Adventures with an expensive tummyache and a pet skunk

Sophia refused her fourth meal in as many days last night.

Normally she gobbles her food down as fast as possible and then tries to steal Einstein and Lady's food, so I knew something was wrong. She also reeked of fish food even though we don't have fish.

Since we've had an ongoing problem with the kids next door throwing trash and potentially hazardous objects over the fence, I couldn't be certain that she hadn't eaten anything that either could have gotten stuck on its way out or was toxic to her.

Previous experience has taught me that when a dog does eat something it's not supposed to, time is of the essence when it comes to getting it out, so I took her to the Animal Emergency Center of the Quad-Cities in Bettendorf.

While we were there, several other owners brought in animals you'd expect to see at an emergency veterinary clinic. There was a Doberman with a severed artery and a nine-year-old black Lab that also had stopped eating and had to be carried in by its owner.

Then there was a pet skunk. I wasn't sure I had heard correctly as the receptionist got off the phone with the owners when they called before bringing the skunk in. But sure enough, a few minutes later a young couple arrived holding a skunk like it was a baby.

The skunk was completely content to lie there, swaddled in its owners' arms. I think I've officially seen everything now.

Meanwhile, X-rays and blood work revealed that Sophia's intestines were inflamed and that her pancreatic levels were elevated, which means she either has a very expensive tummyache or she has pancreatitis. The latter diagnosis is unlikely because she doesn't have access to wild animal feces. Also, she's still young and of a good body weight, so she's not really a candidate to get that disease.

We were sent home with special food that I had to give her a little bit of every couple of hours, some anti-nausea pills and instructions to go to our regular vet for a pancreatitis test if Sophia wasn't back to normal by today.

This morning, she ate normally, which included an attempt to steal Einstein's food, and has kept it down so far. So, hopefully she just had one expensive tummyache because pancreatitis is not only serious, but it sounds like we'd be kissing our down-payment fund goodbye if she has it. I'll keep you all posted on how she's doing.