Yesterday, I was officially inducted into the “real responsibilities of a pet owner” club, only after 7.5 years of owning a pet. And I have my paw prints to prove it! Allow me to explain…
Around 5am, my BabyGirl ran into my room to wake me up. You hear me? 5am. That’s ONE HOUR before my alarm goes off. Ok, I’m lying. About thirty minutes before my alarm goes off and another thirty minutes of hitting the snooze button six times. Anyway, she woke me up to tell me that our 7.5 year old Maltese - I guess that’s 40 something in dog years - was peeing blood all over the house. “What???!!” was all I could muster as I dragged myself out of bed to see what she was talking about. Unfortunately, she was not exaggerating at all.
THE DISCOVERY
At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I mean, it was still dark o’thirty and my azz was half sleep. But what I saw were little red spots all over the carpet. WTF! I rubbed my eyes and followed the trail. Guess who I found hovered in the corner like she had done something bad. The mere sight of her wagging her tail in a submissive position broke my heart. 
THE CONFIRMATION
I scooped her up and took her outside to potty. Sure enough, she urinated a stream of blood. Gross, I know, but bear with me. I knew I couldn’t panic because it would make my BabyGirl cry so I had calm down and hide my emotions. In 7.5 years, we’d never experienced a real pet emergency so I didn’t know what to do. As a distraction, I told BabyGirl to put her food and water down while I searched for the vet’s number. When BabyGirl said she wouldn’t eat or drink anything, my heart raced. By the time I found the number, I had tears in my eyes.
THE FIRST CALL
My vet’s office didn’t open for another 2 hours. Shyt. Then I called the vet’s emergency hotline. Thankfully, a very friendly voice answered. I told her why I was calling while holding back my tears. We talked for a few minutes. Listening to her calm voice forced my heart to beat normal again. Although she provided limited information, she was very helpful and sincere. She told me it could have been many things - UTI, bladder infection, kidney infection, stones, etc - but it wasn’t an “emergency” emergency. So instead of going to the emergency hospital, I decided to wait for my vet to open.
THE WAIT
My Precious didn’t appear to be in any pain, but she looked really sad. She wasn’t following us around the house as usual but she watched our every move. Somehow, I convinced BabyGirl to go to school. I told her our Precious would be alright but to call me during lunchtime for an update. After BabyGirl left, I locked my Precious in her crate, spot cleaned the carpet, took a shower, ironed three outfits, chose not to wear either, made up my bed, made up BabyGirl’s bed, researched her symptoms online, fixed something to eat, didn’t eat it, swept the kitchen floor, and anything else I could think of to keep from worrying. Every time I would look at my Precious, she was watching me. It was like she was trying to say, “mom help me.” Gawd it was awful!
THE VET VISIT
At 7:20, we loaded up the car and headed to the vet’s office. By the time I arrived, it was 7:35. They had already spoken with the emergency hotline, pulled her file, and was waiting for our arrival. Their fast response and preparation made me relax (a little). I felt like my Precious was going to be in good hands. I explained the symptoms (frequent urination but in tiny amounts, bad smell, traces of blood, no appetite, etc.) and they immediately took her to the back. I couldn’t stand to wait around and count the minutes so I went to work. I left my cell phone, blackberry, and office number and asked them to call me as soon as the doctor had a diagnosis.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Around 9:30am, when I saw the number on my caller ID, my heart stopped. It was the vet. I didn’t feel like saying “hello,” so she was greeted with a fearful “yes” as if there was only bad news on the other end. The vet explained what she had done: examination, xray, urine sample, blood sample, sent culture off to lab, vaccination of antibiotic and pain med, etc. I was told it would take a week for the culture to come back because they had to examine it, place something in it to see if it would grow or change shape, then examine it again to rule out anything life threatening. No obvious problems showed in the xray, but for a dog of her size, this wasn’t uncommon. Her white blood cell count was high - sign of infection - and she passed blood clots 2x while urinating - sign of UTI or bladder problem.
THE TREATMENT
I could barely breath while listening, but she reassured me that the meds would treat any immediate problem. She said she was going to prescribe an antibiotic for the infection and a pain med to make her comfy. But she wanted to keep her until after 5 for observation and try to get her to eat and drink. At this point, being in the vet’s care was better than mine so I had no objection. When I picked her up around 5, the vet had already gone for the day. However, she left 2 pages of notes for me (my Precious ate food and drank water, her urine stream was now more pink than red, she seemed energetic and happy), 2 prescriptions, diet instructions (bland for 3 days - white rice and chicken breasts only - then gradually re-introduce regular food), call if no improvement in 3 days, follow up appointment and another urine sample in 2 weeks.
THE RELIEF
When my Precious was brought from the back, she ran and jumped into BabyGirl’s lap as if seeing her family made her the happiest pup in the world. For the first time all day, I exhaled. Although she’s not 100%, I can tell she feels a little better. She’ll be on meds for a few weeks, confined to non-carpet areas, and eating bland food for a few days, but I’m soooooo relieved. When the culture comes back next week, I will breathe again. Until then, I’ll follow doctor’s orders and throw in an extra dose of TLC.
THE COST
The total cost of this scary ordeal:
Vet visit, tests, xray and meds: $413.89
Follow up appt in 2 weeks: ~$112
Effect on work: 2 hours late + 8 hours of stress and anxiety
My Precious health and happiness: PRICELESS
In 7.5 years, that is the most I’ve EVER spent on a pet expense at one time. Although it didn’t hurt to drop a few hundred dollars to make sure my Precious was ok, I can only imagine what my thoughts would have been if she needed more extensive treatment - or worse, surgery. I’ll be honest, if a single pet expense gets closer to four figures, the love for my dog will be weighed against practicality and reasonableness. I hope I don’t have to face that decision anytime soon, but now that she’s an “adult” dog, it’s a reality I need to consider. The life expectancy of her breed is 15-18 years. Since she’s only 7.5, that means the best years of her life are yet to come.
I never thought I could really love a four legged animal. All this time, she was “BabyGirl’s responsibility” unless it suited me. But after yesterday, I realized that she’s etched in my heart forever. Gawd I love my Precious!
