Demi-news

Molly on Valium is quite a trip. She gets very stoned. Humans tend to get mellow on Valium, but Molly gets hyper. She is A Very Happy Stoned Dog on Valium. Baby goes along for the contact high. The car ride is hard enough with them when I don't have a sore right shoulder (Baby climbs on my shoulder when I stop the car).

We managed to get to the vet in pretty much one piece each. I took along Molly's favorite toy, a stuffy squirrel that has TWO squeaks in it. She knew it had one, but the day I showed her there were two, she just thought that was the most exciting thing she ever saw. She spent hours squeaking the "new" squeaker.

She ignored it today, of course.

Molly was taken from me by the vet owner of the clinic. My regular vet called me early this morning to tell me she was sick and going home, but Dr T could take care of Molly. Of course he could - he was our vet for years when he first bought that clinic by himself, as a hotshot young new vet. He isn't so young now, but then neither am I.

So, they took Molly and sucked urine out of her bladder with a needle. It's called cytocentesis. They need a sterile draw to culture so they can be sure she is getting the right drug for the right nasty buggie. She wasn't too happy about that - I heard the screech. I tried not to. Baby cried on my lap when she heard it. No one has a right to take away her bigger sister! (Baby is actually bigger than Molly, but they both seem to believe that Molly is huge.)

After that, they drew blood. Molly was either OK with that or they gagged her for it. I didn't hear anything.

Then, they took two x-rays. I asked them to try not to lay her on her back, because she really doesn't like that unless she is getting a belly rub. Maybe she got the belly rub, because one of the x-rays has her spine right in the middle.

Baby bounced off the walls while Molly was gone for almost an hour. Usually she makes me hold her up (35 lb dog) to the window in the door of the examining room so she can see what's going on in the lobby, but I wasn't able to do that this time. That requires two arms, and one of mine isn't capable right now of holding 35 lbs of squirming beagle. So, she contented herself with bouncing off the walls and me. She also shed about 10 lbs of fur and showed a lot of white in her eyes. The beagles do not like to be separated.

Finally Molly came back with the vet. She was still wobbly from the Valium, but calming down. The vet said she did just fine for her tests. I didn't ask him about the screech.

We looked at the x-rays. He showed me where the bladder is, and where stones would be. There was nothing. He showed me one kidney, and where stones would be, and there was nothing. The other kidney was obscured by other inside parts, unknown to me. Molly was, as the vet professionally said, "Full of poop." Was that supposed to surprise me? Of course she is full of shit. Who doesn't know that? He said she looked healthy to him.

The urine results and the full blood screen will be back in a day or two. Well, the urine cultures might take a little longer. There was some discussion of her lymph nodes, but he said my regular vet will go over the x-rays herself. That made me nervous, but I was glad to see a lack of stones.

Molly has her own, just not where the vet was looking.

Meanwhile, I get an email from my sister-in-law. My only sibling, her husband, is in the hospital. I am hoping he will be fine, because I don't want to drive two hours to watch him sleep in a hospital bed. He doesn't talk to me much when we are in the same room. Please keep him in your thoughts?

I will update when I hear more about Molly. Right now she is sleeping off her drugs. Later she will tell me all about her horrible experience at the vet's office. I am just glad she didn't have any seizures.

This will cost me several doggy treats. The vet gets everything else I own.