Today was Simba’s annual wellness checkup. The one where you walk in and nonchalantly drop a bag of dog poop off at the check-in desk, have your pet weighed, then have their annual checkup and whatever vaccines are due at the time. We know he needs two and unlike schools, there isn’t a sincerely held religious belief that gets you off the hook for doggie daycare. Not that we’d ever consider not vaccinating our goodest boy for distemper, leptospirosis, bordatella or rabies, mind you, but we’re bumping up against doggie daycare not letting him visit. He needs his shots!
Simba doesn’t usually have a problem going to see the vet, unless they try to clip his nails… the one time they tried, they gently let us know that for his protection and ours, having him sedated would be best next time ::I am SO glad he runs and plays so energetically that except for dewclaws, he wears his nails down naturally:: . But usually he’s a bouncy ball of doggo energy. However, when he was a puppy they gave him four vaccines at once and he had a reaction, so we are careful. Last year they gave him a benadryl shot, but this year I wanted to avoid that because liquid benadryl at the vet is a LOT more expensive than three tablets of Target brand.
Gave him his meds an hour before, and off we went. He was a little sleepy but still sniffed all the surfaces in the waiting room, sat like a good boy to be weighed (perfect for his frame/breed, yay!) and when the tech came in he gave her kisses and took treats. Then the vet came in… one he’s seen before. He happily let her pet him, took a treat, and then she tried to look in his ears. He’s usually fine with it, but today it was a definite NOPE… have you ever seen a 95lb dog try to melt into the corner of the room??
More treats consumed, still no budging from the corner, so the vet tried their next tactic of taking him to another room so Mommy wasn’t there. He goes off contentedly, a few minutes pass, and he’s back. He clearly was NOT in the mood for an exam, was giving off reactive dog vibes (although they were very clear he didn’t so much as lift a lip or growl, he simply kept backing away) and we begin wondering if the benadryl was making him feel wonky enough that he didn’t want to be touched by the vet.
Here’s where I am so glad we go to this vet practice. They said that sure, they could restrain him and give him his shots. OR we could pet him some more and feed him treats, tell him he’s a good boy, and reschedule for next week when we can give him benadryl AFTER he gets his vaccines. Everyone wanted his experience to be a good one and as the vet said, “we don’t want to set him up to fail and then hate coming here”. I will always choose a vet who treats my dog like the individual he is, rather than a possession that needs an elective procedure.
We take the pup back next Monday, and no matter what my topic is next week I’ll give you an update. If they can’t do the exam then, we will have to give him gabepentin at his visits. Here’s hoping all goes well and we don’t need that!! We ALL may need gabapentin before this election season’s over — but I promise you won’t need it for tonight’s Tops!
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From Megalion:
DC voter JekyllnHyde explains the actual makeup of Republicans in DC. From MikePhoenix’s BREAKING: Haley wins DC Republican primary.
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