Tuesday, January 02, 2007

I Apparently Have A Second Home

Nope it's not my mom's house... it's the vet's. I found myself looking at Chance's (aka geriatric dachshund) wound on Sunday and Monday and going... hmmm rubbing my chin and then dragging him to brighter light. Asking D to take a look and watching D shrug his shoulders and go "you're the medical professional" gee thanks honey... He had some drainage - we knew he would. However there was a questionable area that we also weren't sure if it would be able to be closed and well that area was draining some fluid that could possibly be described as pus. So since D adamantly protested calling the vet - stating "I never tell her the right things" I made the call as I was driving to work. The vet and I talked - she's wonderful and stated "I thought about calling and seeing how he was doing as I was thinking of you guys..." I explained the situation and we decided he was good for the night, but that on Tuesday morning he would need to be seen.

So - Tuesday morning after working all night and D working all night - don't worry the puppies were fine - they were sleeping like lizards on the dog bed it was quite comical... I came home - let Meg, Ernie and Lola out. Coaxed Meg in to see the puppies - nurse for a bit and then that's when things started going wrong... I ran out to give Lola and Ernie some water - suddenly Meg is out and the puppies are out preparing to poop on my bedroom floor. Okay nursing is done... so I put Meg in her kennel, get the puppies back into their play yard and latch it with the caribeener. Get Lola back inside and hear Chance bellering... and I think a puppy as well.

I come to the bedroom and find - one puppy out... one puppy stuck and Chance is hollering because one of the puppies is hollering and he's worried about it. Don't worry the little houdinis were fine. I resecure the play yard and talk to the puppies explaining D will be back shortly and that they needed to lay their tookus's down and wait for him to come home to feed them a real meal. They all sat looking at me intently - I should have known better. However they are sweet and innocent looking.

D was approximately 10 minutes away... I grab Chance get him outside, pottied and into a lush box to carry him to the vet and again - check to make sure puppies are not out. Ernie and Lola are in their respective kennels... Off to the vet we go.

D and I talk on the phone I warn him that they are their mother's children and that they are escape artists and are capable of breaking and entering. D laughs as in "hahaha she's exaggerating" We get off the phone when he gets home and about two seconds later - I'm almost to the vet's my phone rings. Apparently 3 had managed to escape and the 4th had clogged the getaway route by getting hung up. So D came home to pooping and peeing puppies and well... they apparently were having a grand old time... I had to hang up - I was at the vet and then of course I was laughing as well because heck my morning hadn't gone all that well and at least he was cleaning things up!

So we wait a bit at the vet's. Chance now thinks he owns the joint and greets all the desk girls with barks of delight and wags of the tail. He also has become a bit barky when others enter the joint. We get in to see the vet and we learn Chance has lost a pound with his liposuction and belly lift (seriously my pooch had quite a bit of extra skin and it's highly likely that that's the case rather than a lack of appetite because he didn't miss that many meals.). He's a svelte 11.2 lbs. The wound while it doesn't look bad does have a pus pocket... the vet feels this should heal on it's own, and we changed antibiotics in the hopes of better coverage. In the meantime I get to clean Chance's wound and keep an eye on things. He may in the future due to the tightness of his belly lift (he lost quite a bit of skin) require more surgery to release the scar tissue but right now we're kind of in wait and see mode. He's happy as a clam - wants to play with the puppies - REALLY wants to play with the puppies - become all giddy just looking at them when they walk past his kennel... we're waiting until he's healed to allow that kind of behavior.

So yeah uhmm that's what's going on at my house. We're hoping to stay away from the vet's until he has to have the stitches out - but at least they're nice...

2 comments:

OHN said...

I have always thought it would be so much "fun" to have a female dog and let her have a litter...I am seriously rethinking. I also have been fighting the urge to go pound shopping to get a new 'slightly used' pooch for the family. I really miss my two pups that I lost this fall.

Maribeth said...

You really have to love the puppies to "enjoy" all of this work. No sooner have I changed the box they live in then the gang all take turns weeing and pooping. Try as she might, Greta really is having trouble keeping up with them.