It's a Dog's Life | Evidently

Supermodel

Sep 17, 2007 | It's a Dog's Life

My job is to stand here and look beautiful. It’s harder than you think.

We call Sophie our Supermodel dog. The dog thinks her only job is to look beautiful. Lately, she’s been having issues even accomplishing that much! Work? What’s that? And at the risk of stereotyping, like most Supermodels Sophie also abuses prescribed medication. Hey, at least it’s not crack.

Last night Sophie began limping and refusing to put any weight on her right hind foot. Her eyes are still opaque, although much improved, and she was in need of a Parvo shot so off to ~~her pusher~~ the vet we went.

We spent the better part of an hour waiting our turn to see the vet. Sophie did her part and looked intimidating. Looking fierce is a supermodel thing. Like most Terriers, Sophie has never met a fight she wouldn’t start—so, it was no surprise when, with just one look, she sent a sweet Doberman named Riley scurrying behind her owner’s legs. Riley spent the whole time with her nose buried in her owner’s lap, casting spurious glances our direction until Sophie was called into the exam room.

Evidently, Ms. Thing has an infected toe due to all the gnawing she does. Not only is my dog an addict, she has a few anxiety issues to boot! Add that to her poor social skills and you begin to see why our dog has more in common with Naomi Campbell than the average canine. We won’t even discuss her obsession with haute couture.

Of course an infected toe means more script. Drugs, drugs, give us the good drugs! I don’t think my addict dog would know what to do if she actually left the vet without a discreet brown bag. These monthly vet visits give new meaning to the phrase, “left holding the bag” as it’s me footing the bill and toting around her stash! Her little addiction to script is EXPENSIVE. Which, I suppose, goes with the territory. Beauty isn’t cheap.

It does appear that the primary infection in her eyes has passed and as long as we keep her on medicated eye drops for the rest of her life, surgery isn’t necessary for now. The toe is a different story. If she’s still feeling pain in three weeks it’s likely that the toe will need to be amputated.

We’ve assured her that she will still look beautiful with a gimpy foot. Besides, all heroine addicted supermodels walk funny. Although, most of them don’t poop in their kennels. At least, if they do, that doesn’t seem to make the papers!

Meanwhile, she’s still hiding every time I come calling. Her job is to look beautiful. My job is to administer eye drops. Division of labor is overrated.

Update: Sophie

Aug 20, 2007 | It's a Dog's Life

Thank you all for your lovely comments regarding our Sophie—I’m still working on getting to them all. As of this morning, she’s doing great on the medication. She seems to be tolerating it well, just a bit sleepier than usual. Which, isn’t saying something since she sleeps all day anyhow! However, she feels well enough to run and hide when she sees me coming with eye drops, so it can’t be that bad!

She will be on the meds for 2 weeks. The hope is the medication will clear her infection and we’ll then be able to make a decision about our next step. Apparently, her eyes are losing mass and that creates space for infection to set in. There is surgery that can help with the condition, but it’s too soon to be making decisions about that. I think everyone involved would feel better about making a decision if we understood the underlying condition causing all this havoc. At the moment, we’re in the dark so we will just have to wait and see.

Again, I do appreciate all the well wishes and prayers. We’re taking it day-by-day. If anything changes I’ll be sure to update you! In the meantime, there is something to be said for living in the moment. I hope you all can find a way to do that today!

Worried

Aug 17, 2007 | It's a Dog's Life

Our sweet Sophie is ill. And it took 3 vets to come to that conclusion today. What is wrong, exactly, we don’t know. Neither do the experts.Â We just know that it isn’t good and in a weird coincidence of numbers, she’s now on 3 new medications that may or may not make matters better.

What I do know, is that I’ve become the person she hates. Despite the fact that IZ took her to the vet(s) (where they did unspeakable things to her!), I’ve been the girl administering meds. Specifically the eye medication that she hates! Not that I like it either, I’m completely eye phobic. However, she sees me coming and immediately runs and hides under IZ’s desk. Or perhaps, it’s because I’ve given her two baths in as many days. Either way, I’m not exactly popular.

I’ll spare you the details, because I doubt anyone other than the vet is interested in my dog’s fluids and symptoms. Let’s just say we woke up to a very ill dog this morning and THANK GOD for my husband whose sense of smell is not mine. I wretched just giving her a bath, I can’t imagine how he got through the rest. This is all to say, it’s been a LONG day, full of no answers and a great deal of worry on our part.

Anyhow, this is an old photo of our darling. I’m projecting like mad here, but I don’t think she’d especially appreciate a photo of her looking like hell. And like hell is how I describe her at the moment. I can’t imagine how she must be feeling. She’s a wreck, who adores my husband and will still wag her tail when he comes into the room. Otherwise, she’s passed out in an over-heated lump. And, when she is deep in sleep, I sneak up and kiss her on her lovely terrier face that I adore more than I have words for. . . and then I put more meds in her eyes. Because hate me she will, but love her I do and this, this is the hard price of love. Sometimes, we just don’t get to be popular. Not even with the dog.

Sometimes we have to do the hard stuff and be worried.