Puppy Love

As you may have noticed (or perhaps not), my blogging hasn’t been quite regular. That was because we got quite a scare this past week, when our dog Sweetie got quite ill.

So, as to not create any unintended drama, I will say here that she is going to be just fine and is already well on her way to recovery. But, earlier in the week we were not quite so sure. It was odd at first, she wasn’t really showing any symptoms, but she refused to eat. She has done this before, so the first day, we didn’t worry that much about it, but on day 2, we began to get concerned. One day she would skip, but never too, and she was beginning to act a bit lethargic. We tried everything we could to get her to eat, something… anything. Dry food, wet food, treats, and I even went to the store and got some cheese. Nothing. Not a bite. She was still drinking, and would pop up with her usual vigor to go outside so we figured we would just call the vet the next day.  That nigh though, I new something still seemed not quite right, and she was asking to go outside frequently, so I decided to stay and sleep down in the living room.  Well try to sleep, as she continued to get me up almost exactly every 1/2 hour.  Then one time, I didn’t quite get to the door to let her out fast enough.  Blood.  Now I was panicked.

Off to the vet, and it still took a good 24 hours for a diagnosis, which sort of had us preparing for the worst.  She is 10 years old, and has never been the best health specimen in the world.   Through this and up through that first day at the vet LatteGirl was stoic and strong.  But she had assumed that Sweetie would be home from the vet when she got home from school.  She didn’t think much about it through dinner and getting her homework done.  Then she announced she was going to spend some time with Sweetie.  I pointed out that Sweetie was still at the vet, and a meltdown of epic proportions ensued.  She made TheWife stop on the way home from school the next day at the vet to visit Sweetie, but while that helped a bit, as she got tired, she once again melted down that night screaming how she wanted Sweetie home.

Like I said, fortunately this time, we have a happy ending.  Sweetie is back home, and LatteGirl is thrilled.  But I learned some interesting and valuable lessons through this ordeal.  I was reminded that despite her seeming to be 7 going on 21, that LatteGirl is still just child, and that meltdowns are still a way of life at times.  I was reminded, that we have had Sweetie here for LateGirl’s entire life, and she doesn’t know life without her.  When we got our Basset Hound earlier this year, part of the logic TheWife used on me was that Sweetie is not getting any younger, and that having another dog would (hopefully and theoretically) ease that pain a bit rather than having an “empty” home.  I am really starting to doubt that logic.

Another thing I learned is that co-workers can really lack understanding and compassion at times.  Now, I should already know this being a parent.  I work with a lot of young people, many single, and those that aren’t are…um… shall I say chauvinistic?   They have already shown me that they don’t “get” a father that does and “has to be home” for a child as much as I do.  When I say on a particular day I have to be home for LatteGirl, I have heard stupid comments like, “Oh, I didn’t know you were divorced.”  When I say I am not, I will inevitably get asked, “So then where is your wife?”  Thus is the mental capacity of the majority of people I work with on a daily basis.  So, I guess I should not be surprised, when I talk about being up all night with Sweetie or how the vet bill was going to run nearly a thousand dollars, they ask, “why would you do that?  It is just a dog.”  Very little short of the previously mentioned chauvinistic attitude really annoys me more than this.  And this is not tied to male or female.  I guess it is more like pet owner versus non pet owners.  I guess, unless you have lived with a pet for a number of years, you just can’t “get” that this animal is just about every bit as important a family member as anybody else.  I am sure those of you who have pets know exactly what I am talking about.  Those who don’t, well I am sure some of you understand.  For those that don’t… that’s fine… just try and understand it a little from the owners point of view.  This animal is a familiar creature in a person’s life, and losing it will emotionally hurt, so have a bit of compassion.  Because if you don’t, like one person in my office did, if you suggest to, “just throw it out and get a new one.”  You will hear (as he did), so really unpleasant things being said to you (at the very least).

The other thing I learned, is that it is not as stupid as some people think to get pet health insurance.  We use VPI Pet Insurance, but only because they were the first one we found. (Please note that this is not a paid link in any way shape or form, I linked it for your convenience)  There are more providers now, but we have just stuck with what we started.  But as I pointed out, this couple of days in the “hospital” plus medication, prescriptions, etc would run us darn near a thousand dollars.  We will be paying considerably less, thanks to having the insurance.  Much like your own health insurance, it may almost seem wasteful to spend what they charge these days for insurance.  That is, until something happens and you need to pay the bill without it.  I will tell you first hand it is worth it.

So, now we can resume our regular, insane rush to get everything for the holidays with full cheer ahead.

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