Nursin’ the Sick. . .

Nope, Tim’s not sick. I’m not under the weather. Rather, we spend our Monday tending to our “child” Belle. Belle went under the knife yesterday; we finally had her spayed. We’d held out under the hopes that we’d breed her someday. But not having her papers (shame on the dog seller, Shame! Shame!) means breeding her would be worthless.

This summer, the vet recommended spaying her to avoid female complications as she ages. So, since yesterday was a holiday for me, I took her to Gordon for the cheapest spaying around. Jenn took Dooley and had him neutered, so we were in it together. Brian came along, too, and boy oh, boy were we thankful!

I guess part of the cost of being a dog owner who pinches pennies and gets the cheapest spaying is that the vet released to me one pitiful, still under anesthesia black lab. They loaded Belle into the back of my car, and she was totally out of it. Dooley was even more pitiful than Belle, if that’s possible; Dooley whined and whimpered and cried just about the entire way back to Macon. Thankfully Brian held Dooley while keeping a close eye on Belle while I rushed down Highway 57 to get home as quickly as possible.

The afternoon was spent with me lying beside Belle on our bed – which is a huge no-no under normal circumstances. She was so out of it; yet if I moved as much as an inch, she’d lift her head and wait on me to be right beside her again. I guess she was just scared. . .

Which made Tim and I, Jenn and Brian decide: maybe our pinching pennies and doing the cheap vet route was the key; I mean, rather than the $300 + we would’ve spent with the vet in Macon, we forked out $75. Plus, we were able to be right there with Belle while she was coming out of her anesthesia. She and I slept in the bedroom last night, and we kicked Tim to the couch. I knew she was going to be fine when at 4:45am, she woke me up drinking out of the toilet!?!? This morning, she was quick to eat her food and drink lots of water!

At lunch, I checked on her, and she was wagging her tail, moving a little better, and even sort of ventured out into the backyard on her own accord! Not sure when she’ll be back to running like a champ, but we’re thankful, still, that she’s a healthy sweet girl!