Ultimate Scream

Way back in those long gone by days of vet school, I used to draw screams during class. If you look through my class notes, you can get a quick idea of how bored or aggravated I was at any one time. The classes that didn't lose my attention had few or no screams; the classes that were the ultimate in boredom were littered with screams; and the classes where my classmates were driving me crazy were littered with screams. There are a wide variety of them including just plain ol' circular face screams, various animal screams, hair added, block faces, different shapes, etc. There is also one that went a little further and became the wicked witch getting blown away in the tornado in Oz... How they turned out depended on my mood. Probably my favorite was the cat with fangs bared screaming.

Not too long ago (relatively speaking), Can't Spell sent me a text requesting that I draw a scream for old times' sake. I did and titled it the ultimate scream. At the moment, I feel the need to resurrect the harmless method of stress relief.

Somehow at work, I've inherited the job of making the schedule but the boss's wife is exempt somehow although she says she is not. The problem with her, though, is that she is in the habit of going to visit her mom at least once a week. I've asked repeatedly which day or days or rotation of days she would like for me to plan for her to be out on so that I can rearrange the others to cover. She will not give me a straight answer.

The other problem is that the 3 kids are all wanting to go to tech school. At my clinic, there is a receptionist, a kennel worker, a groomer, and a floater. The floater, or middle position, is the coveted spot because everyone sees it as being more fun and where you get to do more cool stuff. I don't necessarily agree, especially since when the boss's wife is working as receptionist it means that she wants the floater stuck under her rear to answer the phone, etc. (You know, the things that she should be doing...) I try to be a fair person and reward those who deserve it but it is getting pretty hairy. Although I have had a private meeting with all 3 kids, they still don't seem to understand the concept of needing to earn the right to do more. If I can't trust them to walk the dogs and clean the cages how am I going to trust them to count medications appropriately, get the right medication, etc.??? I'm about to the point of relegating all 3 to the kennel but that leaves me with no hands available at all on days that the boss's wife takes off unexpectedly.

I've further decided that I stink as a boss. Not that my boss does much better but I'm just not so sure I ever want to be a practice owner. I'm not very good at remembering to praise people; I expect them to do a good job and I guess I grew up without it so I don't exactly know how to incorporate it. I'm also not very good at criticism and I hate confrontation. And, as always, I really don't know how I got myself into this mess. I mean, 3 kids (not all that fond of kids, never wanted to be a parent), boss's wife, the go-to for everyone, in charge of the controlled substance log and inventory, in charge of the schedule...and this doesn't even count what goes on at home.

Maybe I'll strike oil, become a multi-millionaire and can retire from actual work then open a rescue clinic or go work for Best Friends in Utah...

On a side note, I must admit I found a twinge of jealousy in my heart when I read that the cartoon doctor lady published her work. I'm always torn with mine. I want to but then I get hesitant about whether they are good enough and whether I want to share them with a real public rather than a few close friends. I was working on scanning in some new ones tonight and found it funny that me, an English grammar OCD freak, spotted a couple of mistakes on some of the older cartoons that I haven't caught before; why it was funny is that I'm excessively tired and took some anti-dizzy medicine a little earlier. Maybe it takes my mind in an altered state to function appropriately these days. After all, I was advised by a good friend recently that I needed both drugs and therapy. I'm thinking of starting group sessions at work because I think they need help worse than I do.

Last comment for now is that I think I'm going to put Sam in a doggie wheelchair. It's been a hard decision to make and I still don't know if it will work but I'm at the end of my rope on options. Sam is at least 15, a shepherd / collie mix, around 65 pounds. When he was very young, he had a pelvic fracture and tarsal shearing fracture of his left leg. He developed laryngeal paralysis about 1.5 years ago but it has been very static therefore I have not surgically intervened. His voice is gone, he has mild fecal incontinence, and he has been progressively weakening neurologically. I don't know if it is the peripheral neuropathy associated with laryngeal paralysis, degenerative myelopathy, lumbosacral stenosis, or something else. The big problem is that he is an outdoors only dog by his choice. He hates being confined in any way, shape, or form. I'm just not sure how a wheelchair will work for an outside dog with rough terrain but have spoken to some people that have tried it with good success. With the change in the weather, he had a rough couple of days and got stuck down twice. The longer he lays, the weaker his legs get then he can't rise. After I get him up and massage his legs he's okay for a while. At this point I'm pretty comfortable with my pain control protocol and it seems to be the neurologic issue that is worsening. He's getting measured tomorrow and we'll have the cart in a few days. Guess we'll see how it goes from there. I really hate to be forced into euthanasia because of impaired mobility; he is otherwise a healthy and happy dog.

