Looking in all the wrong places
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Why an annual medical check-up for your pets in always worthwhile
TODAY, I’M bringing my poodle-pup Wan-Wan to the vet’s for a check-up. I started this annual event a few years ago when we discovered that my dog has problems with the ligaments in her back legs.
Since then, I’ve had X-rays done because I’d rather catch a problem before it becomes so bad that correcting it causes the dog too much pain.
Besides, it’s difficult to know when this dog actually has a problem. I can see it at home – she has trouble going up and down stairs – but put her in a group of admiring people (even vets), and she turns into a puppy, running and jumping and rolling around.
X-rays and other tests are the only way we can tell if she’s actually in trouble physically.
The vet looks at her X-rays and smiles.
“There’s nothing wrong here, absolutely nothing,” he says. “That’s what I like to see.”
Then he lifts her up and begins pressing his fingers gently into her chest. “Oh,” he frowns, “I don’t like this at all.”
In careful language that even I can understand, he explains. Wan isn’t fat. She’s not even overweight. Her tiny chest, though, is not very firm. Yes, my doggie has flabby muscles.
In short, she needs more exercise. Well, I take her out every evening for a 20-minute walk, but as I’ve mentioned before, she is developing liver problems, and I have to be careful how much exercise she has.
She doesn’t need much exercise, the vet smiles, just 10 minutes of play time in the house in the morning and evening.
My house is quite small, and Wan seems to have a lot of fun and exercise playing with the cats, but I can carry her up to the other floors and let her run around while I take care of the turtles and the other cats.
Then, without warning, the vet takes me into territory I hadn’t even considered.
“Just be careful about the stairs,” he warns. “With her cataracts, she has problems with depth perception.”
What? My doggie has problems with her eyes?????
“Of course, she does,” the vet smiles. “She’s eight years old, after all. Most dogs at that age begin having eye problems. I can already see the cloudiness forming.”
Then I think back. Around early last year, Wan stopped climbing the stairs to the bedroom, waiting instead for me to carry her up. She can come down the stairs, but only if she can lean against the wall on the way down. If a cat or turtle blocks her, she waits until the blockage moves away.
At the time, I thought she’d begun having trouble with the ligaments in her shoulders and her knees, one of the reasons for her annual check-ups.
Now I understand why the X-rays never showed anything wrong. It’s Wan’s eyesight that’s causing her problems with stairs and other difficulties I’ve seen, even her flabby muscles.
Above all, I finally realise how much self-confidence she’s lost.
This evening, I carry her up the stairs, but leave her one step down from the top. At first, she looks at me in fear, but when I support her back legs, she finally struggles to the top by herself.
My goodness, how proud she is of reaching the top by herself, even if it’s only one step! She’s laughing and dancing about, a dog on the way to strengthening her abs.
Myself, I’ve learned two things: first, your pet can hide a health problem for a long, long time; second, no matter how hard you try, you can’t know everything about your pet.
