Kiss The Fiddler

Ramblings, moments of humor, random thoughts, experiences, insights, simple wisdom, and whatever else I feel like sharing.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Close Call


It's a stick.  About 2 and a half inches long.  Maybe half an inch in diameter.  A little stick.  That's all.  


This afternoon Luken and I were playing with our dogs in the back yard.  We were kicking a soccer ball back and forth and the dogs were taking turns chasing the ball, chasing each other, and fighting over a stick.  We were all having a blast! 

That is, until I heard this terrible wheezing whine coming from Belle.  Her mouth was open and she was clawing at her face and scraping her head on the ground.  There was blood dripping from her mouth.  I could see she was desperate.  Fizz was clueless and continued to try to chew on Belle's feet.  Luken sensed that something was wrong and started up to the back door to call Kara for help.  

Lucky for me, Belle didn't run away from me when I approached her.  She was panicked and I had a hard time getting her to be still so I could assess what the problem was.  I finally had to sort of throw her on the ground and straddle her.  I wedged her mouth open and turned her head toward the late afternoon sun.  What I saw horrified me. 

Past the back of her throat, almost far enough for me not to be able to see it, was a stick.  It was lodged sideways across the inside of her throat, behind the back of her tongue.  Every breath she took spattered blood out of her mouth.  What else to do but carefully put my hand in her mouth and try to take the stick out?  So that's what I did.  It was stuck in there pretty hard and I was afraid it'd hurt her more taking it out.  I was afraid if the stick stayed there, it could go farther down her airway.  So I yelled again at Luken to get Kara and I tried again.  The second time, the stick dislodged.  

Belle immediately stopped struggling and we just rested there together on the back lawn for a few moments.  By then, Kara was there asking if we were okay.  Gladly, yes. 

Belle seems a bit more subdued than usual.  But she's okay.  No bleeding that I can see.  She's breathing well.  She enjoyed her dinner.  I'm glad.  

Such a big scare.  Over such a small stick.  Live and learn, eh?

hbk



1 comment:

wildwomanjd said...

Oh, poor Bellie! She was so lucky you were there to help, and that you were so quick thinking and acting! Once again, I am very proud of you.