That's about it for now. I feel as if there was one other thing I meant to say but my little mind is rather muddled at the moment so I'm just not sure. That's why I hate taking medicine; I'll have something to do, say, or write and in the time it takes me to start I'll have forgotten it. Scary!!

Loss of Subtlety

Although I'm quite zonked on meclizine right now in an effort to maintain balance and an upright position, I've not had quite enough to write the entry I was considering therefore y'all will have to do without more of my deep dark secrets for now and just hear my Halloween complaint...

I'm sure that my viewpoint on the matter is influenced by my English literature background and love of classic books. The whole Halloween scene such as it has become is simply vulgar and disgusting to me. What set this off was the sign that I noted on my way to work advertising "Murder on Meighan" (a local road name) then describing "haunted" things consisting of chainsaw massacres and such.

What ever happened to the subtleties of haunting and fright? I am not a fan at all of the vulgar displays of torture and terror. For me, the suggestion of fear is much more tantalizing. Think classic Dracula or some of the great old ghost stories from back when like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There are many, many excellent books that involve ghosts and hauntings but fail to describe in all its gory detail the blood and guts. (And, no, I'm not at all squeamish about blood and guts for the record; I just don't find that particular brand of horror appealing.) For me, leaving much to the imagination, hints and suggestions rather than detailed description, leaving that echoing question about what was real and what not is much more entertaining. On a slightly related note, I think we have this problem with clothing as well. Call me old-fashioned if you want but I think it was better when some things were left to the imagination rather than everything left to hang out in full view.

Tell me, what does a huge chainsaw covered in blood and gore have to do with a "haunted" house? What self-respecting ghost really needs a chainsaw? Has the world gotten so jaded and lost so much imagination that only more extreme horrors can move anyone? If I wanted to visit a haunted house, I wouldn't be satisfied with less than the classic old mansion on the hill with spiderwebs and creaky hinges, etc. A ghoul armed with chainsaw would be anti-climatic. So there's my opinion on the matter.

I Guess Maybe

I've been promising a post about the "new kids" for a while now and the fact that I ran across some pictures from when I first found them and was amazed at how little and cute they were prompted me to finally come through.

Mom and I were driving to town, innocently minding our own business when I started to pull out from the old bridge and saw 2 pups chasing after a car. They were close to being hit and I tried my best to ignore them, even rationalizing that we could go ahead with our errands. I really DID NOT need any more dogs. I mean, for heaven's sake, I'm overloaded already!!

OK, so I guess it's obvious, my rationalization failed and I stopped and picked up the pups, tossing them into the back seat. They reeked of fish. People are terrible about tossing dogs in that area. It is not close to any houses but there is a creek so I guess they think they will survive on water and fish. I've personally found 6 dogs there and my mom picked up one way back before my brother and I were even conceived.


The pups on the day we found them, approx 3 months old.

The little male approached us very quickly and easily, wagging his tail while the female hung back a little, more timid and definitely contemplating the situation. This has proven true of their dispositions. She thinks about things a lot more than he does. He tends to just burst right in with little trepidation. She's the brains, he's the brawn. Together, they come up with many nefarious deeds and are always into mischief.


Guess at 4 months


Maybe at about 6 months

I tried to find them homes but there were just no suckers available at the time and it didn't help that the girl developed hemorrhagic diarrhea just a few days after I found them then the boy had tooth issues and had to have that corrected. Additionally, they fell in love with Tag, my older Border collie mix who was found in the same place and he really enjoyed having them as well since he was missing his hero and companion, Bogie, who died last year.

It took quite some time for me to settle on suitable names and they came about partially because I found myself saying, "I guess maybe I'll just keep them" so often. The male became Guess and the female Maybe. It has been a lot of fun messing with people and the names plus the pups themselves make me laugh; something I really need right now.

They have the most fun hiding their toys from each other, jumping in the swimming pool, dragging off the huge water buckets, digging holes in various and sundry places, and just running around. They are very large dogs, I never expected them to grow quite that much! At 8 months, he is 92 pounds and she is 74 pounds. Here is a picture of his paw in comparison to my hand when he was only 4 months old. The next one is my ~50 pound dog and my 15 pound dog. It'll be interesting to see where he stops!







