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padre45 · 10-26-2013, 10:13 AM

My name is Marty. I retired from the USAF a few years back after 28 years in uniform, with a pretty serious heart condition. I got quite depressed, and my beautiful children bought me a Yorkie pup last year who changed my life. I named him Bentley. He was born on February 13, 2012. Last week Bentley swallowed two of my wife's foam earplugs. She is a nurse and has to sleep during the day. We have been careful with these earplugs and still don't know where he found them, but he did. And it wasn't the first time. This was the 3rd time he'd somehow found an earplug and swallowed it whole. Two previous times he vomited it up. This time, he acted sick briefly and vomited it up -- that was my first indication something was wrong, which was last Saturday. I DIDN'T KNOW HE'D SWALLOWED TWO THIS TIME. He seemed to be doing better after vomiting that earplug up, but late Saturday night he began acting very lethargic and we got concerned. We read on the forums that maybe he still had more in his stomach that needed to come up. We gave him a teaspoon of peroxide and he vomited again, but nothing came up. We took him the the Emergency Room a few hours later, in the middle of the night last Saturday night. They did an x-ray and located a second earplug lodged in his small intestine. They did immediate surgery. Bentley made it through the surgery, the earplug was removed, but his heart gave out after the surgery and they began doing CPR. He did not survive. I am a 52 year old man, and I am completely crushed with this loss. I am not a sissy, I have a black belt in karate and I have been through some awful things, such as watching my brother die before my eyes in 2002. This dog did not need to die from such a simple, Yorkie-like behavior.

Losing Bentley this way has completely broken my heart. It was my fault completely that he died. He should have been at the vet ER the moment he started vomiting last Saturday, not suffering while I looked all over the internet for advice. I can't get him back. All I can do is share with other Yorkie owners just how fragile these beautiful little animals are, and I BEG anyone who has an animal showing symptoms to get them to the vet SOONER, not later. Yes, it's sometimes expensive. I am a broke disabled veteran, but I would give anything to have Bentley back. I failed him so badly, and he was one of the brightest rays of sunshine I ever felt on my skin, he made me smile every day. He loved me, he followed me everywhere, he was part of my family. I don't care what anyone says about "keeping pets in perspective... they aren't people... blah, blah, blah." This dog meant the world to me and me to him. But I lost sight of that for a few critical hours when I was too damned CHEAP to get him to the HELP he needed and probably hastened his death and even caused him more suffering by giving him peroxide when he was dying.

I don't honestly know how I will ever forgive myself for being such an ass. For not realizing how priceless this little creature was to me and accepting the responsibility to care for him with due diligence. So I say to other Yorkie owners out there who might be like me, or have a husband like me: Don't lose your precious dog like I did before you admit to yourself how much they're really worth to you. I spent $2,000 last Sunday to take home my dead Yorkie and bury him in my back yard. Now I can't even go out there. I can't stop thinking about him and how he deserved so much better than I provided.

I write all this not for any absolution or sympathy. I write to the person out there who tends to be CHEAP, like me. Someone who hesitates to take their dog to the vet when they know they should, simply because they might have to drop a few hundred dollars. Due diligence. I would give anything to get a "do over," and RUSH Bentley to the Emergency Room and give him the BEST chance to survive such a simple mistake. I am so sorry, Bentley - you were pure love to me and I will never be the same.

Hug your Your Yorkie for me today. Take care of them. They really do deserve it and they really are worth it.

10-26-2013, 10:13 AM	#1
padre45 YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: San Antonio, TX, USA Posts: 1	How Much is YOUR Yorkie Worth? My name is Marty. I retired from the USAF a few years back after 28 years in uniform, with a pretty serious heart condition. I got quite depressed, and my beautiful children bought me a Yorkie pup last year who changed my life. I named him Bentley. He was born on February 13, 2012. Last week Bentley swallowed two of my wife's foam earplugs. She is a nurse and has to sleep during the day. We have been careful with these earplugs and still don't know where he found them, but he did. And it wasn't the first time. This was the 3rd time he'd somehow found an earplug and swallowed it whole. Two previous times he vomited it up. This time, he acted sick briefly and vomited it up -- that was my first indication something was wrong, which was last Saturday. I DIDN'T KNOW HE'D SWALLOWED TWO THIS TIME. He seemed to be doing better after vomiting that earplug up, but late Saturday night he began acting very lethargic and we got concerned. We read on the forums that maybe he still had more in his stomach that needed to come up. We gave him a teaspoon of peroxide and he vomited again, but nothing came up. We took him the the Emergency Room a few hours later, in the middle of the night last Saturday night. They did an x-ray and located a second earplug lodged in his small intestine. They did immediate surgery. Bentley made it through the surgery, the earplug was removed, but his heart gave out after the surgery and they began doing CPR. He did not survive. I am a 52 year old man, and I am completely crushed with this loss. I am not a sissy, I have a black belt in karate and I have been through some awful things, such as watching my brother die before my eyes in 2002. This dog did not need to die from such a simple, Yorkie-like behavior. Losing Bentley this way has completely broken my heart. It was my fault completely that he died. He should have been at the vet ER the moment he started vomiting last Saturday, not suffering while I looked all over the internet for advice. I can't get him back. All I can do is share with other Yorkie owners just how fragile these beautiful little animals are, and I BEG anyone who has an animal showing symptoms to get them to the vet SOONER, not later. Yes, it's sometimes expensive. I am a broke disabled veteran, but I would give anything to have Bentley back. I failed him so badly, and he was one of the brightest rays of sunshine I ever felt on my skin, he made me smile every day. He loved me, he followed me everywhere, he was part of my family. I don't care what anyone says about "keeping pets in perspective... they aren't people... blah, blah, blah." This dog meant the world to me and me to him. But I lost sight of that for a few critical hours when I was too damned CHEAP to get him to the HELP he needed and probably hastened his death and even caused him more suffering by giving him peroxide when he was dying. I don't honestly know how I will ever forgive myself for being such an ass. For not realizing how priceless this little creature was to me and accepting the responsibility to care for him with due diligence. So I say to other Yorkie owners out there who might be like me, or have a husband like me: Don't lose your precious dog like I did before you admit to yourself how much they're really worth to you. I spent $2,000 last Sunday to take home my dead Yorkie and bury him in my back yard. Now I can't even go out there. I can't stop thinking about him and how he deserved so much better than I provided. I write all this not for any absolution or sympathy. I write to the person out there who tends to be CHEAP, like me. Someone who hesitates to take their dog to the vet when they know they should, simply because they might have to drop a few hundred dollars. Due diligence. I would give anything to get a "do over," and RUSH Bentley to the Emergency Room and give him the BEST chance to survive such a simple mistake. I am so sorry, Bentley - you were pure love to me and I will never be the same. Hug your Your Yorkie for me today. Take care of them. They really do deserve it and they really are worth it.