29 March 2010

relief

sheesh, what a day.  pouring rain, car making a funny noise, AAAAANNNDDDD a trip to the vet for the Dog.

must be Monday.

The Dog, a 10 year old miniature dachshund, has been acting kindof funny for about the last 10 days.  lethargic, not playing with her toys, laying in her bed, and worst of all she's been having trouble getting up and down the steps when she needs to go out.

then, beginning on Friday night of course, because the vet is only open for a few hours on Saturday morning for appointments that cost a small fortune and really is Saturday that precious of a commodity, and if it is then why are you a doctor.  oh.....sorry....i digress.

anyway, on Friday night her symptoms got worse.  her little tiny back legs were buckling a bit and she started walking like a crab.  NOT good.  i can tell this, and i'm not even a vet.

called first thing this morning and got her an appointment.   wrapped her up in her bed, thus protecting myself from her gigantic and ominous teeth, so that i could walk through the monsoon to the car.  actually, her teeth aren't really all that gigantic.  but they still hurt when they pierce your skin, let me tell you.

she cried all the way to the vet, this being a dog who does not enjoy car rides in the slightest.  so, again trudging through the raging typhoon, i get her inside, where she proceeds to behave like she is a 2 year old puppy with nary a symptom to be seen.  those of you with children are very familiar with this phenomenon.  child is barfing, feverish, hallucinating, speaking in tongues, hacking up a lung UNTIL you get into the exam room at the pediatrician's office, where they make a miraculous recovery, exhibit no signs of illness whatsoever and proceed to make you look like a red-faced bumbling idiot.  this is the one time in your life when you actually WANT to hear the doctor say that your child has scarlet fever, hanta virus or ebola, just so that you are justified in being in their office.

actually, once the adrenaline wore off, The Dog did make an effort to ACT like she might be hurting or that something was wrong.  she did drag her back legs a bit, and it was obvious to the vet that she was suffering from a typical dachshund malady, problems with her spine - long and weiner-like that it is.

i left her there in the office, or as the vet calls it, *in-house hospitalization* (i think mostly so that she can charge me more for 5 hours in their back room than you'd pay at a 4-star hotel).  i authorized x-rays, blood work and a pain med injection (i considered asking for one myself at this point, believe me) so that we could rule out other issues.

got the call a few hours later that The Dog did have some inflammation in her back/spine and that she'd be coming home with some anti-inflammatory meds and a prescription for reduced activity.

big sigh of relief.

i have lost sleep over the past few nights as i contemplated telling my 12 year old daughter that her beloved Dog might be not long for this world.  i can't tell you how thankful i am that i can put that off for a while.

we've had the "The Dog is getting older, and we need to remember that pets don't live as long as people" talk a few times lately, but this ailment really popped up out of nowhere and i was feeling woefully unprepared to have this conversation FOR REAL.

so, $440 later, The Dog is sleeping in her bed, snoring loudly and peacefully, and my little girl is smiling and happy.

that makes it all worthwhile.




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a nightmare. I sympathize with you. Last summer I was getting my new kitten all of his shots while at the same time taking my older cat to the vet once a week. I think I spent $1,000 in two months.

I'm glad Lily is feeling better. She looks like such a sweetie!

Unknown said...

aww, what a great picture! Sorry for the hit to your bank account, but glad you can prolong the 'good bye lilly' moment...even if only for a little while longer!

-k

girlysmack said...

Phew! That sounded so scary. I am so glad Lily will be okay!

Also, not to be morbid, but since you mentioned Lily is 12 ... there is a children's book called Dog Heaven that is just beautiful and such a comfort, even for us grown ups that might help A a lot when that awful time comes.

Wink said...

erin, thank you SO much for the recommendation! i really haven't found "the book" yet that seemed to fit for us. i will definitely look for this one..............

xo

Anonymous said...

Good for Lil's!!!!!!! She is the original Diva!

-Leila

Wink said...

erin, thank you SO much for the recommendation! i really haven't found "the book" yet that seemed to fit for us. i will definitely look for this one..............

xo

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