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What do you mean, thank god it's Friday?
Mar. 23rd, 2007 08:03 pmIs this how I'm supposed to spend Friday night?
At 4:30 we got a call from Mr. Husky, one of his wife's dogs has severe bloody diarrhea, can he bring it in? Sure. Sadly for me, Mr. Husky lives 40 minutes away--so he doesn't arrive until shortly after 5. The dog STINKS; seriously, do NOT stand down-wind of this boy! Somehow, the owner manages to not be aware of the stench (I know this, because in discussing how this is different from/similar to parvo, he says that he hasn't noticed this dog smelling as bad as the parvo pups did. HAH!)
After blood work, x-rays, starting an IV, and discussing things with the owner, I am just finishing cleaning up the mess and heading out the door when the phone rings.
And don't you all just love conversations that start off on a note like this? "My dad just ran over my dog, and she has a broken leg." I know I do, especially when the next sentence is "We're looking for options besides putting her to sleep that don't cost so much money."
...Don't cost so much money? just what the hell do you mean by THAT? nevermind, I KNOW what you mean-- you want me to make the dog good as new for less than $50 don't you?...
"Well that depends on what you mean by "so much money". Difficult to give you much of a quote without seeing the dog, but general ranges are about $300-400 for a cast (if it's in a place we can cast), $350-500 for an amputation, $600-800 for pinning or some more extensive surgery. Really depends on several things though..."
So it turns out that this is a 10 year old dog, at least 100 pounds, already arthritic and has trouble getting around. About then, the girl passes me off to her dad, and I get to repeat the whole conversation up to that point.
When I explain that amputation is probably not going to be a really good option in a dog that already has difficulty getting up and around, and that pretty much anything we do will be at least $300, the guy says "I'm sorry, I just can't do that."
...Ok, well, don't apologize to me, apologize to your daughter and her dog...
So then I finally get home and bolt some dinner down. And back to the clinic to check on stinky dog. Who has mad the clinic nice and stinky by this point, but is actually looking quite a bit perkier with some fluids in him. Get him moved to a clean kennel, mop out his dirty one, and head back home.
And, right on cue, half way home the phone rings. So I end up sitting in my driveway talking on the phone, cuz I figure there's no point walking into the house and then having to turn back around. And right enough, back to the clinic I go to check on a 9 day old runt-puppy that's been pushed off by mom, is cold and listless. Owner is really a nice lady, and almost in tears while I'm looking at the pup. Get her set up with some milk replacer and a bottle, some sub-q fluids in the pup and go over the whole heating-pad set up, nursing instructions, how to stimulate urination, etc, and the standard warning that a lot of runts are small because things didn't form right inside...so don't be too shocked if the pup doesn't make it. So freaking depressing.
Which brings me to--what comfort foods do you folks prefer? Right now, I'm trying to soothe my nerves with hot cocoa and toast.
At 4:30 we got a call from Mr. Husky, one of his wife's dogs has severe bloody diarrhea, can he bring it in? Sure. Sadly for me, Mr. Husky lives 40 minutes away--so he doesn't arrive until shortly after 5. The dog STINKS; seriously, do NOT stand down-wind of this boy! Somehow, the owner manages to not be aware of the stench (I know this, because in discussing how this is different from/similar to parvo, he says that he hasn't noticed this dog smelling as bad as the parvo pups did. HAH!)
After blood work, x-rays, starting an IV, and discussing things with the owner, I am just finishing cleaning up the mess and heading out the door when the phone rings.
And don't you all just love conversations that start off on a note like this? "My dad just ran over my dog, and she has a broken leg." I know I do, especially when the next sentence is "We're looking for options besides putting her to sleep that don't cost so much money."
...Don't cost so much money? just what the hell do you mean by THAT? nevermind, I KNOW what you mean-- you want me to make the dog good as new for less than $50 don't you?...
"Well that depends on what you mean by "so much money". Difficult to give you much of a quote without seeing the dog, but general ranges are about $300-400 for a cast (if it's in a place we can cast), $350-500 for an amputation, $600-800 for pinning or some more extensive surgery. Really depends on several things though..."
So it turns out that this is a 10 year old dog, at least 100 pounds, already arthritic and has trouble getting around. About then, the girl passes me off to her dad, and I get to repeat the whole conversation up to that point.
When I explain that amputation is probably not going to be a really good option in a dog that already has difficulty getting up and around, and that pretty much anything we do will be at least $300, the guy says "I'm sorry, I just can't do that."
...Ok, well, don't apologize to me, apologize to your daughter and her dog...
So then I finally get home and bolt some dinner down. And back to the clinic to check on stinky dog. Who has mad the clinic nice and stinky by this point, but is actually looking quite a bit perkier with some fluids in him. Get him moved to a clean kennel, mop out his dirty one, and head back home.
And, right on cue, half way home the phone rings. So I end up sitting in my driveway talking on the phone, cuz I figure there's no point walking into the house and then having to turn back around. And right enough, back to the clinic I go to check on a 9 day old runt-puppy that's been pushed off by mom, is cold and listless. Owner is really a nice lady, and almost in tears while I'm looking at the pup. Get her set up with some milk replacer and a bottle, some sub-q fluids in the pup and go over the whole heating-pad set up, nursing instructions, how to stimulate urination, etc, and the standard warning that a lot of runts are small because things didn't form right inside...so don't be too shocked if the pup doesn't make it. So freaking depressing.
Which brings me to--what comfort foods do you folks prefer? Right now, I'm trying to soothe my nerves with hot cocoa and toast.
