The last few (it will be three this Monday) weeks have been dedicated to Zoe our little girl Rhodesian Ridgeback.
It started simple enough she was needing to go out more than normal. So after one night of that (which meant no sleep) we talked to our friend who is a vet (and one of the most wonderful people I know) and she helped us get an appointment for Zoe with a great vet at Chadwells Animal Hospital. So on Monday Zoe and I headed out to meet our friend Beth and go to the vets. See Zoe didn’t come to us until she was about eight months old and when she did she was full of fear for other dogs and even some men. It took a while for her and Dakota to chum up but once they did, they became inseparable. The two haven’t really been apart since they got together, so Zoe having an adventure without Dakota, well I was worried about how she’d behave. (Of course my worry turned out to be needless as she was a stellar patient through this whole ordeal!) We arrived at the office and I went in and checked us in while Beth stayed in the car with Zoe. When it was her turn they came out and got us, making sure the area was clear of any dogs that might lunge at Zoe. (She does fine as no other dog rushes at her, do that and she bolts trying to get away which can drag me down in a hurry!) She was weighed on the scale and we went in to a room to wait for Dr. G. Dr. Gold is just that, pure gold! He is one of the nicest vets I’ve dealt with and he really gave lots of attention to Zoe. How a vet treats my fur kids, has a lot to do with how I treat them and if I’ll go back. Well he got down on the floor with her and talked to her and really related well. I was happy about that! They suspected she had a UTI and after an exam said that (which I knew) she needed to have her teeth done and to have a large lump on her side removed. Dr. G said he believed it was just a fat lump, nothing to be worried about. He took blood and did an aspiration on the lump, but assured me (as did Beth) that because of how it felt they were pretty positive it was just fat. Home we came to wait for test results, to start the antibiotics for the UTI and make our appointment for surgery and teeth cleaning.
Well life as I’ve learned is funny and while the UTI improved, her teeth or rather tooth decided to flair up and one section of her face puffed up like she had cotton stuff in her cheek! I called Beth and she said sooner rather than later on the surgery. So skip to Monday (the weeks end and the weekend were long and sleep interrupted.) and off Zoe and I go again to pick up Beth and head to the hospital. They took her in a little after lunch and went to work on her. Beth went in and stayed with her the whole time, which I was so glad of because I worried about her being with strange people (what can I say I love my babies!). Randy arrived a little while later and we sat out in the car with Beth texting us updates every so often. When the lump came out we got a picture and it turned out there had been two of them.
Wow! Beth said one was the size of a small grapefruit, the other a lemon and we didn’t know about the second one! That thing had been hidden behind the big one, egads! She also said that those lumps aren’t from anything a pet owner does or doesn’t do, feeds or doesn’t feed, it just one of those weird genetic things that happens to dogs. Next up were her teeth which were cleaned and she had to have a few removed as well. Poor Zoe.
At about 4:30 we were allowed to load her up and take her home. Under normal circumstances (i.e. your best friend isn’t a vet) most dogs would have stayed for several more hours or possibly even over night. Thankfully my best friend is a vet and we got to bring home our very drugged up pup. She came home with a large area of stitches as well as a drain in place but she slept the entire night with just a few whimpers. We put a t-shirt on her to keep her from licking her stitches.
Since then she’s gotten better everyday and is getting impatient with us because we won’t let her jump on the bed or play with Dakota. Saturday her drain was removed and the two holes are healing nicely and by the end of this week, she will have her stitches out and life will be back to normal or at least as normal as it gets. Until then we are housebound because she can’t be left alone till they come out. She’s worth it and she is one of the very few things that I will miss a Caps game for!
Love that face!
