Right jab

Poor Molly. Her shot is overdue. She is good for several days after her due date, but I worry. So, I was going to take her in today. Oops, she needs the Valium first to avoid seizures. That means watching her like a hawk for two hours, taking a freaky/happy dog and an excited spare dog to the vet and wait for a shot in a small waiting room, since it's the day after the vet has been closed for several days. Then, come home and watch Molly like a hawk until the Valium wears off.

Or, I could:

a) take her in tomorrow

b) do it myself

"B" was looking good because I am feeling a lot of fatigue today. I stopped at the library, hit the grocery store, and barely made it out of the grocery store upright. The vet's office was two miles away - I figured stop in and either get the needle or make an appointment for tomorrow.

I very earnestly said that I had someone to help me, so they gave me the shot for $55. Same price I pay if they do it. It costs them $99 for a 4 ml vial. Molly gets .8 ml per shot. I pay $55. It's the American Way. I handed over a credit card; they gave me a prepared needle. They told me that if I chicken out I can take her in tomorrow and they will do it.

I came home, I looked at Molly, I looked at the needle, I thought about the hand problem I had last time, I looked at Molly - I gave her half a 10 mg Valium. I very seriously considered taking the other half. I decided it's not nice to steal drugs from a dog.

Molly got very hyper/happy. What was I thinking? She was going to be calm? I looked at the needle, I looked at Molly, I looked at my hand, decided to wait until she got sleepy.

Molly eventually fell asleep after about 3 hours. The other half of the Valium is looking better to me. I grabbed the needle, grabbed a hunk of skin - and she decided to get up and go beg for treats. Needles = treats. Sigh. I threw a bunch at Baby, threw some on the floor for Molly, and reached for the skin - she tried to stuff all the treats in her mouth at once, and gagged. I laughed.

I put the cap back on the needle.

I am waiting for her to fall asleep again. It would be so much easier on Baby - she sleeps like a corpse. I could cut her foot off and she probably would sleep through it. Not Molly.

Molly wants this shot. I have to do it. It will keep her alive.

The vet and I agreed that Molly is so smart that she would probably give herself the shot if I gave it to her.

I am considering that next.

I can do this, I really can.

It will hurt me more than her, right?