Proof You Love Your Pet$

This is a bit of a follow up to my last post, since I know you have been holding your breath waiting to hear how my animals are all faring.

Omen's remaining teeth are all nice and clean for a mere $195. Yes, you caught that - remaining. When the vet called to tell me that Omen's dental cleaning had gone well, she said, "We didn't have to remove any more teeth." Um, we never had any of his teeth removed. "Oh, um, maybe he just lost them. You know, of old age." Great. Can anyone say foreshadowing?

Callie's appointment was less productive. We waited, remarkably calmly, if the truth be told, for almost 2 hours to see the animal opthamologist. I tatted (lace) and Callie dozed in her crate. We met a swan who had been abused by teenagers and been in rehab for 18 months. She was just getting some sight back in one eye. We met a 3 year old mastiff who had suddenly gone blind 2 months earlier for no apparent reason. There were numerous other dogs of various ages and conditions, universally loved and doted upon by their owners. It turned out the same vet tech from the vet clinic on base worked at this office as well. We see that all the time here. There seems to be a small circle of devout animal lovers who work themselves to the bone in multiple clinics, shelters and other animal services. Somehow this overworked woman recognized me and her demeanor changed immediately. I had followed up! She had obviously never expected us to take Callie to a specialist for care, but there we were, mere days after the first visit, so we must have acted immediately! I really think I earned her respect and perhaps gave her a little hope that day. Not only was she great at the appointment, but followed up with me over the phone, too. The doctor was nice enough, too, and competent, I'm sure. Everyone at the specialty clinic was. Unfortunately, they confirmed the Horner's diagnosis, and there's not much else to do about it. 3 hours of my life and $150 later (only 10 of which was the appointment), we'd gained nothing. In fact, we were just in time to pick Omen up at the other vet and pay them. Ugh.

Oh, and out of the blue today the dog decided to eat another child at the bus stop. I should stop saying that. He's never actually bitten anyone. But he snaps at people sometimes, and worse, sometimes he goes after people as if he would bite them if we weren't holding him back. We always keep him on a leash, except in dog parks and places like that, and 99% of the time, he's a calm, loving, submissive dog. We have no idea what sets him off sometimes! It's always men, or boys, we know that. But that's it so far. Regardless of why he freaks, it's never acceptable. If you have a Chihuahua and it attacks someone, they can fend it off. Yes, they can draw blood, but it will not be a major injury. If Orion attacks someone, he will cause some serious damage. We're talking court-order-to-kill-the-dog-immediately damage. So we can't risk even one grouchy, bad day. It's a real problem for owners of large dogs. The general opinion among all of the experts we've consulted so far is that I'm not a good alpha. Yes, apparently my rescued dog eats people sometimes and it's my fault. Like a mom needs more guilt. So the goal is to increase his exercise and dramatically increase my time training him one-on-one. And maybe get us both D.A.P. collars! But more on that later...

For now, rest assured the cats are well and the dog is well-fed.

Pets Are for Life

8:10 am on a Tuesday. The annual routine checkup for the pets. I triple wrap a "sample" from the litter box before throwing it into my bag and wrestle both cats into their crates. Omen settles in mildly annoyed, but calm. Callie turns into a furry octopus, using all her limbs, and even her ears, to resist the cage. But I'm bigger, I've done this before, and I have the scars to prove it. I turn her around and slide her in tail first before she knows what's happening. The dog foolishly thinks we're going somewhere fun. He jumps around like a 100-lb JRT until we open the door and he bolts for the car, wagging with his whole body and looking back at us as if to say, "Let me in! Let me in!" 2 cats, the dog, our (human) toddler daughter, my husband and I finally set off to see the vet.

For routine care, we visit the vet clinic on base. The facilities are tiny and old, but the staff are as caring as any around. We start with the cats. Omen weighs in at 14.9 lbs, which is normal for him. He tolerates the exam well, growling a bit at the booster shots, but otherwise remarkably patient. He's great, except he needs his teeth cleaned. As any cat owner knows, that's a $200+ full anesthesia event.

Callie is a slender 11.9 lbs. Since last Thursday, one of her eyes isn't working properly, and it's obviously my primary concern. I tell the vet tech that from my (layman's) online research, it appears to be Horner's Syndrome. I'm pretty sure they hear owners declaring things like that all the time, and I'm equally sure she thinks I'm an idiot. Still, she can see the cat's eye is weird and calls in the vet. Callie's eye isn't dilating properly, and her third eyelid is partially closed. The vet suggests it looks like Horner's Syndrome (told ya!). There are several possible causes of Horner's, from head injuries to simple earaches. After an hour of consideration and discussion, we have a referral to an animal opthamologist. The only one in the state will be in our area on Friday. For one day. I think we're seeing him long enough to get an estimate.

Orion has already had all his shots. We brought him in primarily to establish his medical record on base and get his tags. Oh, and the daycare people reminded me he's due for a Bordetella booster. I accidentally called it a "Bordello" booster, which would be a great name for a fundraiser for poodles of ill repute, but did nothing to convince the vet tech of my intelligence. We're also out of one of his two medications. I write we "are" out because by the time all this happened I couldn't remember what we were out of, so I couldn't buy any more of it.

So one routine appointment and $100 later, we have 3 irritated animals, 2 more appointments to make to further annoy them, and at least one trip back to the vet to get the medication we couldn't remember. While all this was going on, I heard a staff member explaining the procedure for getting rid of heartworms to another pet owner. Apparently her newly rescued cat was plagued with them. The instructions weren't too awfully long so much as dire, and I watched the woman's face fall. I could only hope that she was so sad about her cat's condition, rather than overwhelmed to the point of abandoning the cat. In our case, the vet tech used the words, "if you choose to see the specialist" repeatedly, even after I assured her we would. I suspect she's seen more than a few humans give up on their animals. Well, not these humans. And not you, either, if you've read this far. My husband and I didn't even have to discuss it; of course the appointments were made, immediately. In the back of my mind there's an old bumper sticker I saw years ago... Pets are for life, not just for Christmas. The quality of their lives is our gift to them, a small repayment for all they do for us.