Chani and the vet

Today we took Chani to the vet. For those of you who don't know, Chani is just a wee bit insecure and can behave badly around other dogs and scary situations. Chani has been sick for a few days and not eating any food or drinking water, so we called the vet's office to see what we should do. Of course, they said, "Bring her on in." So Paul (he makes all my phone calls for me) mentioned that Chani gets a little "excited" when she goes to the see the vet and asked whether we should use the tranquilizers that were given to us before. They looked it all up on the computer and told us those tranquilizers were so old that they probably wouldn't work anymore. Well that tells you how long it's been since we've taken her to the vet.

To be honest, Chani gets a little bit more than "excited." About a year ago I had taken our other dog, Findlay, to see the vet and right in the examining room was a computer with all the dog's information - a very nice feature. As they brought up my file, this huge warning popped up about Chani. I don't remember the exact wording, but I remember being instantly horrified.

At today's visit, a new vet saw Chani. She wisely had brought a muzzle with her, and even though Chani wasn't feeling well, she felt well enough to express her dislike for the vet. The vet, Dr. Ferris, immediately made a remark about how Chani needed to be socialized - as if we hadn't heard that before. We tried to explain that she was actually considerably better than she used to be and that she had been through 16 weeks of training classes, etc. Of course, she just looked at us and didn't say anything.

She led Chani off to have some blood taken, and we could hear yelps, a curse word, and other noises coming from the back room, and finally someone brought her back. Then she wanted a urine sample. So we were supposed to walk Chani around outside until she provided a sample. I thought I had mentioned to them that Chani hadn't been drinking any water, but I guess they were hoping. Needless to say, they didn't get a sample. Later when we got home, I was able to get a sample, and we had to drive all the way back to town to deliver it.

We don't know what exactly is wrong with Chani. She had a fever and a higher-than-normal white blood count, so they suspected some kind of infection. Consequently, they gave us antibiotics to feed Chani. The vet, perhaps thinking this was a positive thing, gave us large chewable tablets. Again, I thought I had mentioned that Chani wasn't eating anything, and certainly not huge pills. I don't know how we'll ever get her to eat those.

The final issue Dr. Ferris brought up with us was Chani's "anxiety" problem. She gave this spiel about how some dogs do very well on alprazolam. They lead a much happier life, blah, blah, blah. She wanted to give Chani Xanax! Poor Chani. I love my unsocialized, insecure dog.