Guilt Trip

My Queen of the Universe, like any pampered athlete seems to get more severe injuries than those who spend their lives sitting on the sidelines. Tessa has one speed. Hard and fast. She can't just trot or walk to her toy sitting across the room, instead such an action requires a pounce or dash.

About a year ago, my dad was dog sitting. When I came home I discovered a dog with a mouthful of broken teeth who was lame on one foot. My dad tried to tell me she ran into a gate. (Whatever!) I personally think she got into a conflict with a cow or horse and lost. Off to the vet we go. She ends up having a bunch of her teeth including a canine surgically removed. The paw we decided had soft tissue damage and a possible fracture. Fair enough. Tessa lived the good life until she was feeling better and then resumed her prior activity level.

This summer we were at a trial when she fell into a hole on the field. She didn't stop working, yelp or limp so I didn't think anything of it. Animals are surprisingly tough. That week she was extremely lame. I in my infinite wisdom thought she'd pulled a muscle or had some soft tissue damage. After having her be kinda lame to really lame off and on for a couple of months I took her into the vet. X-rays then revealed she had a pretty major break in two of her foot/paw bones. On a human it would be the bones in between the wrist and knuckles. My vet who understands Tessa's personality and activity level didn't think we'd be able to get a strong enough knit with just a splint. This was because she had broke where she had the fractured bones. We were then referred to an orthopedic surgeon. Yes, just like people there are animal doctors with some specific specializations.

Appointment made, financing in place, we made the guilt trip to Calgary. The entire drive I was berating myself. How could I not know my dog had broken bones? What kind of a crappy, irresponsible owner was I? Tessa didn't care. She still loved me.

After a successful surgery we came home. My high end active dog is now on the equivalent of bed rest. The prima donna gets carried up and down stairs, has attractive head gear (cone head), a sock and modified saline bag to protect her splint from getting wet when on potty runs. Which are pretty much her only outside excursions. She gets to visit the vet every two weeks. Which she loves! Not so much.

Thursday is her six week check. We're battling pressure sores so she's on antibiotics. We're also battling cabin fever so she's also on Chlomicalm (think doggy Prozac).

My Queen of the Universe is queen of this universe these days. Sigh.