Brooke here:
Zu outgrew his crate and was moved to a larger one, which was THE END OF THE WORLD. The puppy howled all night long. We moved him into the bedroom to see if being close to us would help; it was partially successful, as he switched over from howling to vomiting. I went to clean up the mess and found large chunks of hard plastic which he had ripped off of the floor of his playpen and eaten. Playpen full of uppity-zillion dollars’ worth of chewtoys and treats but noooooo, he eats the floor…
He is currently at the vet’s and has had a full day’s worth of x-rays and palpitations, and we’re in a “wait and see” phase to see whether he needs surgery or if he can pass the remaining plastic on his own. The vet is optimistic, which is good, but Zu hasn’t slept since noon yesterday, which is bad.
And they asked me if we wanted to have the plastic back (y’know, after) and for a second I thought “Yeah that would be a great picture for the blog!” And two seconds after that I thought “What the f*@& is wrong with me?”
Which is why this post is without pictures. You are welcome.
Flying by night 
I’m not sure why they thought you would want it at all… thanks for thinking of the readers
It’s like when you get a tooth pulled at the dentist and they give you your teeth back! Only weirder. Hope your puppy is ok!
Thank you for no pictures. Hope Zu’s recovery will be speedy.
Can we at least get the xrays?
As for teeth: I have the 4 perfect molars they removed to make room before I had braces put on. Weird but I like having them. NEVER done anything with them (no funky necklace) but they’re mine. From my body. I made them. Still have’m 30 years later (in some box o junk).
One of our dogs had to have surgery to remove a bowel obstruction a couple of weeks ago. It was grass, for some reason stuck and compacted. About 10 inches of it was blocking her bowel and was removed.
They saved the grassy obstruction so I could see it, and they asked if I wanted to keep it. Yeah. No thanks.
(Seriously, how does a dog get stopped up with GRASS?)
Hope Zu passes the plastic without incident 🙂
My guess would be that they have to ask. Some people will want anything back. It’s easier to ask about every wad of grass and hunk of plastic than it is to deal with the bitch-fest if you trash part of Junior’s favorite toy.
There are so many humans (at least, I THINK they’re human) who ask for, or are offered and accept, their gallstones, gall bladders, appendices, et cetera et cetera, in bottles full of formalin, to put on their mantelpieces I guess, that the surgeons probably get in the habit of asking about even the most unlikely souvenirs. I hope the pup manages to get rid of his plastic on his own.
Poor Zu and poor you! Hope that the little guy is okay and doesn’t need surgery!
You know… when our 4 year old beloved Silky Terrier went into the ER unexpected, and passed away 36 hours later, they incinerated her… and never offered to return the collar. They did ask if we wanted to handle the burial or have them do it, but we were transitioning from retiring from the military and finding where our second life would take us, so we had the vet take car of that. Her belongings (collar and tags) didn’t cross our minds for several days after that; by then it was too late.
Also, oddly enough, you’ve helped me want to get a puppy. I was going to skip most of the puppyhood and get a 6 – 12 month old, but I somehow lost my mind in reading your blogs (about you losing your mind). I know what puppies are, I’m sure I’m insane, but I’m incredibly excited about it. (and yes, I’m dog/puppy experienced, been breed researching and doggy book reading for a year).