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September 03, 2002
doggoneit (catharsis)..
man, so today esther and i made our second trip ever to the emergency vet. the first happened about six months ago when my former roommates dog--belle, aka the cutest beagle in the world--wasnt breathin correctly. we rushed over to the animal hospital where after examination the vet resident basically told us she had an abnormally large heart and that she was gonna die soon. our last image of her that nite was seein her in a little glass case w/ a air tube comin out of her nose. oh yeah, saddest sight ever. course, the next day the second opinion doctor tells us she probly just had an allergic reaction and that she should be fine. and she was (and is). damn that emergency vet attendant--thinkin your dog is gonna die (and she wasnt even ours) is the worse (maybe not as bad as thinkin your wife is). seriously, damn that vet..
so today esther and i took stella and cocoa to the park to play. after about 15 mins of fetch, we were walkin out of the park when cocoa starts limpin. we see his right hind (or posterior, as dr esther likes to say) leg wobblin and he just falls to the ground. we ask him to get up which he does, begins walkin again and then collapses. this happens a few more times after which he just lays there on the ground unable to get back up. we urge and beg him to and he doesnt. we physically try to make him and he cant--his whole body became dead weight. so now we re scared..
our minds are racin--wuts wrong w/ him? is he just tired? or on his deathbed? we need to get home--how do we get there? i decide to carry him which lasts all of two mins cuz 70 lbs of dead weight feels 100 (somehow this doesnt make sense--maybe i should just work out). so i jet for the car while esther waits. when i get back a cop has pulled up (we guess some neighbor called) and asks wut the problem is. we quickly tell him and he tells us where the nearest emergency hospital is. so we gun it..
somehow, no matter how fast you drive it doesnt seem fast enough, right? every car is slow-movin and every light is red. anyways, durin the drive cocoa isnt respondin at all to esthers prompts--she stayed in the back w/ him to see how he is. basically, he isnt respondin to any stimuli although hes breathin and his eyes are movin while the rest of his body is stiff. yes, we re beyond terrified..
isnt it funny (and fortunate) how sometimes when youre sick you suddenly begin feelin better on your way to see the doctor? so, one min before we arrive at the hospital cocoa begins movin. then once we get there, he gets up and hops out of the car. hes still unable to walk so i carry him in (mustve been a strange site--ill bet the vet nurses never seen a labrador bein carried by a midget before). as we explain the situation and subsequently wait, he begins walkin w/ a limp. then w/ a slight limp. then w/ no limp at all and hes waggin his tail and all happy & jolly once again..
frickin W-E-I-R-D..
by the time we actually see the doctor, all is well. he examines cocoa and eventually tells us that he suspects cocoa had a mild seizure. and that its nothin to really be overly worried about unless it happens again. so we breathe a sigh of relief and go home..
phew--so that was about two hrs of stress and rapid heart activity. at least, leavin the emergency vet this time was much better than the last..
and yes, cocoa is fine--hes sleepin peacefully right now..
stoopid dogs--we get em just so they can enhance our pathetic lives only to become entwined w/ em so we hafta suffer when they suffer..
Posted by chars at September 3, 2002 11:59 AM