I was amazed at how much they have changed from the first pictures. I still don't have any really good pictures of them because they won't be still. Although they were definitely not a planned addition to the family, I am not at all sorry that they came. They have been far too much fun to have around.

Surprise

I want to start with a comment on irony. I appreciate the comments on the last post and just thought y'all might be amused to learn this about me. The first job offer I had came from the man where I did my terminal preceptor. I turned it down for several reasons but probably the biggest was that his wife did the grooming / was office manager, his sister-in-law was the receptionist, and his niece worked in the kennel. I've always had worries about such strong family oriented businesses. You know, you feel like you may become part of THE FAMILY from which there is no escape... My first job turned out to have similar issues since the stepdaughter was the office manager unbeknown to me at the time of accepting the position. The wife in that situation was the ultimate boss, too, even though she didn't work there physically. I have known the people where I work now for years and never would've guessed that this would happen. I do, however, have a very current resume and am keeping my eyes / ears open. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do much in the immediacy due to the necessity of being home but.....

Thought I would share a fun surgery story. We inherited a client who has a young Yorki that was diagnosed with a cruciate rupture at another local veterinarian's office. The owner took time off work then found that the other vet wouldn't be able to do the surgery during that time so she called my boss who told her that we could take care of it. I examined the dog who did have a beautiful cranial drawer on the right leg then anesthetized it. All I can say is that it is a good thing I'm comfortable with improvisation.

I approached the leg as I would to perform a lateral suture but stopped because with the leg completely relaxed I could actually feel the patella (kneecap) and it was sitting on the medial aspect of the leg with the tibia rotated medially and neither would move to the correct position. I then altered my approach slightly and found that the cruciate ligaments were intact and there was absolutely no patellar groove in the femur. Instead, there was a mound of bone and the tendons were so contracted that the patella couldn't even be moved into an appropriate alignment.

Instead of a CCL repair, I got to create a new groove for the patella, transpose the ligament to a correct position thereby straightening the tibia, and then tighten the joint capsule so that it would all stay put. It was rather fun for a change although I prefer soft tissue surgery over orthopedics, hands down. My reason? Probably partially because I'm more comfortable with it but also because I find that no matter what I do, orthopedic surgery turns into hamburger and I can make soft tissue procedures look really pretty... And in this case, it's not just me. My orthopedic procedures actually look a little less like hamburger than the boarded orthopedic surgeons I've worked with thus far.

I also had a lot of fun explaining all of this to the owner. I even pulled out a great knee model and was about to take her to the chalkboard painted door to draw but she stopped me... :(

The only worry I have is that the owner won't do his PT like I demonstrated because she may be afraid it hurts too much. Then I'll have another like the last FHO that has a habit of holding the leg and has now built up scar tissue. That one has been frustrating. The dog had a traumatic coxofemoral luxation that was reduced closed then failed to stay in. I was trained that if it didn't stay in well during reduction, go on to an FHO rather than waiting. In this case, it was replaced multiple times and had cross pins placed through the femoral head once but still fell apart. I then did an FHO that I wasn't 100% happy with because there was a small piece of bone I would have preferred to have removed. When I discovered this, however, it was at the post-op radiographs and the dog had great range of motion with no bone interference therefore I opted not to re-open the site. Since then, the owner failed to do the PT and now the dog has such severe scar tissue formation I don't know if we'll ever get her to use the leg properly. At this point, we are sedating her periodically to stretch the leg and break down the scarring and she is wearing ankle weights to strengthen as well as fatigue the muscles in hopes it will help. Still waiting to see what will be the final result. We almost re-operated but when we anesthetized her and took more films the bone is remodeling perfectly and with a lot of pressure we could still make the leg go full range of motion after forcing the scar tissue to give; still no bone interference.

I wish I had the capability to bring them into the office (and owners would cooperate) to do some PT myself. Time is the major factor because I would be complained at about taking so much time for what would be perceived as too little income. Especially since I think we should increase our surgery price but let it include x number of PT sessions. Oh well. No one wants to listen to the new kid especially when it involves change!

Work Grumps, Case Themes, and a Little Whimsey

A little grump, a little whimsical; just a mishmash of goo this morning...

I'm sure I've mentioned that the boss now has his wife working as receptionist. It started as a temporary measure while the kids' class schedule prevented having someone there in the morning for a couple of hours. Because none of the kids were working out well up front and they failed to alter their schedules, it became a full time problem. Now, we have hired another person, who I like so far, to work part-time receptionist and part-time in the "middle."

