Dogs, Puppies and Vets

How many times do you take your dog to the vet? I am being specific about dogs as this is my chosen pet.

This morning I woke up to my 5 month old puppy vomiting everywhere.My puppy is a miniture pintzer and terrier cross and she weighs 9lb. This was the second morning in a row. Now I thought it is time to take her to the vet. This is a mission in itself.

Getting her in the car, then trying to get a hold of the vet by phone to make an appointment so that I do not have to wait around forever. Finally get there at 8.25am and luckily they said I would be the second appointment. As my poor puppy was looking at me with those sad eyes i figured that was good. Waiting a good hour I then get seen. A list of all the possibilites

• Did she swallow a toy
• Did she swallow underwear or a sock
• Did she chew a toy where all the stuffing came out
• Did she eat something that was different

The list went on and on. After examination my poor puppy has pain in her pancreas and or intestine/stomach area.

Then comes the great part. We can do a stool exam, we can do an X ray etc etc etc and if you do all of that then it will cost you just over $500.00. What do you do? Your pet is a member of the family and you become very attached to them but now you have a choice just before the Christmas shopping spree to either spend all of the money on the dog or spend it on the rest of the family for Christmas. It could just be an upset stomach that will go after a day or so and some rest. How will you know?

The decision.........take the antacid pills they gave her and see how she does over the week-end. Total bill $97.00 time of visit nearly 3 hours.

The reason for such a long wait a the vet - during my puppy's exam an emergency came in, a 13 year old dog who was having seizures and was diagnosed with cancer last week. Everyone in the vet surgery was attending to the poor dog. The owner of the pet was hysterical and someone was trying to calm her down. After an hour or so the decision was made to put the dog down. The owner and everyone in the surgery including myself was in tears. Even me who had never met the dog, never seen the dog was in tears also.

We make the decision rather quickly when it comes to our pets, if they are sick and are suffering then put them down. We do not let them go for weeks or months in pain and wait for them to die. Is this the right thing to do? Over the years I have put down 2 dogs and had 1 dog die, it is heartbreaking.

When it comes to humans we do not do the same thing at all. I do not want to get into a debate about this I am just saying.

Knowing how much love you receive from a dog and how much love you cannot help but give it back it is painful to see them so helpless and in pain. However watching episodes of the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan says the dogs live in the now. Living in the now, so whatever they are feeling that very second is how they are, they do not become the illness unlike human beings who mostly do not live in the now and become what ever we are labeled.

Dogs you can have for over 15 years and yes they cost money to look after and they cost money to keep healthy, just like humans. There is pet insurance just like Health insurance.

So it came to my mind after the vet visit this morning to remember if you are getting someone a puppy, kitten or any sort of pet for Christmas that this is a long term commitment and not just for the holidays.

Monitoring my puppy over the week-end and giving her love and healing energy I am sure she is going to be her normal self again very soon and getting into mischief like she always does. I will however be very very careful not to let her eat anything she should not.

Happy Holidays.