On the road to the vet's and maybe to recovery
How animals can have very difficult reactions to a trip to the surgery
With all the recent health problems in my household, going to the vet has turned into an adventure.
My old lady Susu hates making any trip. The easiest way to make this cat unhappy is to put her in her carrier.
She has never been a happy traveller, but when she was younger, she’d accept the situation quietly but sadly. Now, it’s a completely different story.
For about an hour, she accepts being in the carrier. Then the screaming begins, not polite “me-ows” but violent, terrifying howls. I reach in and stroke her, and she quietens down, but she’s not finished.
She starts vomiting, first just little drops, but increasingly violent.
On one memorable day, when we had to wait three hours at an animal hospital, she must have emptied her stomach.
I can’t blame her. She’s 18 years old (way past 80 in human terms), she’s growing blind, her back legs are weak. Unfamiliar smells and sounds terrify her.
Even back home, the vomiting continues until the next day, when she realises she’s really home.
Unless there’s an emergency, I will not take her to the vet’s again.
My poodle pup Wan-Wan is completely the opposite.
It’s been less than one month since she had surgery to correct the knee of one of her back legs. She still limps, especially when she wakes up in the morning. She won’t run or run up and down stairs, but the doctor says she shouldn’t use the leg too much for at least three months, so I guess we’re on schedule.
Wan looks at me in a way that makes me think she’s in pain. When I mention the limping to the vet, she asks me to bring Wan in, just so she can see the dog’s progress.
I’ve been keeping Wan in the house, and when she realises that we’re visiting the vet, she barks in excitement.
She loves visiting the vet.
Her excitement mounts as we get closer to the clinic. When we arrive and I open the taxi door, she jumps out by herself and races to the door of the clinic.
Did I mention that she jumps and runs - this dog who was limping painfully 15 minutes ago?
“So what’s wrong with the dog?" the vet asks as Wan dances on her hind legs, a big smile on her face.
I guess Wan is on the road to recovery, even if she’s not telling me so.
