As I write this at 8:30 at night, I am waiting for my daughter to get back from the pet store, gearing up for the fight I know we’re going to have as soon as she gets back.
It’s not that she’s coming home with a pet we haven’t given her permission to have (been there, done that, with three rabbits, a guinea pig, a kitten, two frogs and four hermit crabs over the last four years), but one of our three dogs, Daisy, cut the top of her paw between two of her toes this evening. After some searching, we found the cone we keep on hand. It looked pretty shabby. In fact, it’s really not a cone anymore, but kind of a misshapen mountain peak with a narrow caldera on top.
My daughter is convinced we need to toss Daisy into the car and head for the 24/7 emergency vet about an hour away. I am not. Daisy’s not bleeding out; she’s not crying in pain; she’s not even limping. Yes, the cut looks a little deep, but there’s no bone showing. I’ve sent my daughter to get us another cone and some other supplies. When Kayla gets back, we’ll probably have a fight over whether to take Daisy to the emergency vet. Vets cost a lot as it is; emergency vets are even more expensive.
My husband agrees with me that we are going to bandage the paw, put the cone on the dog and then see what things are like in the morning. (He had to work tonight.) If Daisy’s doing bad at that point, he’ll be able to drop her off at the vet’s office then. Hopefully the dog won’t need the vet at all.
We have used the emergency vet before. Years ago, with a different set of dogs, one of our dogs tore the ear on the other dog by stepping on it while they were playing. Of course, this happened on a Saturday morning. That was the day we learned that ears are very vascular, and they don’t bandage well at all. To fix a torn ear properly, the vet has to do full surgery, with anesthesia. That was that particular dog’s first Very Expensive Vet Bill. The same dog’s second Very Expensive Vet Bill came the afternoon she decided to eat a box of golden raisins. Grapes are toxic to dogs, and raisins are concentrated grapes. I got home that day from work about 5:45, took one look at the box of raisins, and threw two dogs, one 10-year-old and myself into the car, high-tailing it to the emergency vet about 30 minutes away. By the time they reached her, she was already past the narrow window a vet usually has to get the raisins out before they cause serious harm. But this particular dog truly lived a charmed life. She was saved from the raisins by a sock. We have no idea how long the sock had been in her stomach, but it pre-dated the raisins. This accidentally "medicinal" sock blocked the raisins from being absorbed into her body. Even the vet tech was giggling about that one.
I really don’t know why emergencies are so inconsiderate; you’d think at least once in a lifetime they would occur at a convenient hour. Once you make it through them, though, they certainly make great story fodder!
And for the record, there was no fight – instead, my sweet daughter got the cone on the dog and then took the misshapen cone and put it on herself to try to help the dog not be afraid. It didn’t work, but it was a noble effort.
Do you have any emergency vet story, emergency room visit, or mechanical failure you have been able to use in your writing?
I hope your dog is doing better! Years ago, our little pound puppy lost all of the fur on her ears. After visits to two vets and a doggie oncologist, it turned out to be a fungus that ordinary foot cream cured.
ReplyDeleteWhat we do for our kids and their pets. We once paid for x-rays for our daughter’s guinea pig when it fell off our tall deck.
ReplyDeleteWe once had a roofer repairing and replacing slates on our Cincinnati Victorian take one of our cats to the vet for surgery when he showed up with a torn leg. (Probably from jumping on/off a fence with those sharp metal twists on top.) Still grateful to the gentleman for saving our cat's life.
ReplyDeleteWe have an inflatable "tire" which is more comfortable than the cone of shame. And a pair of little boy boxers which protect stomach stitches when the inflatable tire does not.
ReplyDeleteThe late, great, 60 pound standard poodle Toby outdid himself when he ate the foliage on a new houseplant and started foaming at the mouth. I raced to the vet who determined he could still breathe but his mouth was numb. A few minutes later, I discovered that he had eaten most of the "dumb cane" plant. The vet checked the toxic plant website and poured a cup of milk down his gullet, which took care of his symptoms. The new houseplant went in the trash.
We've been lucky, I guess. And used sympathetic vets who suggested alternate treatments. When the hoard of semi-feral cats were miserable with ear mites, we were told to purchase a cattle anti-parasite and put one drop between the shoulder blades of each cat. It was not easy getting near them (they had all been through the catch-neuter-release regime) but it worked wonders, and with just one application. Thanks to that vet's free advice.
ReplyDeletePets are so expensive, yet we can't live without them! Great stories, though I'm sorry you and yours had to go through them.
ReplyDeleteAw, hope your guy is doing better! I know exactly what you mean about off-vet hours. Mine have always managed to need emergency care in the period between Saturday vet closing and Sunday at 4 AM. And even better - they manage to time it 1) when I receive my annual bonus, 2) a yummy tax refund, 3) an outstanding royalty check, or 4) another publication payment. And even better than that - they manage to be sure the vet bill is within $5 or $10 of the total I receive. I don't have cats, dogs, or birds, I have little Carnac the Magnificants. and I wouldn't have it any other way.
ReplyDeleteI brought my two 3-year-old kitties to the vet for a wellness visit plus a stool testing and their rabies shots to the tune of almost $500, so I can imagine what an emergency visit must cost. As Lori said, we can't live without our pets. I did get pet insurance about a year ago.
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