new year's eve day

 unfortunately, greg and i spent the day with pluto at the doctor's office . . 

 he began vomiting on sunday and then finally stopped yesterday, but he wasn't interested in eating this morning, so i knew something was wrong.

 waiting for pluto to come back from having his stomach x-rayed at our local doctor . .

what a cute picture!

 our vet's conclusion from the x-ray was that there was an obstruction in the stomach and that we should have an ultrasound at the animal medical center on the east side . . so we drove in our car with chanda and emily to 62nd street and york avenue.

 passing the brooklyn and manhattan bridges . . 

 

here we're waiting for the ultrasound test. the woman sitting with her boston terrier (whose name was jelly roll) was in with her guide dog (whose name was jojo and who was lying on the floor) who had eaten something "rubbery;" the doctor who pulled the something out wasn't sure exactly what it was! the poor dog had been sedated and was not in good condition and the woman was not able to leave. after about another hour, when the dog seemed more capable of walking, a technician aide came to help the woman into a cab so she could go home.

 

 eating my deliciously ella energy ball morgan had brought back from london for me, while waiting to be called for the ultrasound test.

 now we're waiting for the ultrasound results . . i actually really enjoy being at the animal medical center. it's a very high energy place with animals coming in from all over the city. there is a constant activity of technicians and doctors coming out to talk with pet owners, aides coming out to wipe up messes, administrative assistants calling out to owners to come to the desk to sign papers and pay bills, and a myriad of different animals in carriers with their owners. we saw cats, dogs, bunnies and birds while we were there. they also still had us in the system from when we visited with our bulldog louise in the 90's, and with jack in the early 2000's. our current vet who recommended we bring pluto, did his internship here.

when the ultrasound results came back, the conclusion was that there was an obstruction and that they would first go in via the esophagus with a camera and try to pull it out from the stomach. if anything had been in the intestines, he would have needed surgery. i went out for soup and a tea at this point, to corrado bakery (one of our favorite places from when the young ones did patrelle nutcracker) and on my way back i heard that he was already out from the procedure.

 so! what was in pluto's stomach causing all the trouble? a long, braided shoelace! with plastic tips! (chanda is trying to process this information!)

 he's finally back out and we're waiting for greg to bring the car around . . 

 it was actually a sweatshirt lace; a very long sweatshirt lace! which had been (supposedly!) on chanda's dresser, but instead was in his belly!

 waiting outside the animal medical center for our ride home.

 passing the brooklyn bridge on the fdr drive . . (and passing korrina's restaurant where she was at work).

 and back on the west side . .

 i kept korrina updated on the events and she sent me a little clip of her evening preparations with her co-workers.

 now we're home and everyone is having a bite to eat before going out to their new year's eve parties, except for greg and i. we plan to stay at home with pluto who is acting like a nut! i've fed him three times already, and he would like more. i don't understand how he can eat so much after such a procedure. wouldn't his esophagus be sore? his stomach? this is how i knew he wasn't well this morning, because he's prancing around now, so happy!