Next dog? Totally buying the pet insurance

My beloved dog Arrow, he's a typical lab. He likes to chew, even at nearly 10 years old. He also likes to eat. Especially what he's already chewing.

Over the years he's managed to eat a number of things he shouldn't. Let's name a few of the more famous:

A pair of silver earrings
My asthma inhaler
My new skirt
Andy's sunglasses pouch
A paycheck
A mortgage statement

Not to mention the regular diet of:
Underwear, mine or Andy's, he's indiscriminate
Numerous shoes
Numerous socks
Numerous pieces of junk mail/catalogs
Numerous towels/washclothes
Any soft toy
Any rubber toy that isn't a Kong
Toilet paper on the roll, he'll eat it like corn on the cob
Garbage of any kind

You get the idea. Arrow's also very smart. He mentally catalogs items he knows he isn't supposed to have, he'll wait until you're not watching and then run back and get it. Simply see my story about the car seat.

So that's the background. Over the years we've had to take Arrow in for a few x-rays, but whatever's been in there has always managed to come out one end or the other.

On Sunday Arrow managed to grab a burpcloth and rip it up. On Monday he started to act sort of punk, and by punk I mean puking, and by Tuesday morning he wouldn't eat. And I mean wouldn't touch anything. He'd half-heartedly chew a Milkbone but wasn't gobbling it down like usual. I assumed part of the burpcloth was stuck. A call was made to the vet and in he went for x-rays.

Arrow's stomach was full of something, but the Barium they gave him was passing through so it wasn't a complete blockage. I was warned surgery may be necessary but I could take him home and watch him. $350 later that's what I did.

Tuesday night he ate part of his dinner. Wednesday he wouldn't touch anything. No breakfast, no dinner, barely ate a Milkbone.

Thursday morning I called the vet again. They said bring him back in, surgery was most definitely in the forecast.

A few x-rays later the vet called. "His is still full of something. I really need to get in there and get it out. The longer we wait the more likelihood of doing damage to his system."

Surgery it was. The vet promised to call after she was done to let me know how things went.

A few hours later the phone rings, it was the vet. "Hi, he went through surgery just fine, and is resting now. Listen, I don't know what you use for diapers, but this cloth seems almost industrial. Plus I took out a pretty large piece of plastic, I'm not sure where he got that."

Oh, but I knew. Arrow has a crate with a plastic floor and a dog bed. He decided to eat both of those things.

I pick him up from the vet's this evening. Nearly Two Grand later and my dog will be healthy again, but I'm guessing not any smarter for the experience.