Housekeeping

Have you ever noticed that when you get some money, in addition to what you normally bring in, such as someone buying a piece of equipment you were selling or that "extra" paycheck that comes twice a year for those who are paid every 2 weeks rather than twice a month, you get hit with an unexpected and not trivial expense? And that it usually either negates the bonus cash or exceeds it? Yeah.

"And how is that sick and beloved puppy dog?" you kindly ask.

"Ah. Let me continue the saga." I say.

When last I left you, it was Friday and we had just gotten back from the second trip to the vet that week. If you don't remember, read the last post for the long version. To sum up: Vomiting, followed by incontinence of bowels then better then incontinence of urine and congested in the schnoz. 2 antibiotics, 2 vet trips, labs, labs, and the info for the emergency vet clinic. Large amounts of paper towels, old bath towels, antiseptic cleaner, and the constant running of the washer and dryer.

Saturday, she really seems better. We excavate boogers, I kid you not, the size of the last phalanx of my finger, which causes her to smile afterward, because who wouldn't if the concrete nose plugs were removed. She eats some chicken. She eats some more. She seems comfortable, if still peeing lots.

Sunday, here we go again, but worse: The pee, the poop, the nose, and she just looks like she's had enough. Charles and I look at each other and decide that we need to trust our instincts and take her in to the expensive pet urgent care. They are lovely and concerned. The vet has spoken to our vet 2 days before, as he had a feeling we would be coming in. The labs were in her possession, the ones from his office and the ones sent to the outside lab that are back. She does a thorough exam and finds that her belly is tender and distended. Her weight is up 3 pounds, despite all the output, her labs, while not bad, are lower, not counting for dehydration, which she is showing some mild signs of. Emma is a trooper. Even when she squeals and jumps back when the sore place on her stomach is examined, she then goes back and"apologizes" to the vet and licks her hand. The x-ray shows her stomach is distended and possibly consistent with early bloat, her spleen is markedly enlarged, her bladder distended. Of course we consent to surgery, which they can perform in a controlled fashion, after they hydrate her and finish another emergent surgery. After all, she really doesn't look like she is dying in front of us.

Last night, after the surgery, the vet called. Emma is recovering uneventfully. They found a spleen 4 times its normal size, which is now in a bucket somewhere, no longer causing her a problem. The stomach was not torsed and is now tacked so she will not have a problem in the future. Her bladder seems fine. The head-scratching presumptive diagnosis is that of "splenitis" causing gastric outlet problems. They still can't account for the bladder. We go up to the clinic to pick her up tonight. We sincerely hope that this is the end of it.

And some good did come out of all that! I cleaned all our main floor carpets, something I've been needing to do for, well, really since we had them cleaned before we moved in almost 2 years ago, then had all our friends help us move all our stuff in through the muck. They look and smell so much better! See! Silver lining! Somebody slap me, please.

In other housekeeping news, for all you llama fans, I have here a picture I finally uploaded, taken last spring.

And, finally:

Q: How do you know it is Thanksgiving week here in the States?

A: Because I have a respiratory infection.

Sadly, with the exception of last year, I have been under the weather for each and every Thanksgiving since I started this line of work, some 15+ years ago. Nice to know there are some things you can count on. Gives you a sense of security in the troubled times.