I don’t feel bad about taking Spooner-dawg to the vet’s – and she doesn’t really seem to mind going all that much However, we’ve learned she’s much more snappy with the staff if I’m in the room while they’re doing the exam.
In fact she’s going to the Puppy Hilton (vet’s also does boarding) this weekend - she’s getting the spa treatment - nails clipped and a bath & brushing while we head to West Michigan. (grandparents’ cottage near Pentwater)
Oh.
Well, me and Susie are just gonna be here, layin’ on the bed and watchin’ movies together.
Okay?
Quasi
Yes, I feel badly.
But then again, I have rats, who only go to the vet if there’s something extremely wrong with them.
FatBoy used to climb up my front and hide behind my neck.
Oh, yeah. Forgot this part of the story.
I’ve mentioned my folks’ shepherd mix, Nanama, on the board before.
A couple of years ago my father had a heart attack; the day Mom brought him to the hospital my sister took Nana to the vet for a thorough bathing/teeth cleaning/you name it so she wouldn’t pose a health threat to Dad by being dirty.
I picked her up from the vet with sister. The vet’s assistant had to have me come back to get her out of the wall unit - Nana refused to leave until she saw me. It took both the assistant and I to corner her (and the room was barely larger than a closet) so I could get her collar, chokechain and leash on.
Once that was done, she took off running at top speed (which is pretty darn fast). Thing is, she couldn’t get any traction on the vet’s tile floor. So she’s running alongside me at about 90 mph while I’m walking at a normal pace back out to the lobby.
I was a little afraid of what was going to happen when we hit concrete, but she calmed down once the door was open.
(On a side note; my father is fine now, and that afternoon when he came home she was incredibly delicate with him. She didn’t try to leap up on him, or join him on the couch or anything;she just curled up on the side of the couch where he could reach her with his fingertips when he wanted to.)
brought him home from the hospital.
I’m going back to bed.
I noticed this kind of behavior too, after my SO had knee surgery. It was a painful thing for him (he tore the PCL and the MCL and stretched the LCL things in his knee) and the normally wild and crazy dog gang treated him so gently - no jumping up on him or roughousing around him while he healed. Animals just know these things.
I sometimes wonder what kind of an environment the ex kept the cat I have adopted in. (As this is the adoption story, so to speak, it won’t do to confuse the issue with pronouns, right? :D)
When Mr. X moved in with me, he told me all his cats went away. Then he said “Except the one who just had kittens. I’ve got her in a box, no problem, you won’t know they’re there.” Achoo! Otay. I dob’t bo dey’re dere. Noisy smelly little buggers.
Then I watched the training process he put them through prior to sending the litter off to the pet store for adoption. I don’t know from cats (or any animal, for that matter) but I didn’t think he was being very nice to them. Pointing out my concerns on that score created a huge ruckus that (less than a month after moving him in) I halfway wanted to kick him & kitties out.
Having adopted out the kittens, it was me, Climber (momma cat) and Mr. X. Mr. X and I had some, um, relationship difficulties. We fought - a lot. I cried - a lot. Climber, who had been his cat all along (and generally ignored me), suddenly started acting very aggressively towards him whenever he made me cry. As soon as he stormed out the house, she’d be all in my lap, nudging me for affection, and crying right along with me. If he was still choked when he came back, or if I was still upset, she’d attack him again.
When I kicked him out, I kept Climber. I got a damn good deal, there.
Do not do this unless instructed specifically by your vet: I am no expert, but it is my understanding that animals bleed out a lot more easily than humans when expoised to anything that thins the blood. I know it is a problem with cats, and am unsure about dogs.
Second, I just wanted to point out that when faced with those high bills it might help if you realized that the vet is also making huge sacrfices for the chance to treat your baby: I have a friend who is starting her third year of vet school, and I was really suprised to discover that starting out vets can expect to make about 35K a year, which is not a lot considering that the 8 years of schooliing often leave them 100k+ in debt. Anyone with the brains and the stubborness to become a vet could be makinga great deal more money. Mind you, those $300-$400 bills still stink.