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Today I had to take Matty to the vet so she could get her left front paw checked out. For the past two days she hasn’t wanted to put any weight on it and has managed to get around as pretty much a 3-legged pup. Seems I have had many opportunities in the past couple years to take these trips to see our beloved veterinarians. Unfortunately, Matty is a “regular” at Tumwater Family Vet. Each time I go, it is always an experience.
Brian always has some sort of excuse for not being able to take Matty to the vet. He says he has to “work.” I know better though, he just doesn’t want to have to try to tame the wild beast! 
Usually when I go, I gather the leash, a couple of doggie treats hoping to sweet-talk Matty into good behavior, my wallet, etc and load her in the car. After always making her “go potty” before getting in the car so she won’t “piddle” on the floor of the waiting room, she hops in the back of the car and starts with her “machine-gun-breath.” I look in the rearview mirror and see hair flying off Matty’s back as her tail wags uncontrollably. Once I drive in the parking lot, Matty starts to wimper her excited, “Let me out! I can’t wait to lick Dr. Lina or Dr. Bennett! This place is SO Cool!” I have to wrestle her to get her leash on before she escapes on her own. Once the leash is snapped, the bucking begins. I’m flailing left and right, forward, and back. I get the door open and at once it is as if Matty is in sensory overload. You can just read her mind, “The smells…oh these amazing smells! I will need to smell the rear of all who are here!”
Luckily the vet techs are always so nice and friendly. They always say that she is the “Golden that smiles!” My prayer upon entry is that there won’t be too many pets or people in the waiting room. If there are, Matty, President of the National Neighborhood Greeter Society, has to try to sniff every nook and cranny of those who are also waiting while I am pulling on her with all my might to have her sit down next to me. One time I was there, I finally got her to sit by me, but then she spotted a kitty making its way through the hall into an exam room. She had to bark and go crazy, running in place as I had her by the collar. Another time Matty was going bazerk, an older lady with her well-groomed little fish-bait-sized poodle looked at me and said, “My, my...what that dog needs is some obedience training.” She set her dog down and said, “Sit schnookums.” The dog obeyed immediately, she looked at me and smiled an evil grin. Well, good for her.
Over the past couple years, I have to admit that Matty has calmed down quite a bit, which if any of you saw her you might not believe me. I’m just thankful that she actually enjoys her vet…even after some of the reasons she has had to go there. Of course there are always the times when she has to get her vaccines updated. But then there are the other times as well. Take for example the time that she had to get her head checked to make sure all tick body parts were removed from her scalp. Or the time where she had to have her paw pad shaved to get a thorn out. Or the time where she got polyurethane on the top of her head and had to get the top of her head shaved in a “monk” hairstyle which she garnished with an Elizabethan plastic collar around her neck.
Yes, one summer afternoon Brian had just put a fresh coat of polyurethane on his aderondack chair when Matty dove underneath the chair to get her blue racketball. The top of her head was coated in a drippy, sticky mess. We tried to use soap and water, peanut butter, mineral spirits, and just about any other crazy concoction, but it just wasn’t coming out, and it turned into a sore. I think I can safely say that I don’t think the vet had ever seen anything quite like this condition. After examination, they had to shave the top of her head, including some of the skin to get all the varnish off, and then they put a plastic Elizabethan collar on her. Talk about a sad story. She wasn’t able to hop in the backseat on the way home because her collar kept catching the tailgate. Once home, when she would round a corner, she wouldn’t go wide enough and she’d “bonk, bonk, bonk” the collar on the wall until she finally figured out she had to make a wider turn. After a couple weeks, Matty learned to deal with the circumstances, never complaining, and it did eventually heal.
Today’s trip was another to be added to the list. Upon entry, the vet tech came to get Matty. Matty immediately fell to floor, rolled on her back, crying, not knowing what to do with herself, and yes, “piddled.” After weighing her, they quickly got me in a room. I think they could see that I had my hands full with an unhappy Abigail in the front pack and a crazy dog on a leash. Because they had to “fit us in,” we had to wait several minutes for Dr. Lina to come. She’d never know that for the past few days Matty hasn’t wanted to put any weight on her paw because Matty was very excited to see her! After close examination though, she recommended that we get some X-rays taken with thought that Matty might have broken her toe.
Abigail and I walked around, waiting for them to come back from the X-rays. I peaked outside the exam room door and saw a “Caution, wet floor” sign where Matty had had her “accident.” A moment later, Abee started to fuss again, so I had to take her out of the pack, and at that moment is when they brought Matty back. “We have good news, thank goodness!” Dr. Lina said. “I was really nervous it was broken and we’d have to do a splint and an Elizabeth collar for three weeks!” Yes, yes, that was good news for me to hear too. Of course I was glad to hear it wasn’t broken, but mostly I just couldn’t picture Matty with another round of a collar and a splint!
So, Matty now can add “sprined toe” to her list of conditions. She is pretty much on bed-rest for this week. In fact she isn’t even allowed to go “potty” outside without being on a leash for fear she’ll forget about her pain for a second and do something crazy. I’m not quite sure why that is a concern!  The good news is that she should be back to normal within three weeks.
On exiting, the techs helped me gather my fussy Abee and crazy Matty and got me out the door. I had to lift Matty into the back of the car, but she seemed happy with her visit. I’m sure she’ll be glad when it’s time to go back. I’m just hoping it will be a while! |
