baxter and duk duk's scary stories: the tell tale poop

Doo dee doo doo,  doo dee dooo doo..Well hello, it's me, Baxter, and welcome again to baxter and duk duk's scary story zone. Yesterday, we took you inside every dog's nightmare, and found a food bowl filled only with anticipation.  But today, in honor of halloween, our story will take you into the scariest place of all - reality.  Doo dee doo doo, doo dee doo doo...






Night had fallen in the Harley n Hayley household where I was staying for the night.  Cool crisp air crept in through the cracks and crevices of my borrowed home, invaders that formed the first battalion of the army of darkness.  The humans in their household were many that night, and I knew that my friend Harley, his sister, and I would all be jockeying for spots on the sofa, for places on blankies nestled on our humans' laps to warm us through the cold autumn evening.

"Hey, u stink.  Go over there," Hayley told me when I tried to sit with her and her mom.  And so I nestled in with Harley and mom at the opposite end of the sofa while the television filled the room with an eerie blue glow.

Minutes passed. I had just begun to nod off when I was jarred by what I thought was a slight shaking sensation, causing my chub to reverberate like a plucked violin string.  What the heck?, I wondered, but the warmth of my blankie quickly lulled me back into a dream like state.

The sound of heavy panting woke me up next, and the strangeness of my sensations could no longer be denied. I opened my eyes and turned my head over to my friend Harley, who by now had already come out from under our blankie and was starting to settle himself in my mom's arms.  Oh, yeah, longer hair will do that, I thought to myself.  But I still wish I had long long hair.  Hmm, note to self, be sure to put long hair on my year list this year for San...zzzz.  I dozed off again, certain this night was not as peculiar as it was trying to tell me it was.

The sensation of shaking woke me up again.  "Hey, Harley did you feel that-" I started to ask as I turned my head and noticed my friend shivering. Do papillons normally shiver like teeny tiny dogs do or is he just cold, I wondered.  "Get back under the blankie, my friend, you'll be warm again."

But Harley stayed up where he was, shivering, then panting, then shivering again.  Alternating modes unless my mom or his mom looked at him, at which point he would stop.  Then do it all over again when they weren't looking.  Uh-oh.

Mom and his mom took turns examining him. He wasn't gassy, and he had recently pooped and peed normally, his mom said.  And he was eating just fine, well, except for when I was shoveling food from their bowls because his mom would leave it out for them all day and O what joy it is to find a giant bowl of food on the floor with nobody else interested in eat---um, yeah, back to the story.    Mom felt Harley's tummy and had no idea what normal for him felt like, but at least his tummy wasn't tender.   His eyes looked glassy, his mom thought.  But by now he had stopped shivering and panting and he was wandering around on the floor, going this way and that as a dog normally does.

"These past few days, Harley hasn't been his normal self because we've only recently moved here from far away and Harley misses his old home," said his mom had told me when I first met up with him.  "So don't feel too bad if he doesn't want to play with you."  I remembered that conversation when I saw him walking around, and decided to stay on the sofa where it was at least warm.

Mom and Harley's mom kept talking, and I kept listening.  The shivers and the pants came back.  "Are you sure he hasn't vomited? Was his poop solid?  Nothing bloody?"  "It looked just fine" "He didn't get into any weird food, did he? Did he have anything fatty?" "No he's on a high fiber diet.The only thing I can think of is that he was sniffing at the acorns up front. But I didn't see him eat any."

Uh-oh.   My friend Otto ate sumptin he should not have and ended up getting emergency surgery. 

Harley kept panting and shivering at home, but of course didn't do any of that while in the car on the way to the emergency vet, or while waiting in the waiting room, or while even the vet poked and prodded and checked him out.

After listening to Harley's mom's account of Harley's otherwise normal day,  the vet said, "Well it is definitely possible Harley ate an acorn this time of year. But the first thing we need to do is X-ray our little fella here to see what's inside."

Dollar signs hovered over every conversation Mom and Harley's mom had while they waited. Pancreatitis?  Obstructed Bowel?  Foreign object caught somewhere?  Thyroid problems?  Cushings?

The vet came back with the news...

Doo dee doop doop! It's me, Baxter again. Are you as go-hide-nder-the-blankie-scared as I am?? Tomorrow I will tell you the actual results but can you guess what Harley was diagnosed with? Let's review the symptoms & scenario just to be sure...

Alternates between panting and shivering, but not at the vet's office
Tummy not tender
Poop looked normal
Pooped about an hour before the symptoms showed up
Glassy eyes maybe
Eating fine (especially my food because we both think each other's is tastier)
Drinking fine and he was peeing ok
Sniffed at an acorn
Had been buried in blankies
It was a cold night

If u have any other questions I can try to answer them as best I remember, but in any case, please feel free to post your guess at Harley's diagnosis and I will tell you tomorrow the ending to today's scary real story! :)