drugs for the patients? or for the parents...

so today . . .  our doggies were at the vet.  all day.  they had their teeth cleaned...

i know, this sounds crazy.  we've never had any of our dogs' teeth cleaned.  ever.  but milo has really, really bad breath.  and we can't trim mia's nails, which are getting dangerously long.  and both pups need their shots because it is time to renew their licenses.  so when we got a sale flyer from the vet just down the street from us advertising a doggie dental special, we decided to take advantage of it.

our dogs don't have a regular vet.  they are healthy beasts, and usually i just take them to petco for their shots.  but they are getting older, and when we moved to within a mile of a pet hospital, it seemed like a good idea to find a doctor for our pups.  because as they get older, if they have health problems, it would be nice to be able to take them to someone who knows them.  so taking them in to get their teeth cleaned was really only an excuse.  we needed a doggie doctor.

when i called last week to get an appointment, i was informed that before the dental procedure could be performed, our pups needed a pre-op appointment.  ok, i could understand that.  they were going to go under a general anesthesia, so it made sense that the vet wanted to be sure that they were in good general health first.  since the facility is only 3/4 of a mile from our house, we decided to walk the pups to their appointment.  our hope was that they would be relaxed and a little bit tired when we got them there.

it didn't work.

milo took two steps into the waiting room and hit the brakes.  i mean, he HIT THE BRAKES!  i have never seen him do that before.  one second he was walking happily along, and the next second his claws were spread out, his rear end was in the air and his head and shoulders were planted on the floor.  he was not budging!  i called.  i coaxed.  i pulled on his leash.  he didn't move.  i finally had to pick him up and carry him in...

mia, on the other hand, walked in and immediately went into panic mode.  she shook.  her tail was so far forward between her legs that it almost reached her neck!  she was panting.  she jumped up in rollie's lap and down on the floor and up in my lap and down on the floor.  she paced.  she panted some more.  she wanted to be held, but she didn't want to be held.

and this went on for half an hour, because it didn't take us nearly as long to walk 3/4 of a mile as we thought it would, so we were early.  of course.

once i got milo into the waiting room, he was fine.  there was another small dog waiting for their appointment, wearing the 'cone of shame.'  as soon as milo saw her, he started wagging his tail and whining.  suddenly he was mr. personality.  and then a big dog walked in, and milo went into 'who do you think you are? get out of my waiting room!' mode.  he went on point.  his tail stood straight up.  his hackles raised.  he barked!  repeatedly!!  and this obnoxious behavior continued with every big dog that walked in.  i finally took him outside.  which made mia even more nervous!

we couldn't win...

at last they called our name.  we walked into the exam room and met our new vet, dr. marchand.  he was very nice, and milo warmed up fairly quickly.  but mia was having none of it!  her tail was still between her legs.  she was still panting.  she had one eye on the door and one eye on the vet.  after a few minutes, he decided to complete milo's exam and then took him down the hall for his shots.  but mia was... let's just say, very resistant to any contact.  at all.  he finally managed to do a quick exam to make sure that she could undergo the dental procedure, and then said that maybe it would be best to just give her her shots while she was out for the surgery.  and then he gave us some tranquilizers for her.

a smart move on his part :)

rollie had to get up at 5:45 this morning to give mia her tranquilizer, because today was dental procedure day.  the tranquilizer was supposed to relax her so that she wouldn't be so anxious.  and on a normal dog, it probably would have worked, but mia is not normal.  mia likes to be in control and on alert.  rollie gave her 1 1/2 tablets, but she fought off that tranquilizer like her life depended on it.  and so, at 8:00 this morning we sat in the vet's office with a repeat performance of our first visit.

and then they came and took our pups.  i cried.  i cried!  i never cry.  and i knew they were going to be fine, and i knew this was something that needed to be done, but when i watched them walk through that door back to the surgery area all alone, i cried.  there was no way they could understand what was about to happen to them.  i was especially worried about mia, because we got her from the pound, so she had spent at least a few days in a cage, and i was worried that she would think we had sent her away, back to a cage.  and then there is milo... who just needs a face to lick and a lap to sit it.  he is always so happy and loveable.  he was not going to understand being all alone in a cage. 

our dogs don't go anywhere.  they are always at home.  together.  free!  when we go on vacation, we find someone to come and stay at home with them.  so i knew they weren't going to understand why they were all alone in a strange place.  i hoped that the vet gave them something to make them sleep all day... although seeing how mia fought the tranquilizers, i wasn't sure they had enough drugs in the whole place to make her sleep...

it was a long day.  i kept watching the clock and my phone.  i knew they wouldn't do the procedure until about 11:00, and dr. marchand said he would call when they started to wake up around 3:30, and so i waited and watched.

at 3:30 my phone rang.  the puppies were fine.  well, mia was fine.  milo had to have 6 teeth removed and was going to have to have an antibiotic for a week, but he had survived.  their teeth were clean, their shots had been given, and their nails were trimmed.  we went to pick them up and mia was sooo ready to go home!  milo just kept looking at me like, "don't ever try that again!"

my only hope is that their little doggie brains will forget today's ordeal.  because i know this is not their last trip to see the vet.  i know they are going to have to go back.  they will need shots again.  they will need their nails trimmed again.  and it is possible that they will need their teeth cleaned again...

maybe next time rollie and i should take the tranquilizers...