Dolly’s a trooper …

I just got back from the vet, and Dolly is hurting, but in relatively good spirits.  She was very happy to see me.  She  sat with me and put her head on my lap, and gave me a few licks.  I hope I made her feel a little better by coming to see her.  They are going to knock her out shortly, and set the bone, and then get her in a good cast for the next six weeks.  We could have had them do surgery to put in a metal plate, which makes the fracture stronger faster, but it would have  required a trip to a specialist, a general anesthesia, a big incision (and the risk of infection), and a BUNCH of money.  They estimated somewhere between $600 and $1000 more for the surgery and plate, as opposed to $150 for just the cast, which she will have to have  anyway.   We figured if she’s going to have to go through the cast ordeal anyway, we’ll just give her a little more time to heal and make sure she doesn’t re-injure it before it heals completely.  They plan to x-ray it in a few weeks to make sure it’s healing properly, and if by some chance it isn’t, we can consider the surgery then.  Meanwhile, it’s going to be rough for us all dealing with having her in a cast.   She’s so used to chasing around and now, she’s not going to be allowed to run or play for a long time.  The really hard thing is going to be keeping her dry.  They line the inside of the cast with all sorts of dressings, and they’re not allowed to get wet at all.  Otherwise, the cast has to come off so they can replace them.   So, no more rainy days, no more pond, no more creek, in fact, she’s not even allowed out when the grass is wet without a plastic bag over it.  Ugh …

Anyway, I’m supposed to go back and pick her up later today.  I’m sure she’ll be a lot happier when she’s back here with us.  Hopefully, they will give us something for the pain to get her through the next couple days, which I suspect will be a little rough.  Lately, I’m finding that it’s really hard to have pets.  Between Dusty’s head injury and this, I feel like a parent.   I didn’t think pet ownership was supposed to be this hard…  I’ve also realized how lucky Sam was when he fell off the roof.  He could have broken BOTH legs with that little stunt, or worse.  He’s lying around here today wondering what happened to his sister.  He knows something bad happened, since he saw the whole thing.  I think he’s wondering if she’s coming back.  Luckily, we have a holiday weekend to spend with her.  Maybe by the time Monday comes, she’ll be over the hump and I won’t feel too bad leaving her here alone ….