Call me Zaccheus Joey Rocky Eeyore Locke

Okay, so you already know why his name is Zaccheus, but we had to tack on a few extra names to the wee little man.

I started carrying him in a pouch around my neck when he first came to live with me, so I nick-named him Joey. As in kangaroo. Please tell me you already got that.

Then soon I saw what a fighter little Zacchie was, so I said we might should call him Rocky, which was funny, because the next day at the vet someone came in to pick up their Rocky. He was a German shepherd. Zaccheus currently weighs five ounces.

But Chris decided to call him Eeyore after his disastrous tail fiasco. I haven't even blogged about it because it was THAT awful. When I took him back to re-stitch his tail, the other doctor accidentally ran one of the stitches through his rectum. It got so swollen and inflamed he couldn't poop, so I called Chris in the middle of the night to ask what to do. When I told her what I thought had happened, she was so incredulous, she let out a nervous chuckle. I was so stressed I snapped. "It's not funny! I'm not joking!" She didn't think I was, but you have to admit, that's some kind of statement. "I think the doctor stitched his tail to his butt."
She came over at 3:30 in the morning, and agreed that we should call Dr. Sandy at home.
Disclaimer: Dr. Sandy is my friend, and did NOT stitch his tail to his butt. The other doctor did.
Dr. Sandy told me to remove the stitch and put some ice on it for a few minutes. apply some Neosporin, and bring him to the office in the morning. By the time we got there, the swelling had gone down and he was okay, but she did an enema in case he was impacted from not going for so long. Chris said she's going to call him Eeyore, because his tail is pinned to his behind.

Then she told me the bad news. Zaccheus sounds like he has a touch of pneumonia. This is what cleft palate, bottle fed animals usually die of. By the next day he could barely breathe, so Dr. Tim put him on an antibiotic. He has been on it for three and a half days, and has improved immensely. His eyes are both open, and he is trying to stand on all fours. The other puppies in his litter just lie around all day. He is the strongest, no surprise.

And last night I added the Locke for a character in my favorite show, LOST. Apparently, he has some special qualities that make him come back from death's door, when no one expects him to live. That's my little Zaccheus, for sure!