I should have known better. It's always the mellow ones that cause the problems. 

Last night Brodie was restless after his neutering and wouldn't settle down to sleep. So, at midnight, I woke my husband up, we pulled an extra mattress down into the living room floor so I could sleep there and Brodie would sleep next to me without us having to worry about him jumping and hurting himself. Good plan, right? Wrong. It worked for about 45 minutes, then he got too hot and left me, heading down the hall to sleep on the laminate floor. Or so I thought. They're like toddlers. If they're quiet, something is wrong. I was just about to finally go to sleep right before 2 am, when he started whining and fussing. I called him back out to the bed and got the flashlight to check his incision--sure enough, he'd chewed out every last suture!

So, off we go to the nearest Emergency Animal Clinic (several towns away) and pay more to get staples put in than it cost for the initial surgery. Finally we get back home at 4 am, with only a few hours left to sleep before we have to get up to start our day.

On the positive side, the vet on duty happened to be one I know because he fills in for our vet on our days off, so I trusted him. And, out of all the years I've had animals, this is the FIRST time I've had to use the services of an emergency clinic. Naturally it would be on the 'free' dog that showed up as a stray.

He's worth it, though. And even if he does hate his new hat, I think he's cute in it!