The Island Vet

On Sunday morning, we were getting ready to go to the beach and I sent Rachel out to the car to find Hannah's water bottle.  A few minutes later, Rachel came rushing into the house saying, "Mom!  Holly's hurt!"  I didn't even know she had Holly outside with her.  Holly was in the front seat of the car.  When Rachel picked her up, she jumped out of Rachel's arms. 

It totally wasn't Rachel's fault.  It isn't the first time she has jumped like that.  However, this time she landed wrong.  When Rachel brought her in, Holly wouldn't put any weight on her left hind leg.  I was afraid it was broken.  We grabbed Holly's crate and she went right in.  I got on the computer and looked up vets in the area.  The local vet was closed since it was Sunday.  Their recording directed me to the emergency vet hospital in Naples.  I called P.K. in tears.  I had no idea how much it would cost to fix Holly's leg or if she would have to have surgery.  I called ahead to the emergency vet to make sure they were open and to make sure I had the correct address.  They told me it would be $95 just to see her.  I told P.K. what happened and he said, "I can't understand what you are saying."  I am usually pretty calm in a pinch, but I think the combination of the girls crying, being in a strange place and not knowing for sure what was wrong was a lot to take in.  I got myself under control and told him again.  Being the calm person that my sweet hubby is he said, "Just fix the dog."  I told him again that I had no idea how much it would cost and he calmly repeated, "Just fix the dog."

Here she is in her crate on Rachel's lap on the way to the vet.

The nurse took us to an exam room and took Holly's vitals.  She left us there to wait for the doctor to come in.  The girls sat on the floor with Holly to keep her company.  Once the doc came in and examined Holly she found that Holly had dislocated her knee.  So sad :(  The doc took Holly out of the room to get someone else to hold her while she fixed her knee.  She came back and said she wanted to give Holly an injection of pain medicine and do some x-rays to make sure there weren't any fractures.  I ran Hannah back to the house and Rachel and I grabbed lunch.

When we arrived back at the hospital, we were told that thankfully there were no other injuries.  Holly was feeling "really good" from the pain medication.  She was given pain pills and an anti-inflammatory to take at home.

When we got home we opened her crate to take her out of the car and this is how she looked.  She was drooling down the left side of her mouth.  It was soooo pitiful.  We just shut the crate and let her sleep it off.

We've (Rachel would want me to say...I've) had a very stressful week with Holly.  The vet ordered two weeks of inactivity.  That means Holly has been in her crate except for short potty walks.  A couple of times when I have gone to pick her up, she screams like she is in pain.  That kills me.  It is hard to not be able to explain why she has to stay in her crate all. the. time.  Rachel has been very helpful.  She is more relaxed with Holly and the injury than I am.  All the kids have been great with her.  They will do activities in my room where they can sit next to her while she is in her crate.  Aaron even read to her.  They have all taken turns just sitting next to her crate and rubbing her head.

We took her to a regular vet on Marco Island this morning to have the leg rechecked.  I was so nervous that he suggested I might have to be sent to the waiting room.  Huh!  It is funny because I have never been like that with my kids.  Even when Rachel broke her leg, I wasn't as nervous.  I think because we could communicate about when it hurt or the best way to move her. 

When my kids were little, there were many occasions where I had to force medicine in them or hold them down to suction their noses.  I would staddle them and hold their arms with my knees and hold their heads with my hands.  The difference is they didn't try to bite me.  We have to crush Holly's pain pill into a fine powder and roll it in a piece of turkey.  Crazy.

The vet this morning took her to another room to examine her leg.  He said Holly didn't limp at all and she even let him trim her nails.  He explained to us a bit more about how the knee needs to heal.  He said she needs another week of inactivity and probably 4-6 weeks of taking it easy to totally heal.  He said because we can't explain to her that she needs to let it heal, when it starts to feel better she is going to try to go staight to normal activity and it will hurt.  Bummer, but sounds just like people.

She finished her pain meds yesterday and the vet said she should be fine at this point with just the anti-inflammatory and we can use it until it is gone.  My plan is took keep her restricted in her crate for another week (or two weeks from this past Sunday) and then set her up in the kithchen where she can get out and walk a bit, but there is nowhere for her to climb.

The Things We Do

Hannah has been planning what to do for Holly's birthday for months.  She wanted to have her friends come over and bring their dogs.  I am all about the kids having fun and making wonderful childhood memories, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

I told Hannah she could make Holly a cake and I would buy her whatever she needed to do that.  She made three layers.  The first layer was soft dog food.  Holly regularly gets dry kibble.  The smell of the wet stuff makes me gag.  The second layer was crumbled dog treats.  The third layer was chicken baby food.  It is one of Holly's favorites which we know from her training classes. 

