[Dailydrool] Update on Flash

[Veronica Woodruff]

Well, in some ways things are the tiniest bit better and in others?  Worse.

The vet thinks it might simply be a pulled muscle and has put Flash on Deramaxx for three days.  If things aren't greatly improved xrays will be taken.  Last night, after the first Deramaxx pill, Flash wagged his tail for the first time in two days and tried to lick all the dirty plates in the dishwasher (something which has always made me screech in horror, but thrilled me to my marrow last night.  I know you all *get* it).

Dr. MacDonald wondered at first if it might be a disc problem but had Flash rotate his head and checked his gait.  Flash also did two big yawns, which was a good thing.  

Today Flash went outside first thing in the morning but has been resting for the rest of the time, refusing to go anywhere on leash.  He's got off his eggcrate foam bed to have breakfast and lunch and can move well but a little more slowly.  In other words, he hasn't done any counter cruising today.

It's clear that he's uncomfortable, not wanting to be touched and occasionally moaning (he has always been very vocal), but he's not lying on the cold tile nor is he trembling.

I very much like the vet, who is phlegmatic and practical.  I'm thrilled that he *loves* Bassets and respects the breed.  My only two concerns were that 1. he looks so young that you wonder if he should still be shaving with a spoon and 2. he calls dachshunds 'weenie dogs' ("the first thing we worry about with Bassets and weenie dogs. . .").  When we got out of the clinic, I said to Paul, "Do you think we can trust a man who calls them 'weenie dogs'?  And when he's a *vet,* too?"  Paul looked at me like I had three heads and said, "*Everyone* calls them 'weenie dogs' out here.  All it means is that the doc is a local man."  

Depending on what shows up on the xrays (if they have to be taken.  Not really lookin' good so far), our options, I know, will be limited.  This entire province has fewer than a million people and veterinary specialists are thin on the ground.  (For example, if your dog needs to see an opthalmologist, you'll have to drive to Toronto, a distance of some, oh, 18 hours hard driving).  Simple blood tests are done in-office, but any of the more complicated blood tests are sent to Toronto, too.  (Coming from a city of two and a half million people to an entire province with fewer than a million, I just about flipped out when I learned Flash's previous bloodwork had to wend its way westward.  Welcome to the Maritimes, Veronica.)

Thanks to all of you who have emailed me your well-wishes and to all of you who are pulling for Flash in the ways you do best.  Flash is not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot, but it really means a great deal to have such a wonderful community of individuals in our corner.


Veronica Woodruff


(Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia)

 

"Begin anywhere."  John Cage
 		 	   		  
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