Belated Romeo Update and Pics

First of all, happy Boxing Day everyone! So, if you are a friend or family member, you are probably aware of the drama that has been playing out the past month in our home. My adorable and emotionally unstable step-dog Romeo has been through some tough personal times recently. I purchased and put up a pet door to my office so that little old Sadie, a.k.a. "Squeaky Dee McGee" the bunny feels safe and secure in a dog-free room. We've never had any worries that he would hurt her, but pick on her, YES. She can come and go as she likes now, but Romeo can't come into her personal space and bully her. Before, we were always very careful to make sure my office door was shut (with Dee inside) when neither of us was home, and Romeo could come in while I was here. But the temptations for Romeo to come in, chew up her toys and help himself to her litterbox were too strong and he's sneaky. I was unhappy about it, Dee Dee was definitely upset about it, and since I frequently don't feel like putting up with his macho alpha dog moves, I decided enough was enough; much as I love Romeo "Stinky" Dog, Dee and I needed some dog-free boundaries. But even knowing his personality, I would never have guessed how Romeo would deal with the situation. I knew he'd be upset for a while, but he went to extremes to vent his frustration that caught Shaun and I off guard. While we were either out or asleep, Romeo ate a lot of a cotton bathroom rug. We thought he'd be fine, because Shaun managed to pull about ten feet of cotton string out of him. So, we thought we'd gotten it all out of him and we pulled up all the loose rugs and put them away, thinking we'd gotten lucky and he was through the phase. But a couple days later, Shaun noticed one of his computer speakers had had the wire severed. Poor Dee Dee took the rap for that one for a couple of days, but I thought something was fishy. She has only ever bitten one other non bunny proofed cord in all the time she's lived with me, and I thought it was strange that she'd go out of her way to dig out cords from behind Shaun's desk that aren't easy to get to and chew through only one wire. Well as it turns out, Romeo had eaten quite a lot of speaker wire. It isn't unusual for him to be broody for days at a time and finicky about eating, so at first we didn't realize what was wrong. But almost two days after the wire incident, we noticed he didn't seem to be feeling well and wasn't moving his bowels. So the next afternoon Shaun took him to the vet, not a moment too soon. He was rushed to emergency surgery. Here is what they found in his stomach, blocking his intestines. Yep, rug bits and speaker wire, the little bastard.

And here he is after Shaun brought him home, stoned on the pain drugs the vet gave him:

He wasn't allowed to jump up on the couch or bed when he first got home obviously, which are his usual comfort zones. So that sure didn't help make him any happier. But we made him as comfy as possible on his dog bed.

And a good thing too. I took these photos two days after he was home, when the bruising was the worst. They must have had his whole torso clamped open during surgery. Look at all those staples!

The whole situation was frustrating, nerve wracking, and pitiful. Romeo of course isn't able to put together the facts. He doesn't know that he was feeling bad, taken to the vet, and got cut open and stapled back together because of his previous destructive behavior.

Doggie DRUUUUGS! This is Romeo on opiates:

He couldn't handle kibble food. The vet suggested boiled chicken and rice. So I made Romeo a big batch of chicken soup with rice that he finished over the course of several days. Down the hatch!

And here he is the middle of last week, being his usual sneaky self. He got up on the couch without waking Shaun, using his mad stealth skillz. But cuddling is Romeo's forte, sometimes you aren't even conscious while you're getting puppy love!

Little twerp's staples come out this Tuesday. No reason to think that shouldn't go smoothly and then hopefully, things will be back to normal in the family here.