Safe, Sound, and Spayed

Hi Helene,

Sorry for the delay, and you probably already know anyway, but Lilly is safe and sound and spayed in San Diego.  I really wasn't comfortable with the vet up here, and with her complications I think it was best she had her surgery at Beth's vets.  Please apologize to Rene for me in regards to being freaked out about Lilly on anesthesia. It eventually wore off, her eyes returned to normal, and I didn't end up taking her to an emergency vet.  I really wish the vet had told me when I picked her up that she would not be herself for 6-7 hours.

It did prove to me one valuable lesson though:  I really need to get re-certified in Pet First Aid & CPR.  I took the class two years ago and luckily haven't had to use the knowledge in all that time, so I wasn't confident if indeed Lilly went into distress (or labor for that matter--which I always knew was a possibility).

I was able however, with Beth's instructions, to take Lilly's temperature to see if she was running a fever.  This dog really will let you do anything to her once she trusts you.  She didn't even seem to notice that I had something ½ an inch up her rectum for three minutes while she lay next to me on the couch.  Strangely though, she still has a problem going through doorways.  I actually respect that philosophy.  If she doesn't want to be put into a certain situation she'd rather not even enter the room, but once she's in, she's in and doesn't fight it.

Beth let me come with her to take Lilly to the vet as soon as I got to San Diego.  The place is AMAZING!  The animals are chill, there's no stress in the expansive waiting room, and best of all when the vet came in to look at Lilly, Lilly actually approached her and gave her a kiss.  Lilly was confident and relaxed (even though it took Beth gently dragging Lilly through the exam doorway--once in, she accepted her fate, and realized it wasn't so bad after all).

It wasn't until it was time for her to go in the back and the vet tech (who Lilly liked just as much as the vet) was about to take her away and Beth said, "These two are a bonded pair--it might take a minute" that I felt the tears start to well up as I said goodbye to Miss Lilly.  My friends always ask when I do this sort of thing whether or not the dog is one I'd adopt.  I remember what a rescuer told me when I first started doing this, that in the beginning you think every dog is the dog you're meant to have, but the longer you do it, the better you become at telling the difference between a dog that's meant to be "your dog" and a dog that is just "a good dog."

Lilly is a good dog.  She's got some issues, but she'll work through them.  And she's got good looks on her side.  On one of our evening walks two guys in their twenties who were getting into a car stopped to tell me how gorgeous she is.  And on our ride down to San Diego at a rest stop, a guy with two black labs commented that she was beautiful.  He had noticed her eyes from several yards away as she stared at him.  He said she was quite intense--not in a scary way, but in the way you know so much is going on behind those eyes.

And I have no doubt there's all sorts of things going on behind those eyes.  She's a funny, ungraceful lady who made me laugh often when I wasn't worried for her health.  The cha-cha (as Beth described it) on the lawn is utterly amusing.  Her attempt at being a lapdog is endearing if you can stand the weight on you.  And the tip of her tail doing a tiny "wag-wag" every time you reach your hand down to give her a treat is so adorable you just want to hug her and never let go.  You can even forgive her snoring and drool on your pillow when she opens her eyes in the morning and looks over at you with the "You're still here!" excited look on her face and thumps her tail twice on the bed.

I will miss her, but the happiness she will have in her new life far outweighs that.  It's been a joy to have her; I only wish I had been able to treat her medical needs so she could have been more physically comfortable.  She's taught me more than just the fact that I should brush up on my first aid for pets.  She's taught me a whole host of things:  that I also should have a first aid kit on hand (I don't even have a human one in the apartment--perhaps that 's something else I should get too); that squirrels truly enjoy taunting dogs and will always be one step ahead of them; that not all dogs understand that when a cat hisses one should back away; that if you really don't want to go somewhere the most effective way to display this is to simply lie down where you are and let gravity assist you; and if you don't want to be bothered with neighborhood cats distracting your dog, simply walk behind the newspaper delivery van early on Sunday morning--I've never seen cats scatter so quickly in my life.

Thanks for the opportunity to hang with Lilly for a bit.  And don't worry: I still want to overnight and transport.  There was a lot of miscommunication and difficulties this time, but I'm chalking it up to there actually being something to this Mercury being in retrograde thing along with a string of unforeseen events complicating matters.  I was never mad at anyone in particular; I was upset by the situation because I didn't feel I could be the advocate for Lilly that I needed to be and didn't have all the tools necessary to help her.  I do need to be dog-free for a brief time to disinfect my apartment and truck, get some work done, and not take advantage of the "visitor dog" unspoken rules in my building.  But if you need just a transport, let me know, or if you know for certain it'll only be a night or two, give me the info and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks!
-stephanie.