Leggy Mafia Wars

About yesterday.... fun day! Here's some of what happened:

Tiniest Poodle Ever This was such a cute puppy! He was a 10-week-old poodle, and he belonged to a pet shop, so he came in sick. He was coughing and lethargic, so we were pumping IV fluids into him. He was in theback treatment area in one of the little portable insulators, so we always walked by and looked at him, and he certainly drew the attention of us all! One of the doctors remarked, "Ohhh... I don't even like poodles, but he is SO cute!" She immedietly took cell phone pictures of him and sent them to her parents, to soften their hearts so that they'd adopt him. She also put in a pleading phone call to her dad... but it's true, the puppy is very cute! He'll get well and be adopted immedietly.

Speaking of adopted... a new stray came in, and Banfield claimed her. She is so sweet! You wouldn't know she was a stray to look at her... she definitely is friendly, and talkative! A pretty brown tabby, slim and quick-looking. However, she came in with a broken femur (thigh bone), and it must have been a pretty messy break, because they had to fix her up in surgery. So she had a nice 4" long line of stitches on her leg, but she seemed happy enough about it. They must have fixed her up quite a few days prior to yesterday, because she was hobbling around the cage on her 3 legs just fine. I'll let you know how she heals!

A Spaz. People don't hear this word very often, but it was very true for a little hound who came in. She just needed a check-up, in essence, so the nurse brought out all the supplies--thermometer, syringes, etc. I was holding the leash of Little Panic Attack here, and she was just staring with wide eyes at the world around her, full of barking papillions. When the nurse knelt to begin doing things to her, she suddenly panicked and backed up, scraping her sharp little nails on my leg in the process (thanks, puppy). But we calmed her, and she then freaked out again, etc, etc. Wow, we sure have something special here!

Cystotomy. I saw this written on the papillion's cage card. "Cyst-" means bladder, and "-otomy" means surgical removal of. So, what's going on? You can't remove the bladder! After I asked, I found out that they had removed bladder stones from this poor dog... it was caught in the urinary tract, and they had to do some hard flushing to get it out. Ouch! But, it got out, and he was resting in his cage with a urinary catheter in (as a tube from his urinary tract to a baggie that collects the urine). He was painful, so the urine was bloody, from the trauma done to his insides. Poor guy! He was mournfully yipping and whining all the while we were there, but when we walked by he wagged his tail. He was gone later tonight, though, that he went home. Yay!

TODAY...

Mafia Cat Shakes the World. Did this catch your attention? It was supposed to. I was checking all of the kennels and pets when I first got there, to make sure they're okay, and I saw in one giant kennel two cats from the same family, each in their own pet carrier already. I said, "okay, so they made it easy for me and already put them away, so all I have to do is take 'em out." But later, when the people came to pick the cats up and they called for them to be taken up front, I went to see the cats, and.... I almost died. Well, not really, but I walked by, and I hear, "rrrrrrrr...." This is always a bad sign, but it's worse if the carrier shakes a little bit. It's worse when the carrier is nearly being lifted up and rocking back and forth with little razor-sharp paws flying around inside and noises of "RRRRRRRRRRRRGGG". Are you getting the picture yet? So, I kind of cringe, and sigh in relief that he's already in the carrier. Now, the other carrier is sitting quietly, and the cat inside is resting calmly. I appreciated it. I brought her out to the owners, and they cooed in excitement to see her again. Then, I went back for the Mafia Cat. As soon as I drew near, he started cursing me in his native language, I'm sure. Then when I was carrying the carrier, he rocked it back and forth again and furiously spitted and hissed and swiped at the cage inside. When the owners heard his "rrrrrrrrr", as I carried him into the lobby, they kind of cringed, and I told them, "yeah, he's a little bit upset right now....." Ha ha.

Bathtime for Charlie Charlie is so cute! He is a little spaniel puppy that one of the receptionists is fostering, and a nurse was taking him home for the weekend, to "dogsit"... really, to try to convince her husband to let her keep him, haha. Good plan! He's a sweet little dog... with very good manners, and playful, too. So, he managed to pee all over his kennel, and sit in it. So, the nurse brought him to me and wryly asked me if I could give him a bath. I love giving baths; it's a lot of fun, for some reason. So I did, and as he stood in the sink shivering with his tail between his legs, he didn't even try to escape or leap out or shake in the middle of suds, too much. What a good boy! And then later, the Cage-Dryer Monster was out to get him... it was pretty scary. But, he survived! Yay!

Where's the bladder? This sounds like a game show! But, it's not... one nice little cat had a lot of fat hiding the bladder from reach. The nurse had to get a urine sample, so she definitely felt the bladder (it was huge), but the 1 1/2" needle couldn't reach the bladder, past all the fat! It was really something. But we managed to do it with an ultrasound for help with viewing and such.

Snuggle I love the animals that snuggle! This was the cutest dog... when I first came, he looked at me with big puppy-dog eyes from his kennel, and I couldn't resist. He was so cute! He was sort of shaggy fur, white with black specks and splotches, and most loving. I walked in, and his tail started going. He was wagging and wagging it as I was petting him. Then, still wagging his tail, he leaned against me in pure bliss, and then he nuzzled his head between my knees. That was a clincher-- pets that try to nuzzle/hide in you is very irrisistable for me... needless to say, I petted him a lot.