A Bit Of A Stressful Day
I have a dog, Megan. She is a German Shepherd and I have had her since she was 8 weeks old. She is 12 now, nearly 13.
When I was looking for a dog (it had to be a German Shepherd), I visited loads of re-homing kennels. There were lots of German Shepherds that had to be re-homed because of problems. Most of them were vicious and a lot of them were quite old. I had to think of my 8 year old son and his safety. I am so soft when it comes to animals, especially dogs. Many of the other dogs I could have quite happily taken home. For instance, I nearly cried over a dog that had been brought into the kennels which had obviously just had puppies. Her teats were hanging and full of milk. She was just pacing up and down obviously distressed at losing her pups. The warden said that she was found wandering the streets late at night and the dog warden brought her in.
I decided that we would have a GS pup and looked for puppies in the papers. My son came with me to some kennels and we saw several puppies with their parents. Bradley, my son, decided on a pup. She was so cute. Just a bundle of fluff. I paid my money and we took her home. She wasn’t very good at travelling and made quite a mess on the back seat (and my son).
The next morning, I took her to the vet to have her checked over and she was perfectly fine. None of the hip troubles that German Shepherds are prone to.
At the time, I was working from home with my typesetting business and Megan slept under my desk snuggled around my feet. She was so good with the house-training, I don’t think we had an accident on the carpet. Right from the start she went to the back door to be let out to do her business in the garden. At 13 weeks she had her injections which meant she could be taken for a proper walk.
Since then, apart from holidays, she hasn’t left my side.
Last week, I took her to the vet. She had a mammary lump. It wasn’t causing her any discomfort but the vet told me it will probably get bigger and may burst. I booked her in for an operation today. I had to take her at 10 a.m. The nurse gave me some papers to sign and she took her away. Megan was fine at first until she realized I wasn’t going with her. She looked back and started whining and pulling on her lead to get to me. I had to leave quickly because I was as upset as she was.
All morning, I was worried. She is an old girl and I was warned that the anaesthetic could be dangerous for her.
At 12.45 I had a telephone call from the vets saying that she had undergone the surgery fine and she was just coming round and she would be fine to be collected at 15.00.
Not five minutes later, I was called again by the vets and was told that she was very distressed and could do herself more injury. I could hear her howling in the background. They had put her in a cage. She has never been locked up.
I rushed to the vets and I could hear her howling before I got to the door.
She was brought out to me and she was so happy to see me.
The vet said that he had removed two smaller lumps as well. She has to be kept quiet and only go on short walks. She also has to be given antibiotics, which isn’t a problem, because she takes pills readily if I give them to her. I bought a collar to stop her from pulling at her stitches, but it’s so cumbersome that she can’t move. I have decided that I will keep a close eye on her and she is to sleep by my bed.
I live by the beach and it is only 50 yards to the sea from my house. There are beach huts opposite.
Taking her for her last walk, about an hour ago, she can’t just walk, she has to trot everywhere. It is a strain trying to keep her to a slow walk.
Just as we came round the beach huts, a fox walked across the path, saw us and stopped. Megan strained at her leash trying to get at it. You would never have thought that she had major surgery less than twelve hours ago.
It’s going to be a problem with other dogs. Megan isn’t very sociable. She is fine if they keep their distance, but if they come close to me, she has a go at them.
Still, I’m glad today is over. I haven’t been this worried and stressed for years.
Dogs, haven’t you just got to love them?
Regards,
Gary
