Irony's a Jerk

Ah, what a lovely Tuesday evening.  After Rob and I put the baby to bed we were sitting out on the front porch together enjoying a cool breeze (maybe the coolness was only in our imaginations) and admiring a robust moon.  The dog was at our side, as always, enjoying a good ear scratching, as always - never venturing too far from the ear scratching goodness of our sides.  A peaceful evening in the making. 

We bantered about the dog and how we hope he lives a long, full life; he had the entirety of his mass leaned into Rob's hand oblivious to our chatting.  Our last beloved dog suffered a fate we had not wished for him.  The painful memories remind us to treasure moments with the new beloved canine.  A few months ago we feared that Yeti might have kidney disease.  One of his litter mates suddenly died from it and another was diagnosed with early stage symptoms.  He checked out OK, but we still worry that it might secretly creep in and steal him away from us.  So, as we enjoyed his company on the front porch we talked about how awful it would be to lose him at a young age at the hand of kidney failure.

After a while, we let him in the house while we continued to enjoy the evening on the porch.  You must know that the dog gets into EVERYTHING.  And by EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING.  We are usually really good about making sure there is nothing he can get to of danger, but tonight we let down our guard a bit.  

Rob peeked inside to find to Yeti basically on top of the counter going to town on a bag of grapes.  He didn't leave even one on the vine.  At first we didn't think anything about it, grapes seem pretty benign, right?  But then, we both had a vague memory that either grapes or raisins are potentially hazardous to pooches.  So, it was off to the land of Internet research and our fears were confirmed that grapes and raisins are both indeed toxic.  And, here is the ironic part...they kill dogs because they cause kidney failure!!!  What?  You've got to be kidding.

After a quick call to the emergency vet clinic they suggested we bring him in.  As little as seven grapes can kill a dog, but not all dogs are equally affected...some aren't bothered at all.  They didn't recommend taking the watch and wait approach; grapes can cause irreparable damage by the time you see actual symptoms of sickness.  So, Yeti is enjoying an overnight stay at the doggie ER.  They induced vomiting and luckily the grapes weren't yet digested at all, so that's good news.  He'll have an IV overnight and some blood work in the morning just to confirm that nothing has affected his kidneys.  Perhaps it is overkill, but we love the dog to pieces and don't want to take chances. 

This was all probably some knucklehead plot by him to get sympathy and even more ear scratches.  Sheesh!  It's extra quiet without him around tonight.

Here is the knucklehead following Cora around hoping for a forgotten morsel.  The other day, she opened the pantry, picked out some cereal, and took it into the hallway for a little picnic with the dog.