What a day! To begin with, it was my preop appointment at Lucile Packard in prep for my surgery on Monday. Mommy got up and started getting everything together to leave about 8 am. When Daddy got the boys up for breakfast, Henry was crying and didn't want to be touched. He also had a hard time walking. The last few days he hasn't been as active but this was a dramatic difference. My parents felt sick at the thought of leaving him home all day while they were gone when he was in so much pain. Mommy made a quick call to the vet, explained the situation, and they agreed to let my parents drop him off for treatment. My parents rushed around getting the car loaded up and headed straight to the vet. They got us into a room immeadiately and the doctor came right in. He was pretty sure that there were some problems with Henry's back since that is really common in doxies. My parents left Henry in capable hands and we got back in the car to head to Palo Alto with Mommy in tears. I was able to nap for 20 minutes or so on the way down, otherwise I just played with my toys and was in a pretty good mood. When we got to Palo Alto at 11 we had to check in and then wait to be seen by the doctor. While we waited, I checked out all the kids in the waiting room. They called us back and first got a weight. Mommy was happy to see that without clothes I was up to 14 lbs 8 ozs. The 24 kcal seems to be working. Then we waited in the room for my doctor. He answered some questions for my parents and then it was time for my preop pictures. Now, my parents have me trained really well, when I see a camera I turn towards it and smile. Unfortunately, the doctor wanted some shots from the side and I wasn't cooperating because I kept turning to look at the camera! After a few minutes he got the pictures he needed. Our last stop before heading home was to get blood drawn. It took almost 45 minutes before they got us in and by then I was long past nap time. Daddy held me while they tried to get some blood. Although my parents warned them I was a hard stick, I don't think they believed them until they actually had to try and get the blood. They decided it was going to be too difficult so they poked my finger instead and "milked" it for quite some time to get enough blood for testing. After crying for 15+ minutes I was exhausted. So when my parents put me in my car seat and turned on my feeding I zonked out immeadiately.
Unfortunately, I don't sleep so well in the car and after about 15 minutes I was awake and crying. The next 2 1/2 hours I would alternate between sleeping for a few minutes at a time followed by long stretches of waking up and crying. It was a long ride for all of us!
We made it home by about 4 pm and a little after 5 pm, we got back in the car to go visit Henry at the vet. We got to take him outside and let him walk around a little. The doctor told my parents that two of his discs are calcified. They haven't ruptured yet so no surgery for now, but Henry will have to be on strict bed rest for 4-6 weeks. No running, no jumping, no playing. He will have to be confined to a room and not allowed to go up and down stairs and only taken out to go to the bathroom a few times a day. Since the boys were supposed to be boarded next week my parents aren't sure if Henry can go now. They will have to check with the doctor and the boarding facility to see what is best for Henry's recovery. My parents feel very lucky that it wasn't worse and that Henry should fully recover, although the vet warned them that he may have this happen again in the future. One in four doxies have back problems so they will have to be careful with Chili as well.
Daddy says when it rains it pours - and right now I guess it is pouring!
Peyton Nicole Smith
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