Worms

I received a call from Olivia's daycare this morning letting me know that they'd just finished a potty break and Olivia had worms. The attendant that was with the dogs was sure it was Olivia's and she had collected the poop for me to bring with me when I took her to the vet. I hurried to pack everything, grab  Griffin and get into the car. I did a quick google search but there are MANY types of worms that a dog can get and without knowing what she had, it was difficult to narrow down how she got it or how it was affecting her. I made a vet appointment while I was driving to pick her up and I tried not to panic as I rushed to get her.

When I got to daycare, the very nice receptionist tried to comfort me, saying, "she might have just eaten a dead mouse or something in the backyard."

No.

Olivia is not an eater. She is the snobbiest dog I've ever met. She knows how to eat off a fork. She has a taste for quality cuts of meat (filet being her favorite). I bring a water bottle to the dog park because she won't drink water out of the communal water buckets. There's no way that dog ate a dead mouse.

Griffin on the other hand, well, remember this- http://bulldogbrigade3.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-on-patient.html. Griffin eats random things and no matter what I do to prevent it or how horrified I am by it, Griffin loves eating poop.

Which of course meant that if Olivia had worms, Griffin also had worms. And that bracelet that everyone thinks is cute but silly ("I kiss my bulldogs on the lips"), yeah, that's not sarcasm, I had kissed Olivia on the lips a few hours earlier when I'd dropped her off. (on a side note, I probably need to stop doing that.)

I was sick to my stomach by the time the manager came out with the bag of poop. She squished it to show me the worms- except, that it wasn't worms. "I'm like 99% sure those are green beans" I said. I put green beans or other veggies in their food every night and sometimes they don't fully digest. I know that because the first time I saw a pile of poop with mushy green beans through it, I freaked out and thought they had worms. I distinctly remember finding a stick and crouching down on my hands and knees in the backyard to examine the poop (unfortunately not the grossest thing I've ever done since becoming a dog mom).

"Oh... now that you say that... I wish I'd known... I'm so sorry to make you come all the way here... yes, look at the texture, now that you say green beans, these are definitely... you are right." She looked a little embarrassed and definitely felt bad for the false alarm, but I was so relieved that Olivia wasn't sick, I nearly burst into tears.

I'm thrilled that they are paying such close attention. I am happy that they take the dogs' health that seriously and react so quickly. It made me feel even more confident in the care she is receiving. And THANK GOODNESS she doesn't have worms.

She went back to playing and I headed back to work.

Crisis averted.