You are what you eat.

Hi All,

Libby here.

As some of you may know, this coming Wednesday is the second of the really big Jewish holidays- Yom Kippur. It's a day of fasting and reflection.

In honor of this holiday, today's post will be about the opposite of fasting- specifically, eating. Even more specifically, things that animals tend to eat that shouldn't be eaten.

A couple of weeks ago, a dog came in to the PPAC with cerebellar hypoplasia. For those of you who don't remember (or who are silly enough to not stay completely up-to-date on my fabulous posts,) cerebellar hypoplasia is a condition where animals have an under-developed balance center- like Oskie, the Silverman's cat. But I digress. Cerebellar hypoplasia has nothing to do with this case.

Anyway this two year old, sixty pound dog came into the office vomiting and having not eaten for around three days. Dr Quim took a look at the dog and decided that the dog should have some X-rays taken to learn more. The X-ray findings proved to be non-specific-that means they didn't really help to identify a specific condition that was causing the problem. The dog went home with medication to treat the vomiting and loss of appetite but returned the next day displaying the same symptoms.

Another physical examination was conducted and this time, Dr. Quim felt a lump in the middle of the dog's belly. He took another X-ray to try to find out what was the cause of the lump and found out that there was an obstructing object in the dog's intestines.

Surgery was performed and a champagne cork was removed from the belly of this poor, silly, dog's small intestines.

He went home the next day and has been feeling better ever since (other than the fact that he has an unfortunate tendency to knock into things because of his cerebellar hypoplasia).

And the moral of the story? Be careful what you leave around the house. Dogs, (being slightly less intelligent than their feline friends), have a tendency to put almost anything they find lying around into their bodies. So next time you pop the bubbly, make sure to dispose of the cork in a safe place where your dog can't access it.

And on that note, have an easy fast to those who are fasting. And to all the dogs (and select cats who also have insatiable appetites), be careful what you eat.

Til' next time,

Libby