Our trip to the vets?
I don’t know what I expected when I took Clover to the vets. I knew I wouldn’t get answers straight away, and I knew that she wouldn’t be fixed instantly… but I still felt disappointed when the vet told me they didn’t know what the problem was and that Clover would need an X-ray so that they could find out. The X-ray, I might add, which would cost £350.00. Plus the £35.00 consultation fee for the vet to tell me they didn’t know what was wrong and that she needed an X-ray. So, we can add that onto the total of our ‘how much does a dog cost’ calculations.
“Ok, an X-ray” I thought. “That’s easy, we can do that. I can wait outside in the waiting room until it’s finished.” Wrong. That’s not how it works. Firstly I would need to book it in advance. Secondly, Clover would need to be sedated whilst the X-ray took place so they could check her properly and then she’d need time to recover once she had woken up. She would be at the Vets for a whole day. I felt like crying. I hate leaving her at the best of times, let alone leaving her in an environment where, whilst she was cared for and looked after, she would be scared and out of routine. But it needed to be done. I booked her in for the earliest slot they had, which was a week later. The vet told me that in the meantime I should rest her as much as possible. No walks at all until the X ray was done, try to keep her calm and try to entertain her in other ways. “Easier said than done when you own the Tasmanian Devil”, I thought. But, I was wrong. Clover was calm. She didn’t kick up a fuss or need attention. She just slept and managed to go to the toilet in the garden. She would eat and drink, and then she would sleep some more. Clover was properly hurt and it was evident from her behaviour. No attention seeking, no barking at the neighbours, no standing by the treat door stamping her feet and barking. No zooming, no bringing me toys, no chaos.
The day of the X-ray rolled round and I dropped Clover with the vet for 8.00am. The vet told me they would check her back legs and her paws and they would also check her spine. The word spine hit me like a truck. Frenchie’s are renowned for their spinal problems. They lose use of their back legs and it results in very expensive operations or them having a life where they are crate bound. I wanted neither for Clover. I had been aware of potential spine issues for a long while already at this point. Having the X-ray come back to say she had a spine problem was my biggest fear and it still is.
I left the vets and went to work but it’s safe to say I was no use. I knew my world could fall apart totally at the results of the X-ray. The vet had told me that they would call when she was awake and book me a time later that day to go back and collect her and go through the X-ray results. I was dreading it. I knew the vet would call when they were ready, but I still checked my phone every five minutes and broke down in tears on a colleague. Nobody told me how hard these moments would be.
The vet called and booked me in to collect Clover that evening. My fiancée came because I just couldn’t face it alone. What if the X-ray result was really bad?! We got to the vets and all I wanted to do was hug Clover, to see that she was ok. We were called through but there was no sign of our floppy eared girl. Instead, the vet stood by a screen which had the X-ray of Clovers back and legs on it. My heart instantly sunk… this couldn’t be good news.
The vet started with the good news. No spinal injuries. In fact, a healthy strong looking spine with no concerns. I nearly cried with relief. BUT, her back leg had a problem ( I mean- obviously!). The vet said that Clover had clearly been struggling with the leg for a while, because she had lost muscle mass on her thigh which indicated she wasn’t using the leg very much at all (even when I thought she was fixed). The vet showed us the X-ray of Clovers good leg, and talked us through how the joints worked and what the leg should look like. Then she moved onto Clover’s injured leg and the difference was quite obvious. The vet told me that Clover had what is called cruciate ligament disease, something I had never heard of (but have since done lots of research on!). We had two options… we try to fix her ourselves which would take time and patience and love.. or we book her in for an operation.
If you missed any of my previous diary updates, you can find them at ‘the diary of my ruff reality.’
Alternatively, head to ‘nobody warned me about…’ to read about the dog ownership topics that I wish someone had told me about before I got Clover.
Thinking of getting a dog? Visit my ‘top tips page’ for important things that I probably should have considered further before buying my floppy eared hound!
Subscribe below for notifications whenever a new diary entry is released!
*Disclaimer- I have no animal related qualifications whatsoever. Which begs the question as to exactly how much of my advice you should take. This isn’t really an advice blog- not properly. It’s more of a ‘these are my experiences- maybe we can all learn from them’ type of blog. You should probably seek actual qualified veterinary/animal behaviourist/dog dietician advice if you genuinely have any dog related concerns. I’m just here to share the things I’ve learnt in my three years of dog ownership. Some of which may be useful- some not.*
Proudly powered by WordPress
