We had to leave Jewel at the animal hospital overnight, though thankfully all of her blood tests came back normal. We got to see her before we left, though she was unable to see us. She gave kisses to my mom and stepfather, but none for me! Maybe she's mad at me for leaving the pills in my purse - well I never told her to eat them!
I spoke with the vet at the animal hospital this morning and apparently Jewel is getting back to her old self. She's wagging her tail, standing at the front of her cage wanting to interact with everyone, and the GI issues seem to be gone such that she actually is eating again and keeping it down. Her vision seems to be back, but the vet is concerned because she is squinting, so she'll be having an eye exam before we can pick her up. She's never had vision problems before, but we just want to be on the safe side. Spontaneous blindness is nothing to mess around with.
You would never suspect that Jewel could even get into trouble. Most of the time she just likes to sleep, but more than anything she likes to eat. Despite taking her on regular long walks (to which she regularly protests), she seems to remain a bit on the plumper side - maybe it's just her body type. She's even on a grain-free diet and the only snacks she gets are carrots, apples and grain-free Omega 3 dog treats. Though she was actually named after my great-grandmother, she has literally grown into her name by costing us nearly her weight in Jewels. In July she was sick for almost a week refusing to eat and suffering from unexplained dehydration and abnormal blood values. As evidenced by her round figure and recent consumption of 16 omega 3-6-9 and 3 L-Carnitine capsules, this is a dog who will eat anything so when she refused food we knew something was wrong. We were in and out of the vet for most of that week, which cost over $1000 only to find out that the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, though they ruled out everything they thought it could be.
When she was just a puppy, she had a shoe fetish and destroyed more pairs of shoes than the average dog, most notably my stepfather's leather Harley boots. Yet her worst and most expensive act of destruction occurred when she was around 9 months old. My mom and I were sitting in the living room when we noticed that Jewel seemed to be missing. I went into my parent's room and heard a crunching sound. Jewel was under the bed chewing something, but what would make such a crunchy sound? When we pulled her out from under the bed, we saw that she was chomping on my stepfather's hearing aid! A $2000 chew toy! It had fallen out of his shirt pocket when he put it in the laundry and instead of falling into the laundry basket it had fallen on the floor, just waiting for a curious dachshund who happens to like the smell and taste of ear wax to come and get it. Either way I guess the hearing aid was doomed for destruction - either in the washing machine or by the dog, but the latter got the better of it. She didn't eat the battery, but by the time we got it away from her, it was no longer clearly recognizable as a hearing device. The worst part was figuring out how to tell my stepfather - since Jewel is technically "his" dog. My mom started by asking how much he loved her, then by asking how much he loved Jewel. His reaction: "What has she done this time?" Then she unfolded her hand and revealed what was left of his hearing aid. He took the news much better than we expected, though I think the greater punishment for all of us was his inability to hear for several months until I could get him a new pair of hearing aids in Germany (where a basic set costs only around $600 as opposed to $4000 here).
Let's not forget about Quintin in all of this. When we came in the door last night he barked excessively as if to try to tell us how upset he was that Jewel wasn't there. He then looked all over the house to try to find her. As an exception I let him sleep with me last night and to my surprise he was extremely calm and went right to sleep - I never even noticed him. He woke up at 5 to go outside - first stopping to look for his best friend - then went back to bed, waking up at 6 again for breakfast. He didn't want to eat at first. He barked when I asked "Where's Jewel", but then ate after I reassured him that Jewel would be home soon. Right now he is sleeping next to me and is much calmer than usual. I know I won't be the only one glad to have Jewel back home later on today - but I think that a certain canine will be the happiest of all.
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