Munchausen by proxy – too much time observing Carli

During my 4 weeks of being homebound, I had too much time on my hands to observe Carli’s eating and digestion. Her first episode of “being unwell” was in August. She spent about 12 hours lying on the couch sleeping and not being interested in eating or drinking anything until she suddenly jumped up and ate and acted like all was normal. She had a similar episode about a month later and then they started getting closer together. She would have a day where she slept and refused to eat or drink until she was suddenly well. During these episodes she ignores her favorite treats. I was very worried for the first couple and then just expected her to be better late in the day.

On New Year’s eve, she had another episode except this time she vomited her undigested breakfast in the late afternoon. While she was drinking by bedtime, she did not come back to normal. I could hear loud sounds from her GI tract. An hour or so after she would eat, she would start moaning and her little legs would jerk in her sleep like she was uncomfortable. She was belching more and her finicky eating was worse. Her favorite treat was sweet potatoes and she refused to eat them.

I put her on a boiled chicken and rice which she would eat. I got some special kibble for digestive health and gradually added that to her rice and chicken with some success. She then seemed to start drinking more water and peeing indoors.

As I had really nothing else to think about I have diagnosed her with reflux, irritable bowel syndrome with a little bit of diabetes. I need my life back.

Last week I had a couple of Zoom calls. Normally when I put the computer on my lap, she will move and lay beside me. She has had so much access to my lap the past month that she refused to move and I actually used her as a computer table for at least 30 minutes. She is a funny little dog.

Addendum – a part of the journey of Carli’s GI distress was a trial of white rice and boiled chicken which she would happily eat. I have had a couple of weeks now of trying to gradually get her back on her dry food. I got some special digestive health kibble. Every time I think we are making progress she stops eating. She used to love sweet potatoes; now she will not eat them. She now loves peanut butter. Peanut butter started the vehicle to get her to take her monthly pills. Then it became a reward for exercising more recently as appetite stimulant. She changes the rules constantly and openly defies my sense of “now I understand”.

Yesterday was the “great standoff”. I made her mix of chicken, rice and kibble that she had eaten the day before and she ignored it. After several hours, I gave her a small amount of peanut butter as a enticer. She ate the peanut butter; ate a very small amount of food and wanted more peanut butter. I added a small amount of cheese to her food; she didn’t blink. After a couple of hours, I added some more chicken and she didn’t blink. I made a scrambled egg and mixed it with the food and she didn’t blink. She continued to drink throughout the day so it wasn’t one of her “sick days”. I did not give in and give her more peanut butter but about 9 PM, I mixed up some more rice and chicken and put it on top of the other food. She ate this and then went on to finish all of the food. She immediately started her bullying behavior for peanut butter. I held out for 30 minutes and then she got peanut butter and some more snacks. Have I mentioned that a big part of her bullying behavior is her immense cuteness and the amount of affection she gives me.

Today is another day in the life of Tamara versus Carli.