The whole situation has exploded in a way. This will probably be confusing, but I'll try to explain what is happening. One of the kids is the cousin of the licensed tech who is currently out on maternity leave (second daughter born via C-section last Monday, 10-3, healthy and everyone doing well). Originally, she wanted to be a veterinarian. She has failed to work out well in any position and has already decided she doesn't want to be a veterinarian but a vet tech. She started out as a receptionist and, not only were we frustrated constantly but we were also getting constant complaints from the clients. Her kennel weekends stink; animals aren't properly taken care of and she just doesn't seem to care. We've moved her to kennel in the afternoons, thinking it might help but she also doesn't seem to care in that position either. I guess I should add that she's terribly inconsistent. On rare days, she does well but those are few and far between. Her cousin, just before going on maternity leave, told her she would be taking over the "middle" position. This tends to be the coveted post because it is viewed as getting to do more cool stuff. First, her cousin spoke completely out of turn, not even consulting us. Second, supposedly her cousin understood that her performance was not acceptable but chose to tell her that anyway. Third, she is definitely not the person we would place in that position.

At our recent office meeting, I spoke of many of these problems then intended to pull all 3 of the kids aside to speak in private but haven't been able to for multiple reasons. This child is one of those personality types that I really fail to comprehend (it's going to be very difficult for me to talk to her) because they seem to never recognize when they do something wrong and blame it all on others. In my opinion, she needs to go but I've also said that since her first weekend when she left the hard to handle dog in a cage with no care and never called anyone about it all weekend. Unfortunately, I don't have this authority. In lieu of that, I can and have significantly cut her hours. If there is failure to improve they will drop more.

Of the other 2 kids, one does a decent job up front but gets overwhelmed rather easily. Besides, she's the best in the kennel and to pitch in for pretty much any job. The third was banned from the front quickly. She does okay in the kennel but isn't great at pitching in to help with other things. When I need another set of hands, I can never find them when she's working.

Our new person is doing well up front, picking up quickly, and I have no major complaints yet. She seems to care and looks for ways to help and make things run better. She has had some experience in the past and helps in the "middle" as well. Which brings me back to the wife. She's still hanging on and won't go to the planned schedule or ever let us know things in advance like when she needs a day off so that we can plan for coverage. I've inherited planning the schedule but yet certain people are off limits.

Having the wife there is like having Dianne reincarnated but 1000 times worse because she is the wife so what do you say about it? Dianne was a close personal friend of the boss, which was bad enough, but now it's family... She takes messages and we never get them, doesn't pull charts, doesn't let us know things, etc. etc. etc. The other recurrent theme is appointments being set during the 12-2 period that is "lunch." The boss is almost always out for the full 2 hours. I rarely leave the building but use the time to catch up. Charts, phone calls, client instructions, dropped off patients that haven't been checked yet, surgery that ran over, etc. It's also the time I typically use to see employee pets if needed as well as anything that may be needed on my herd. Lunch for me usually doesn't happen or consists of nibbling cheddar cheese while doing one of the above tasks. Every once in a while I'll run out and grab something or take recycling or deposit my check but it's just not the norm. Because of this, suddenly there are routine appointments being taken during that time. (Don't misunderstand, emergencies are always accepted but routine stuff is usually set around that opening or told to drop off.) The end result is that I'm now staying late on an almost daily basis to finish what I couldn't finish during lunch.

I'm going to relate a conversation that occurred last week between myself and the wife (there's a cartoon version of it...) I was examining a dog before anesthesia for surgery. Wife: Scooby ---'s mom called, he has tapeworms and she wants to pick up medicine. Me: That's fine, just pull the chart for me. Wife: The groomer saw the tapeworms. Do you still need the chart? Me: Yes, please pull it. Wife: He is seen here routinely. Do you still need the chart? Me: Yes. I need the chart! (Inside my head I'm saying "JUST PULL THE DAMNED CHART!!!!!") Bear in mind, too, that this was also after the office meeting in which I enumerated "pull the chart" to the point of redundancy. That's what I mean; we have rules and ways the clinic is run but they apparently fail to apply to the wife.

