The Big Christmas Scare

If you don't know me yet, I have an 11-month maltese puppy called Mäshké. I've had her since May 2024. Our time together so far has been nothing short of fun. She's so feisty and adorable and makes the best companion. A few days before Christmas, I remembering marveling at the fact that in our 7 months together she had had no health issues. Seems I tempted fate with that thought. Mäshké woke me up Christmas morning by throwing up. I initially thought it was one of those one off vomitting spells but after 3 pukes, I got very worried. My panic was amplified by the fact that the vet was closed for the holidays. In my desperation, I made a post on Facebook and got connected to a wonderful traveling vet who was willing to rush over to attend to her. Over the next 5-6 days, she would keep throwing up, unable to hold any food down, despite all interventions both by the traveling vet and our main vet when they resumed working. I was being stressed and devastated by the very real possibility that she wouldn't make it into 2025 with me. Ultimately, her vet ordered an x-ray, which thankfully revealed the root cause of her illness. She had swallowed a pebble from my compound and it was blocking her gut. She was scheduled for surgery the next day (New Year's Eve). The thought of her going under the knife made me so anxious but her skilled vets pulled through after a 3-hour surgery. She's healing now and has to wear a cone to keep her from licking and scratching her wound. It also keeps her from picking up objects on the ground. She gets her stitches (and the cone) removed in the second week of January. We are both looking forward to it!