[Dailydrool] A Dumb Cluck Visits the Vet with Nigel

[Beverly Szaton]

I took Nigel to the Vet yesterday because he was obviously having problems
of some sort.
Now I have had dogs for many years, I have worked for the Vet and I know we
speak for our dogs so when you go to the Vet and your Basset isn't quite
right but not quite wrong, pay attention to what he is saying.
I got quite interested in a lot of little things that he needs done and
forgot the big stuff.

I forgot that a couple of days ago I thought his back looked a little
roachier than usual. It was. I forgot to mention that.
When the Vet, quite competent but inexperienced with Bassets did a
concscious proprioception test I noted his left rear leg was slow to
respond. I even said "Oh, I don't like THAT," so she repeated it, and this
time he flipped his foot right back again.
We noted some "minor" guarding of the neck when turning his head to the
left. MINOR? Is there such a thing in a long-backed dog?

All these hints should have made me insist on an xray but they
didn't.Instead, we discussed dentals, and lumpectomies, and toenails. We got
urine, we drew blood. Nothing is going to show up, but HAD WE DONE AN X-RAY
I would not be up now with a a dog who awoke crying, crying because he hurt
too badly to turn around in his crate! A dog who had to be leashed to go
pee. A dog who had to be helped back into the house and who wanted only to
be in Llewis's crate, because it has the crate pad in it where the dogs do
not have to lift their legs up and over an edge to get in. (That's why it is
Llewis's crate and why Cooper loves it, too. Now Nigel has appropriated it.

I gave him a tramadol. I put him back to bed but he obviously is in
distress. So am I.
Remember when your dog isn't well that it may be the little, subtle things
that are important-- the refusal to turn his head, the slowness with which
he stands, the roachiness of an otherwise non-roached back. I told someone
else, we speak for our dogs and today, with the Vet I may as well have
spoken Russian.
I am so angry with myself for NOT INSISTING on an x-ray. I have long backed
dogs and when something goes sour, look in the most obvious place first.
Don't look for Zebras when you hear hoofbeats. That's what I did. Boy am I
mad at myself!!!! Tpmporrow Doc will be there and I will take Nigel back and
let Doc check him out.

MomPerson to a Pathetic Nigel, Llewis and Conley and Cooper, who took my
bed.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20111008/930f6446/attachment-0001.htm>