The other major aggravation with work is that I do not feel that I can trust anyone (including the boss) to actually properly care for the patients. The only problem is that I can't be there 24/7 myself. So what am I to do? I hate leaving critical patients on my day off because they typically are worse when I go back and usually because of something that was done with which I don't agree or because something that was instructed was not done... Not only can I physically not be there and control the situation but it is also unfair to my kids. Plus there is all the stuff at home that I have to do. I went to a meeting at AVMA about managing your time and the top recommendation was to delegate. How do you delegate when there is no one you can really trust to do what you ask and do it right? (By the way, I also feel that I should state that although I have perfectionist tendencies and am very hard on myself I am not nearly that hard on others.)

The other fun part about having the wife around is that their son-in-law has started vet school this year. I've determined that she must be a very insecure person because she takes everything poorly and gets really defensive and seems determined that she has to outdo on everything. The son-in-law failed to obtain admission to the school where I went which was "his dream" per mother-in-law. I'm probably being judgmental but what I've known of the young man was not impressive. He seemed very lazy to me and I find it frightening that he suddenly decided to become a vet after his fiance said she wanted to be just like her mom (i.e. get a college degree, marry a vet, and live as a kept housewife.) It affected me much like the 2 students I knew as an intern who said the reason they went to vet school was that it seemed like "something they could do." When asked if they were glad I was told no that it had been too much work but that now they were in debt too far to change their minds. (Maybe I'm wrong to have issues with these viewpoints. I just know how hard of a time I'm having when I have such a passion for what I'm doing. Maybe it's easier when you don't...) Anyway, sorry about the rabbit trail, back to the story. Apparently the fellow made the highest grade on the first anatomy exam and was one of only 2 A's on some other exam therefore the wife has been compelled to tell me all about how wonderful he is doing, etc. and how sorry the other school should be that they failed to accept him. Although they keep saying that they do not intend to return home, I have a hard time seeing through my cynical viewpoint that someone who has not had to work for anything (dad-in-law, my boss, paid for his undergrad after he forfeited a scholarship elsewhere and is paying for his vet school) will want to actually work for a living when he could come sponge, oops, I mean work for, his dad-in-law. Sorry, the whole situation tends to annoy me. Maybe I'm jealous because I had to work so hard for it all.

The summary of all of the above is that work right now is driving me out of what little mind I have left.

As usual for me, I am working on themes with my patients. I've never been sure but I've often wondered if this happens so that I can really, really get the hang of something. Lately it has been penis / preputial issues and cats with high liver enzymes for no apparent reason. First there was a youngish dog whose penis was constantly protruding. I determined that the preputial orifice was too large allowing the skin to roll and entrap the penis. The second was a 7.5 week old puppy with the opposite problem. The end result on him was that his urine was collecting within the prepuce causing constant irritation, inflammation, and intermittent infection. A little plastic surgery on both resulted in cessation of their clinical signs. I know that I mentioned the first cat with the huge ALT. He went home eating, no more vomiting, value back to normal, and hasn't looked back. I now have a cat in the hospital who presented for decreased appetite and vomiting also. He is a little icteric. Total bili was 4.5, ALP=715, ALT not readable. No history of toxins, etc. Nothing I have found yet to aim at but started him on IV fluids and, ironically, he ate voluntarily shortly after being left in the hospital... Cats. Go figure. Still don't know what his outcome will be but I was encouraged by his eating. It was really funny because the good kid was going to syringe feed him just to see if he'd take it and not vomit. She accidentally shot the food out into the cage and he promptly set about eating it. Maybe he was afraid she'd shoot him next if he didn't. I may make a cartoon out of that, too...

On a whimsical note, I was reading the funny named pets commentary in the DVM magazine and it prompted me to share a few of my own. I tend to name things fairly regular names then give funny nicknames. I also have several really boring names but they came that way. My poodle Buddy came named. He has picked up the nicknames Budda Boo (his belly is chubby and reminds me of a Budda belly), Cujo (he tried to eat Can't Spell way back when), and Einstein (he's incredibly smart and has the wild hair to go with it.) Sam is a Shepherd / Collie mix who gets called Sam Bones, Sam Baloney (private eye), and J.P. O'Hairy (after J.P. O'Hara the sheriff who struts a lot in the John Wayne movie El Dorado). I have a Border collie named Indiana Jones who is usually called Indy. He lives with an ancient Chow / Rottie mix who is red and came to me with the name of Chief. Often the pun is made "Indy & Chief" which sounds like Indian Chief. We also often say Chief Red Dog. My flat coat retriever cross that died a couple of years ago was named Flash after the Basset hound in The Dukes of Hazzard. We called her Flash LaRue most often but also Flashley (silly joke based on Gone with the Wind in which we thought it funny if Melanie and Ashley had ran past each other in the post-war reunion scene). Scout is a Jack Russell terrier cross. He answers to Squirt and I call him the Da-Chi Terror, which he loves, because he looks like a Dachshund, Chihuahua, Jack Russell mix. Mollie, my Border collie who died, always prompted me to burst into song with one of the "Molly" songs. Yoda gets called "Yoda-man" quite often and Thumper is "Thump-Thump" with referral to Pirates of the Caribbean when Jack asks where is the thump-thump. Probably more ironic since he was named for the rabbit in Bambi. I know I'm leaving many out but those are the ones that came to mind at the moment.

