Monday, August 4
Okay, here’s the story on Spike and his visit to the vet.
I’m sitting at the small table at the back of the Best Little Trailer, completely engrossed in reading the comments on this blog. Typically, Bridget is lying on the bed on my left side and Spike is curled up in the corner of the bed on my right.
Absentmindedly I reach out and pet Spike.
“What!” I pull my hand back. “What is that on your back?” I part the fur on Spike’s back at the base of his neck and find a fresh wound the size of a quarter.
“What in the world did you do, Spike?”
I hide a pain pill in some cheese and give it to him. I take the scissors and cut away some of the fur and clean up the wound as best I can.
“For heaven’s sake, Spike. I don’t know how you managed to do that.” (He can’t hear me.)
Sheesh, I’d better get him to a vet.
I open up my brand new phone and turn it on.
“No Service.” Well, that’s no surprise.
“C’mon, pumpkinheads. We need to get going.” I drive us toward Boulder, stop, and try the phone again. Good! I dial the vet clinic. The phone says it’s dialing but no one picks up. Ta’ hell with the phone. We’re going to Pinedale . . . .
Long story short, Spike is given an appointment for tomorrow.
I’m to drop him off between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning. They’ll take care of his wound and draw some blood to send to the lab for analysis. Maybe we can discern if Spike’s general health can be improved or if he’s simply getting old.
Later that afternoon . . .
Bridget, Spike, and I are relaxing by the Best Little Trailer. I’m sitting in my cheapo blue camp chair with my camera, hoping the crew will do something that will make a good photo for this blog. They don’t.
Bridget wants me to hold her in my lap.
I put the camera in the drink holder built into the camp chair’s arm and lift Bridget up. I hold her in the newborn-baby position, scratch her belly, call her silly names, the entire routine.
Then a wind gust hits.
Gee, I’d better put up the awning! That taken care of, I round up the nutcakes.
“Time to go inside. It’s gonna’ rain soon.”
Tuesday, August 5
It’s 7:30 a.m., an overcast, drizzly morning. Bridget and Spike are in the PTV giving me confused looks.
“Sorry, guys. You can’t have breakfast. Spike isn’t allowed. Doctor’s orders.”
I gather up my things: purse . . . breakfast for Bridget for later . . . my useless phone . . .
Now where the heck did I put that camera?
“OH, NOOOOOOOO!!!!”
My precious camera is still in the drink holder of the camp chair! It rained off and on all night. Sadly I pick it up and brush off the raindrops.
“Sonofa….!”
(Now you know why there aren’t many photos in this post! Most are pics from the past or recent rejects.)
I drop off Spike at the vet clinic.
I’m surprised that he weighs in at 25.7 pounds which is his usual weight. He looks fatter to me. Spike isn’t nervous. He knows why he’s here. Plus he’s tough.
I’m instructed by the vet tech to return at 2 o’clock. I’m told that Spike may be given a sedative, if need be, while his wound is being cleaned.
Spike? Need a sedative for a lil’ ol’ wound? Ha! Not likely.
We’re talking about The Spikester! He eats bones for breakfast while lesser dogs gum their kibble!
Bridget and I head for home.
On the way I park at a spur road. Bridget eats the cooked turkey I packed for her breakfast. Then the two of us walk the road.
It’s a long one, up and down and around, through rabbit brush in full bloom, bright yellow-gold against the grey boulders.
A sage grouse watches us, then noisily flies away.
The sky has cleared somewhat and the air is fresh from the rain. At the top of a knoll, Bridge and I sit side-by-side on a boulder and look down at the lake.
The hike provides us with a good work-out, something we haven’t had for a long time, ever since Spike has slowed down.
Back at the vet clinic at two, I learn Spike didn’t need a sedative.
The vet tech takes me to his cage. I snap a photo of a very restless Spike behind bars with my stupid phone (It doesn’t come out). Placing him in the PTV with Bridget, I go back inside for a report.
The clinic is very busy. I learn an emergency came in a while ago, a dog kicked by a horse.
Here’s the deal: Spike’s wound isn’t an animal bite. It’s an accidental gouge, probably from a branch or something similar. The blood was drawn. The results won’t be received until “maybe Friday, probably not ’til Monday.”
I pay the bill.
Office visit: $45.00; Blood draw and consult: $45.00; Lab tests-CBC & Chem Panel: $147.00; Amoxicillin: $18.00; Ender ointment: $10.45. Sales tax: $1.14.
Total: $266.59.
When I come back for the blood work results, we will discuss possible surgery for a benign cyst under Spike’s tail (rat terriers get these; both Bridget and Spike have had them removed in the past; no big deal) and also, dental cleaning.
This post is long! Lots to tell!
Anyway . . . All of a sudden our peaceful lives have entered a vortex.
Take a deep breath. Here comes the mother of all run-on sentences!
My very nice camera is ruined, my brand new phone is a piece of crap, my laptop is acting weird (corrupt disk!), my sweet Spike has a hole in his back, I’m not going to the rodeo this Friday as planned due to no camera, in order to replace the camera I need to have one shipped to Jackson which is 80 MILES FROM HERE, yet I need to be in Pinedale to pick up mail about the vehicle registrations that run out this month, also the air horns are coming from Mick, the PTV’s air conditioning isn’t working, I probably need to buy a new laptop, the lab results will be in on Monday (that is, if they aren’t late), Spike might have surgery on his buttster which means keeping THAT clean while it heals . . . (inhale, exhale) . . . the 16-day limit on our camp is Tuesday, I need to find a new camp so from it I can go to Pinedale and Jackson, it rains every day, the PTV is muddy UP TO THE DOOR HANDLES, and, let’s see. . . what else . . . oh, the crapper is filling up and we’re almost out of water again.
Yep, we’re livin’ the dream!
rvsue
NOTE: All of the above will eventually fade away. What’s important is I have my crew!
THANK YOU, RVSUE SHOPPERS!
Here are a few of the items recently purchased at Amazon from my blog:
Henschel Men’s Aussie Hat, Olive
American Technology THE MUGGER Folding Cup Holder
The BEST BBQ GRILL MAT – Set of 2 Mats Make Grilling Easy
AVON Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus SPF 30 Insect Repellent Lotions
West Bend 6-Quart Capacity Electric Wok
Ambient Weather Wireless Thermometer with Indoor and Outdoor Temperature
“Don’t be that way, Spike. You have to take your medicine.”
