Adventures in the ER

Yesterday, after discussing with daddy what to do with me for the evening, mom turned to me and said, "Daddy’s working late tonight…wanna go for a RIDE?" Well, my vocabulary is proficient enough to know what RIDE means. Plus, she hangs on the word RIDE for emphasis. As soon as the word came out of her mouth, I jumped off her lap, twirled around, and wagged my tail fast and furious. That is my way of saying "Yes Ma’am!"

I did not realize she was taking me to the animal ER though. The action I observed there may have scarred me for life. As soon as we got there, it was hit the deck and run mode. Mom hurriedly put down a blanket for me in a cage where I faced all the action; then she shut the door and started running.

The first thing I saw was a Mastiff named Lexie who had been in labor over 24 hours. Prior to her arrival she delivered 6 puppies at home, but still had 3 puppies in her tummy. Lexie is the biggest creature I have ever seen. Several nurses lifted her up on the table and put a mask over her face. It took 4 people to hold her down, but soon she was out cold. Dr. P. then did the unthinkable: she took a sharp blade and cut Lexie’s stomach open. One puppy was quickly lifted out and it was not breathing. They worked and worked to try to breathe life into the pup, but it was too late. Pups 2 and 3 came out healthy with no problems, except they whined a lot and couldn’t open their eyes.

The next thing to come in was a hit by car dog. He was pretty banged up and rushed to the room where they take pictures (which, by the way, look nothing like the pictures mom takes of us). Next, a tiny kitten arrived who had been attacked by a dog from her own family! She also went to the room where they take pictures. Before I knew it, two neurotic-looking Cocker Spaniels strolled in. Their parents handed my mom a chewed up CD in a plastic bag. They also were sent to the picture room. When Dr. F. looked at their pictures, she determined they needed to vomit. Each Cocker received a shot in the derriere, which they both intensely objected to. Soon thereafter, one of the Cockers threw up a lot of CD pieces and the other one vomited up a bunch of paper.

Other cases I saw were: a ripped off nail, diarrhea with blood, kennel cough, dehydration, diabetes, another hit by car dog, a “dead on arrival” dog, a candle that fell on a cat’s leg (more pictures), and 2 euthanasias.

My daddy finally came to pick me up about 9PM. I was never so happy to see my daddy. What a night! I don’t know how mom deals with that place twice a week. Perhaps that is why she's always so happy to see me when she comes home.