gertie, inpatient

Gertie the chihuahua has, as mentioned, been acting strangely. We went back and forth on whether to take her to the vet and cancelled yesterday when she seemed semi-normal for a while. I came close to cancelling again today when I saw her prance into the backyard and sit happily in a patch of sunlight, her favorite thing. But I took her when she didn’t bite me as I poked her back end and stomach – this is not the Gertie we know if she’s not snarling like Golum in Lord of The Rings at the slightest provocation.

I won’t tell you about the weird coincedence that I was just reading on Dooce that it was time for Chuck (her dog) to have his anal glands expressed. And I won’t tell you about how very, very gross that process was to watch. But it was really, really gross.

Sadly, full anal glands were not the source of Gertie’s problems, only a side note. She was immediately slapped into a hospital bracelet/collar and whisked away from me and I was immediately charged $400 for tests they need to run all day. The vet said it could be so many things – hernia, infections, slipped disks. But she said I was right to bring her in – something is definitely wrong.

So ominous.

I HATE thinking about that tiny little dog shaking and scared and with tests being run upon her. Let’s hope it’s nothing and she’s home in our bed tonight; we’ll tolerate the toe-nipping if she’ll just feel better soon.