[Dailydrool] Jamie R.I.P.

[Riche Churchill]

To make this Basset related, I've owned Bassets since the 50's and 
publish a Basset magazine called the Bugler. But Jamie is (was) a big 
(big!) yellow Lab mix with a history of swallowing bad things -- and 
ended up being a house-dog after surgery two years ago to remove an 
8-inch hunk of tree bark lodged in intestine. She got sick last Tuesday 
and the signs were the same -- vomiting, not eating. We took her to same 
vet the next day and he x-rayed and said didn't see anything (he didn't 
see anything the other time, either). Gave us anti-nausea pills and sent 
her home. She seemed a tad better on Thursday -- ate a few spoonfuls of 
cottage cheese -- but nothing on Friday. Saturday she was noticeably 
sicker and much more so on Sunday. No vet available. We were up with her 
all night -- kept telling her, "Just a few more hours, and we'll be at 
vet's" but at 5 in the morning she died. She was only 5 and the 
sweetest, kindest, most POLITE dog you could ever imagine. I remember 
the first day she was in the house after coming home from hospital... 
she started to squat on living room rug and I shouted, "No! Jamie! 
Outside!" and held the door for her. Out she went and NEVER, ever had an 
"accident" in the house. Before we installed a doggy door, she would 
come to my office door and look at me for a few seconds. If I didn't 
jump up, she'd whine softly (as in, "excuse me, but I really need to go 
out, please").

I am so angry and bitter at the vet AND myself. The vet for not 
recognizing the same scenario (and giving us no option of help over 
weekend) and myself for not INSISTING what I knew needed to be done. 
(Wish I were more like the kind of people I don't like -- brash and loud 
and uncaring of feelings. Hoped with age I'd become less "nice" but 
haven't improved enough in that regard. My mother was that kind, and I 
always cringed when she went on a tirade -- and ended up being Ms. 
Milquetoast...and letting a sweet dog suffer and die.)

So the point of all this, other than just venting to relieve some 
pressure, is that no matter how much TECHNICAL stuff your vet knows, 
it's very possible that YOU know more than he or she ever can about YOUR 
dog. I'm not suggesting you haggle over every little thing, but if your 
vet is dismissive of your feelings or intuition, stand your ground. 
Don't give in, as I did, thinking they know best. They don't always.

Riche