[Dailydrool] Happy Gotcha Day, Pelly-Belly! Part2 of 2--LONG--sorry!)

[L.K. Metzler]

Part 2....

Nearly a  year ago, on April 12, 2008, Pelly and Jasmine were running
the Basset 500 around our kitchen-family room area.   With hardwood
flooring, the game is quite an active and fast-paced one, especially
when it comes to making tight corners around the furniture.  On this
particular Sunday morning, while Penelope lounged on her pillow, Pelly
and Jasmine were having a particularly spirited game when disaster
struck.  I was mixing their breakfast in the kitchen when I heard a
yelp and the sound of skidding toenails. By the time I got to him,
Pelly was down in the rear.  Jasmine was all over him, checking him
out, but he could not stand up and had no use of his back legs.  I
called my vet and explained the situation.  She told me to bring him
in, but that we would most probably be going to San Antonio--about 50
miles down the highway--to a specialty vet where they might be able to
repair what she believed was a ruptured disc. 
Her biggest caveat was "time is of the essence"---if we didn't get him
there soon, we might not be able to repair the damage.  Between my Mom
and myself and Pelly the Intrepid, we managed to get him  into the van
and to the vet.  She examined him in the car and gave us directions to
the San Antonion Vetspital and off we flew.   She had called ahead and
told them we were coming, so when we arrived they were waiting with a
stretcher.  Pelly was whisked into an exam room and x-rayed before we
had finished filling out the paperwork.  The on-call vet told us what
was going on, and that he thought the surgeon (who was on her way)
could give us a better idea when she looked at the mylegram.  Long
story short, Pelly went into surgery and the damaged disc was
repaired.  After two weeks of complete rest with the vet, we put him
into physical therapy.  The therapist, Celeste, told us that she felt
that Pelly would be able to walk again, although she was guarded in
that estimate at about 70%.  It was a long and hard road, but Pelly
prevailed, and is walking again.  He's a bit wobbly at
times--especially when he gets tired--but he is walking.

Pelly
tolerates three female houndies...Jasmine, his best buddy, nurse, and
wrestle partner, Penelope, resident bone thief extraordinaire, and
Addie-Lou Roo the Baby Kangaroo Basset who is at once his impetus for
really getting up and walking and the absolute bane of his existence
when he wants to take a nap.  He loves his "sisters" even if they steal
his toys, sleep on his pillow, and generally treat him like a brother. 
He has my Mom, his favorite Grandma who spoils him absolutely rotten,
and me, his Mama and "other side of the velcro".  Pelly is a big love
hound who "moos" when he wants a cookie, who will check on us when we
stay up too late, and will give us a big paw when he just wants
attention.

I
have no idea when Pelly's birthday is, however the vet told us she
thought he was about 4 when I got him, so we are celebrating his 7th
"birthday" today, too.  He's already had his Cheerios and chicken
strips at breakfast, and will get his very own special Baby Bel cheese
chunks tonight over his dinner. I think there might be a hot dog or two
in the mix as well, and maybe a little vanilla ice cream from Dairy Queen to top off the day.

Happy Gotcha-Birthday, Pelly!

Love from your Mama, Grandma, and Sisters

L.K. Metzler
San Marcos, TX   toppogigio at yahoo.com     "A dog wags its tail with its heart." - Martin Buxbaum     "If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one." -- Andy Rooney 
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