life lesson: don't run with sharp sticks in your mouth

...or you may spend your Friday at the vet getting splinters removed from your throat!

Zeke was running with a stick he found during his Friday morning playtime, when mom heard a YELP and turned to see the stick coming straight out of Zeke's open mouth, he managed to get it dislodged before mom could get over to him but there was about an inch worth of blood on the very sharp end of the stick. Mom of course goes into panic mode, but of course Zeke won't let mom look into his mouth but there isn't any blood pouring out, so we try to carry on.

By the time Z and mom make it to work he is not acting normal; he will not take treats and is shaking. Luckily Dr. Pernell, the vet who did Zeke's broken leg surgery, is just down the street from Zeke's office. Dr Pernell tells us to bring him in, and after examining Zeke and seeing the puncture in the back left side of his mouth, says we need to sedate him and check for any pieces of stick that may have become lodged.

Its certainly a good thing we did, because Dr P did indeed find a big chunk of splinter (which he kept for us to have a souvenir) and said that would have turned into an abscess. While he was checking things out he also found that the cut extended another three centimeters back into his throat, so he put two sutures in to keep from food and other things from becoming stuck.

Zeke was able to come home in the afternoon, very out of it from being sedated. He spent the rest of Friday evening sleeping it off on the couch. Lots of antibiotics and soft food for a week, but he seems to be doing much better one day later.