Friday morning started out just like any other.  I woke up early with the sun, stumbled downstairs and fed the dogs while my coffee was brewing.  I love Fridays, I go into work 15 minutes later and I get off at 2:00 to start the weekend.  This was our last day with Abigail, we were helping her move into her new apartment on Saturday and she starts grad school on Monday.  I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with her and we were planning on family dinner that night since we wouldn’t all be together again until Thanksgiving.

We didn’t have too much more to do to get her ready, she had been gathering her things in the living room for the past couple of weeks so that all we had to do Sat. morning was load the rental van and hit the road.  She and I gathered her remaining odds and ends and then started the final task on our list, replacing the styrofoam beans in her bean bag chair. She’s had it since her freshman year and it’s been well-loved and used. I thought it would be a nice gesture to spruce it up for her time in grad school. This was a bit daunting, I broke the zipper on the cover trying to get to inner bag.  Oh well, deal with that later.  The bigger issue was emptying the flattened beans from the liner without making a huge mess.  We opted to do it outside, and managed to keep the beans contained. We laughed a lot but I was very flustered and hot because we were right in the line of the setting sun and it felt like it was 150 degrees at that moment. As we were finishing up,  Chris went to pick up the fresh pizzas that we were having for dinner and then Abigail and I walked to the store to pick up dessert.  I figured we would all be back around the same time and then we could enjoy the evening while we ate outside.

When Abigail and I returned, the evening took a turn.  Greeting us in the front hallway was a chewed open 2lb container of joint supplements, an open sleeve of cotton rounds (ear cleaning supplies) that had been strewn about and a discarded bag of dog treats.  In addition to being hot and bothered with the bean bag project I was also feeling emotional about saying goodbye again. Apparently in my distraction I left the door open to the food cabinet when I fed the dogs. We had been gone for a very short amount of time, but the damage done was great.  It took me a few minutes to gather my wits, read the warning label on the supplement container and make a call to the emergency vet.  I was referred to the ASPCA toxicology hotline and sat on hold fretting about the situation for about 10 minutes.  Chris was cooking dinner and the kids were sitting outside waiting for me to join them.  It was becoming clear that our family dinner plans were being altered!

Just as dinner was literally being put on the table, I was hanging up the phone with instructions on how to induce vomiting. (So appetizing for us all.) I would also need to keep them both moving until they emptied their stomachs. So….Chris helped me administer the potion and I started walking them up and down the alley.  Maisie was quick, and while I was ready to blame Annie for the whole episode it became obvious that Maisie was just as guilty.  She had ingested at least 13 supplements, her daily dose was 1 chew twice a day, thank goodness we were able to act quickly!  Annie was not so easy, we gave her another dose, continued walking for another 15 minutes and that still didn’t do the trick, so we headed to the ER. She needed to receive an injection that would take care of business.  Poor Annie.  She does not like going to the vet and at this point it was obvious that she felt lousy. I was assuming that she ingested at least 15 chews if not more. They took very good care of her and she surprised us all with only having 6 chews, it was such a huge relief. Maisie really was the trouble maker in this instance!

By 9:00 I was back home feeling terrible while sitting in the kitchen drinking a huge glass of wine and trying to salvage the remnants of our family night.  We all sat around the table, chuckling about the series of events and how I was able to get out of moving Abigail into her apartment.  The dogs were both fine but would need to see our vet in the morning for blood work as a precaution.  I really wasn’t looking for an excuse to stay home because I  did want to go and do the Mom things; putting sheets on the bed, making sure her bathroom was clean, stocking her fridge and pantry and giving her a final hug. Instead, I spent 2 hours at the vet and then went home and snuggled up with my furry girls and watched the Olympics.  Dad was in charge of the move-in and I’m sure they had a great time and lots of laughs.  Chris and Abigail have an amazing bond and the dogs gave them a gift of one more day for just the two of them.  Maybe that was their plan all along.