Rachel wanted to help make it, but her face really expresses what we both thought about it.

The girls decided to top the cake with an "H" made out of kibble.

Holly was in heaven when Hannah put the cake creation on the floor.  She tried her best to eat around the kibble.

This picture is right after Hannah got her.  She was about 9 weeks old.  Altough she is still small compared to a lot of dogs, I think the kitchen tiles are a good measure of how much she has grown.  The yellow duck she has in her mouth is also in the background of the picture of her eating her cake.

Holly got a few new chew toys as gifts from the kids.  The girls spent the rest of the night taking Holly out for extra bathroom breaks as I wasn't sure how her tummy would react to all that goodiness.  As far as I know, she did fine.

Do You Believe In Jesus?

This afternoon the kids were giving Holly a quick bath before we took her to the kennel. We were heading out of town for the weekend and this would be her first time being boarded. We couldn't have her smelling like a stinky dog.

Anyway, I overheard this conversation:

Aaron: (To PK who was peeking in to make sure everything was ok) Is this how you baptize someone? (Obviously trying to sprinkle the dog)

PK: Yes. But only people get baptized. (Walks away.)

ME: (In the other room, laughing and thinking we don't have time for a deep theological discussion. And isn't it cute that they want to play "baptize the congregation of one.")

The kids often play this game with Holly where they ask her a question and she will either nod her head yes or shake her head no. Usually it is questions like, "Is Mommy your favorite?" or "Do you want to play with your toys?" Her "answers" are really her moving her head and listening to them. I have no delusions that the dog is a genius and understands the entire English language and responds appropriately. If we can conquer sit, come and potty in the proper place on command, I will be happy.

Anyway, with that explanation, the conversation continues:

Aaron: Holly, do you believe in Jesus? (pause) She said, "Yes."

Me: (To PK) Well, they might drown the dog, but at least they get the whole accepting Jesus thing.

Good-ish Mostly Ish

I was downloading pictures today to update the blog and realized the kids had been playing with the camera because there were about 50 pictures of our puppy, Holly. I guess they should be recorded in our family blog.

This one really gives and idea of her size.

This one really gives an idea of what she is usually thinking. (I am small, but mighty and will eat you if I don't like you.)

When describing Holly, PK said, "I guess she is goodish. (Insert pause) Mostly ish." Cracked me up. PK is so serious but every once in a while he throws out something like that.

She is better than she use to be. We are working through her second session of training classes. She can sit, down, stay, shake hands, loose leash walk and is working on heeling. She will even come if she knows you have a treat or you shake the bag of treats for her to hear. Linda, our trainer, says acts such as shaking the bag of treats to make her come is a sign that we are well trained to accommodate Holly. When it is bedtime, she goes in her crate in Hannah's room. She gets a special treat and when Hannah asks, "Are you ready to go nite-nites?" Holly flies up the stairs. It is funny. I am glad she is finally walking on the leash. Taking her for a walk is much more fun than taking her for a drag.

Holly is becoming more confident and at least no longer tries to eat family members. We have really worked on socializing her. Chihuahuas are known for being little ankle biting yappy dogs, but I believe this is a behavior that can be modified. Linda is in complete agreement. When someone comes to the door we are getting her to sit and stay as we allow the person in the door. I was holding her when the electrician came in yesterday and she growled a little. I can't say as I blame her because he was not very friendly. I had a hard time not biting him.

I haven't practiced heeling with her as much as I should. I am just so glad she will walk on the leash. We (probably meaning "I" since I do the majority of her training, care taking, etc...go figure) are really going to focus on it now that the kids are out of school for the summer.

Ya Think?

We took Holly for her first visit to our vet yesterday. She is a healthy little puppy and weighed in at 2.4 pounds. She yelped when she got her shots. It was so sad.

When we were checking out at the front desk, a lady came in and was talking to another employee at the desk. The lady was carrying a disposable plastic container with a "yellow liquid." Here is the conversation:

(PO=pet owner LD=Lady at Desk)

PO - I called about my dog having a possible UTI and was told to bring in a urine sample.

Me - (I glance over and see her disposable container with a rather large amount of "sample." I immediately flash back to trying to get urine samples for the kids in those little paper cups when they were smaller. I am drawing a mental picture of this lady trying to get the dog to pee in the bowl. I am also trying not to laugh out loud.)

LD - OK. (She places an empty file folder on the desk.) Just set it down here. (She gets the pet's name and the owner's name.) I have to collect payment for the test before it is performed even though from the looks of that, you will have to pay for some medicine after the test.

PO - OK. (She makes payment.) You can just throw the container away.

ME - (Ya think? Seriously trying not to laugh out loud now!! I don't care if it is your grandmother's fine china, you should not have to tell someone to throw it away. EWWWWW!!!)