down! I was NOT happy when Mommy and Grammy tricked me into giving me medicine. It seems every time I turn around they are shoving something else down my throat! Now I try to run from Grammy! I slept pretty much all Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Callie Mae and my sisser Greta snuggled me!

Every day I have been getting a little bit better. I’m still not myself, but I’ll get there. I’m a little insecure right now so I follow Mommy everywhere and I won’t let her out of my sight. Mommy is still a little worried, but Grammy says that I’m 14 years old! It takes old ladies a little bit longer to recover. I go to my regular dogtor on Monday. They will check that my eyeball is healing up, check my bloodwork, and do a sonogram to make sure there is nothing to see on my pancreas. Mommy wants to make sure there is no sign of the “C” word. Mommy also said we are so blessed to have our Chihuahua of Tampa Bay friends sending prayers and pawsitive thoughts and for our Chihuahua 911 angels.

So that was my eventful July 4th weekend! Stay tuned for more adventures as we move to Texas at the end of the summer!

Luvs and Lix,

Sophia Loren