farmstead farmsteadsmith squeakers dog chihuahua

Who and What is a Squeakers?

Squeakers is the newest addition to the farmstead. She is an old (between 12 and 15 years) tiny little 5 pound chihuahua (mix?) who came into our lives just a few days before my birthday in December. She came pre-equipped with the name. Ha.

How did you get a Squeakers?

Well, many years ago, Squeakers belonged to me and a guy I was dating and living with at the time. A few months after getting her, he and I broke up and I moved someplace where I couldn't have a dog and then shortly moved onto the University's campus I was attending. At the time, it was a fine idea to leave her with him.

In December, J (the ex, we'll just call him J) contacted my husband and I and asked if we could take Squeakers because he was moving and was unable to care for her any more. Years ago, I had told him that I would take her if he couldn't take care of her any longer. So I was thankful to hear from him once this happened for him.

We agreed to take her and met up with J to get her.

Man she was in bad shape. Skinny, and her breath was so bad it could knock out a horse. She was shedding in clumps. We picked her up on a Friday and I had made a vet appointment for the following week.

When we got home (about a 1.5-2hr drive), I wasn't sure what she was thinking. Heck, I am still unsure of what she's thinking. Haha. I could really look her over. My gosh, her breath guys. It was AWFUL. Tried feeding her, but she didn't really want to eat. I was surprised at the food given to us by J because they were huge pieces! No wonder she was skinny. I did ask before we left, if there was anything I should know about, and I specifically remember him telling us that she eats well. Hmmm.

The first week of Squeakers being here was pretty interesting. I wasn't sure that she remembered me, she only wanted to be around my husband. And she was so scared of Dutch (bigger dog) that she would scream every time he came near her. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out! This little tiny dog, my two big dogs, and a cat. Oh boy, what did I get myself into?

In any case, as the days went on, I tried all kinds of tactics to get her to eat. She would try burying her food by pushing the "ground" with her snout, cause she was unable to eat at the moment, and wanted to save it for later. Ok, that explained the sores on her nose. I tried wetting her food, and using our dog food. While she would occasionally eat, I just knew it wasn't enough. I ended up buying her food I wouldn't normally buy for any of my animals, because it was softer. She would eat this, but still not enough to where I felt comfortable.

I noticed that her teeth looked awful, she wouldn't really let me touch her face, but with my observations it looked like a canine was very loose in her mouth. When I took her to the vet he gave her a good once-over. We talked about this tooth, and he took a look. It was so loose! He grabbed it and pulled it out. She didn't even flinch! It was barely hanging on by a thread! Under that tooth there was a fistula, a hole between the roof of her mouth, into her sinus cavity. This explains her sneezing, coughing, and general snottiness.

The Vet and I decided that, even though she is quite up there in age, she was a good candidate for oral surgery to remove her rotting teeth and help her live a happier and healthier life. She was still bright and lively, even though she must have been in constant pain due to the teeth literally rotting out of her head!

To the tune of $500, this surgery was really something take into consideration. Will she live much longer? Will she live considerably longer with or without these teeth? Just HOW unhappy was she? She obviously couldn't eat well, no matter what I fed her, the answer was clear. In order to care for her properly, she needed this surgery. So I agreed to it. But I had to figure out what to do for her to eat better during the 2+ weeks until the surgery.

While at the vet, we also found out that both of her back knees are out of place. But, due to her age and condition she wouldn't be a good candidate for that sort of surgery. She does not seem to be in any pain due to this, but does sometimes wobble when walking and isn't the greatest at jumping and running. But that's okay, she can be slow here.

In order to get her to eat better, I ended up buying the super mushy dog food. gag. But she ate it, and a mixture of the softer dog food I had purchased earlier. This worked well for that period until the surgery. Soon enough, she refused that softer dog food all together in favor of the mushy crap. Ha. Figures. At least she was eating!

The Surgery Day

I have never had to put a dog under for surgery before, so I really did not know what to expect at all! I was completely stressed out. I had to get her 30 minutes away by 7:30am. In the winter. Thankfully, there was no snow on the ground that day! I asked a ton of questions and they said they'd call me throughout the day to give me updates and if anything needed to be done while she was under, they'd call.

Shortly after I got back home, I received a call, already from the vet. There was an arrhythmia going on with her heart and they did not feel comfortable putting her under until they could figure out what was going on with that. So, they needed permission, and an additional $130 in order to preform an xray to take a better look at her heart and make sure it was still safe to put her under. I had to do much more thinking on this, I didn't know what husband was going to say, and I wasn't sure where we were going to get the additional funds!

Husband wasn't a fan of spending that much more, but decided to leave the decision up to me. In my heart, I knew she needed this surgery to be happy, healthy, and live a few more years under my care. I remembered that I got some cash for my birthday, so I paid for the xray from my stash. I called the vets back, and gave them the go ahead.

It wasn't too much longer later that I got another call from the vet. My heart was pounding, I was sure they were calling me to tell me that my tiny dog had passed during the surgery. But, I was wrong, thankfully!

She went through the surgery fine, but she needs to rest up and finish waking up, and you can get her around 2:30pm.

Woo hoo! As soon as it was time, I went and got her. The poor thing, as you can see was still pretty numbed up and groggy. I decided she needed to be buckled up in the back seat, because she's not so great on her feet.

The whole 25 minute drive home, she cried. I thought there was something wrong with her, I was frightened. Unable to pull over, and not wanting to be unsafe by allowing her in my lap. I let her cry. :( It was the saddest thing!

farmstead farmsteadsmith squeakers chihuahua dog

I quickly found out that all she wanted was to be held. I was stuck on the couch (oh darn...) for hours just holding her. If I had to leave to pee, she would cry. She just wasn't feeling good and wanted momma cuddles. I was pretty worried about her because I couldn't get her to take her pain medicine. I wasn't allowed to force her (because it would involve touching her mouth, which is obviously in pain). And she didn't drink any water.

The next day things seemed to be much better, she drank, I got her to take medicine, and things were on the up and up! Thank goodness! On recovery day, we all just spent time cuddling. Squeakers was still often whining when I was not in the room. This was pretty disconcerting, but she eventually over the next few days calmed down out of it. She does occasionally whine when I leave the room, but, I am glad she likes me.

Now that she is all better, I've got her on a bit of a different food. Spendy kind... Haha, still soft squishy type, since she's only got a few teeth left. She gets SO excited for feeding times. She's dancing and jumping around out of excitement. She eats faster than the big boys and tries to sample from their dishes too. She gets the run of the mill cause she's old. Haha. You can often find her curled up against Koodge's warm tummy.

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Squeakers is going to have a happy rest of her days here on Farmstead Smith, I am so glad she is back with me and sooooo much healthier. She makes me laugh daily with her food antics, and I am in love.

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