The week of my birthday was a memorable week. First, starting with my birthday (May 13th), our dog Ellie passed away. Then five days later on the 18th, my father-in-law passed away. Then the next day (19th) a miracle happened.
We were pet sitting a long-time client's Boston Terrier, Lou (pictured above), who will be 13 this year. Though we had been sharing the visits, my husband Clifton happened to be doing that particular visit. He had just given Lou his breakfast which was (chopped up) prescription can food. Lou began eating and Clifton stepped away from the kitchen for 60 - 70 seconds. When he returned Lou was laid out flat on his side. Calling his name, he checked for breathing and heart beat. There was neither. He opened his mouth and reached down his throat and pulled out a piece of can food. Then he gave Lou CPR. Then the miracle happened. Clifton felt Lou's heart start beating again. Lou started coughing and catching his breath. He was back! He was gone but now he was back! Clifton said it all happened so fast yet it was going in slow motion. He instinctively and intuitively knew what to do and just did it. All this took another 60 - 80 seconds. Lou sat up and wanted to get up and walk but Clifton made him stay still with a blanket wrapped around him. Clifton called me and I went over there and we kept Lou in the blanket, holding him, giving thanks to God. This story could have ended differently. We are so grateful it didn't. What a miracle! Lou was fine. He was still hungry and ready to finish eating! Though I don't know for sure if he knew what just happened to him exactly, he knew that Clifton saved him. That was incredibly obvious to us. He would not take his eyes off of Clifton. With his eyes, he was saying "thank you" for saving me.
What a nice gift...especially considering that that day, the 19th -- was the anniversary of Clifton's mother's death. What a week.....
Who would think a dog could choke on can food otherwise known as "wet" food? How many times have we stepped away for a moment to do something else after giving pets their food? How many pets "free-feed" on food? We have been pet sitting for over eleven years and we both have had multiple animals our whole lives. We've fed hundreds, possibly thousands of pets. (I have fed close to 100 animals in a single day before.) We have never had any animal choke on their food....before.
A lot of the prescription can foods are so hard and dry. They are the driest can foods I've ever seen. We started totally mashing Lou's food (which primarily consists of potato with venison) totally and adding enough water to make the consistency of oatmeal or even a little more soupy than that. He seemed to like that better too. (You just have to keep scraping it off the bottom of the bowl into a heap for them so they can get it all.) We noticed that even after adding all that water, when Lou was halfway though eating it, it had soaked up all the water and was becoming dry again. Incredible. So if your dog eats prescription can food, take note!
Those that know me well and all the research I've done....know that this leads me into a topic of which I am passionate about: pet foods. But that's another article for another day. Until then, check my blog (use the search button) for previous articles and videos on pet foods. You can also find a list of helpful website links related to pet foods and nutrition on my website. Just click on the "Links" button.
And remember......EXPECT miracles! :)
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