With the constant frustration right now, I find that turning to silliness allows me to cope a little better. It has resulted in lots of new cartoons, plenty of sarcastic comments at work, and just some plain old goofiness. We have painted the kennel door with chalkboard paint which has been a fun outlet at times. I also saw a great T-shirt that I want. It said something to this effect, "Text messaging in the 1800's, . _ . . _ _ _ . _ . ." That is Morse code for "LOL." And, yes, I did look it up to make sure it was correct:)

Coda

I loved reading May B. Insane's previous post- it was a lot of fun bringing these wonderful dogs to their new sucker, er, person. I see both of them almost every day and continue to be amazed at the personality Maddie displays- hers is truly a complex psyche.

So Insane has been bugging me to blog recently. Since I now work in The Most Boring Job a Vet Can Have I don't really have much good blog fodder. I'm sorry, what can I blog? "Today I saw a few thousand dead pigs..." But as Insane's previous post relates, sometimes we do see or hear of good stories.

On a previous weekend I was in the town I used to practice in and ran into an old client. I had seen her old, geriatric Min Pin named Layla a few months after I started working at that practice in 2008. At that time Layla was about 12, diabetic, and was in end stage congestive heart failure. She had marked ascities, crackles, and exercise intolerance despite being on a high lasix dose, enalapril, and spironolactone. She would hardly lift up her head as I examined her one afternoon.

Now "The Book" calls for an echo to evaluate heart function before placing any animal on any kind of positive ionotropic medicine, and I agree with this. However, as so often in private practice, "The Book" comes up against "The Client Has No Money" and the client with a sick pet will always win. So, while warning Layla's owner about the dangers, I started her on Vetmedin, a veterinary only heart drug that is kind of a mixture of a positive ionotrope and something else I forget right now... (this is what happens when you don't use information- it floats away).

Two months later this dog was eating and barking again. Against all odds she had improved that much. Now, three years later she is 15 years old and on a cornucopia of medications daily but runs, barks, eats, plays with her sisters, and is a happy dog. I have Layla's owner much more time than she could ever hope for. Sometimes that's a nice feeling.

Happy Endings; New Beginnings

I thought that I would give y'all an upbeat post as a relief from my gripes and whines of late and before I start on the next bunch...

This past weekend, my friend Can't Spell and I arranged a half way meeting to bring to conclusion the great puppy exchange. At this point I think we have saturated with pets the poor sucker who is Can't Spell's friend that lives near her. I must say I cannot complain at all about the home; these babies are loved and spoiled, what more could I ask?

First was Maddie, the flea allergy dermatitis hound whose story I related recently. Here is a picture of her at the clinic the day she was brought in to be euthanized.




Maddie was taken to her new home in July as I went to AVMA. Her new owner had casually mentioned that she might be in the market for a puppy as a companion for Maddie recently therefore when Lilly came through the front door, I asked if she would be interested. To my surprise, she said yes. As you can appreciate from the picture, Lilly was in pretty bad shape. As I mentioned previously, she had gone from a bouncing healthy 5 pound puppy a month before to a malnourished 6 pounds with severe sarcoptic mange. She was dehydrated, not eating, and her eyes were matted closed because of the oozing from her skin.



So on Saturday, October 1, the girls met for the first time. Here they are in the parking lot at PetSmart. Look how good Maddie looks!! She has a healthy and full coat of hair. She seemed so happy and, while acknowledging she knew me, did not seem overly excited to see me. If anything, she seemed a little nervous that I might take her away again. The puppy was thrilled to meet a new dog and new people. She was particularly thrilled that Maddie allowed her to chew on her tail and legs and feet...






Don't they look happy?