Lilly got her staples out a week ago Wednesday. That part went fine, but Lilly had a little trouble in the parking lot and in the reception area before taking refuge in our own exam room. Every day is different when you live with a fearful dog … even when she has xanax in her system.
Veterinary Hospital: False Starts on Arrival
The veterinary hospital parking lot was packed when we arrived. I thought, “This doesn’t bode well.” But, I waited for a break in the foot traffic with other clients taking their dogs to and from the hospital, then I let Lilly out of her crate.
One young chocolate Lab puppy was poking around after his exam, but I new that wouldn’t bother Lilly too much. So, we walked a bit near the railroad tracks to shake off some nerves, then we made our best attempt at the front door.
Lilly balked. Belly flat to asphalt. Balked.
I begged. I cajoled. I hoped.
Then, two big dogs came motoring from around the corner of the building, essentially dragging their mommio to the car. But, Lilly wouldn’t budge, so all I could do was stand between her and the other dogs like a human shield.
When the coast was clear, we made another attempt, but then another dog came loping our way. Lilly started to throw herself flat again, but I intervened fast enough to veer us both between two cars and around a bush.
This gave us a parallel path to the door, with a stucco wall blocking her view.
We let a woman with a chubby cattledog go in ahead of us, and I waited for her to sign in before we even tried to go in the building.
Veterinary Hospital: Traffic Jam in the Lobby
Except she didn’t move after signing in. Lilly and I stood in the airlock between the two front doors, but the woman never moved. She and her dog took up ALL of the space between the front door and the desk.
Worried that another dog would come barreling up behind us and into the small airlock space, I cracked the door and said, “She is afraid of other dogs and needs more space than usual. Could you please move?”
So, the woman took her dog into the bathroom with her.
And, Lilly and I made our way into the lobby. We signed in, then hid in the back corner of the L-shaped room.
There was one young puppy, just adopted from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley’s new satellite adoption center, but he didn’t seem to worry Lilly, even when he wobbled his butter-butt onto the scale across from us.
BUT, when the cattledog came out of the bathroom and hopped up on the scale, Lilly had something to say about that … even though I stood up, held a pillow from the bench in front of her, and asked her to WATCH ME.
It was just one growl-snark, but still.
The woman decided she’d wait outside … partly because her dog had some potentially contagious tummy troubles and partly (I thought) because of us.
Veterinary Hospital: Exam Room Worries
Once we got into our own exam room, Lilly settled down. That is, until she heard a dog crying in the backroom. I recognized it as the sound of a dog just waking up from anesthesia, but I’m sure to Lilly it sounded scary.
You can see it in her face.
So, she was a little bit of a worried worming girl when our veterinarian arrived, but Lilly held still while our dog doc pulled the 10 or so staples.
Lilly also got another vaccination that was due, and I brought in another urine sample (No news yet on the results, so I assume it’s OK).
As we made our dash to the car, unfortunately, there was a another big dog right outside the exit door. He was muzzled, but still making noise and lunging our direction.
I swung Lilly wide around him, but she didn’t care. She practically flew to the car.
The lunging dog’s family looked mortified. I tried to tell them that I completely understood when I went back in to pay our bill, but I’m not sure they bought it.
Post-Op Update
I’m a little bummed to say that Lilly’s scar looks way creepier without the staples than it did with them. Our vet suggested putting some Vitamin E on it for a while, so I’m doing that, along with some aloe, … despite the gooping action in Lilly’s coat.
It’s healing OK. It’s just lumpier than I expected it to be. Thankfully, her coat will grow back full there, and no one but me will ever know.
Poor Lilly girl. I am sending lots of healing thoguhts your way and hope that the wound is getting better.
Oh, poor thing! What makes her so fearful? It must be a terribly trying ordeal for both of you.
Yiiiikes.
That right there is the reason that I am so in love with our holistic vet. Sure, he’s like two hours away, but he is behavior conscious, and his whole place is set up for dogs like Lilly.
There is no waiting room as such, there are waiting ROOMS – little cubby-holes just for you and your dog with a dog bed, a few toys, and a few people chairs too.
It’s hard to get a dog into the vet safely these days, even if that dog isn’t reactive or fearful.
I sometimes call ahead to make sure they understand that no matter what way my dog and I are coming in, we will not be meeting other dogs or people for safety reasons.
Usually, I go in and sign myself and my dog in (sans the dog), and ask them to tell me when I need to go and crab her from her crate in the car. I’m really firm about her never coming nose-to-nose or nose-to-butt with another dog. Teegan is currently doing BAT and is wonderful, but I always suggest that taking the chance just because *I* think she’s better is seriously unfair to other dog owners. Unless, of course, they’d like to give their dogs’ nose jobs.
When you call the vet, you might consider asking them to help Lilly get in without having to deal with so much of the stress. Who knows…..they might be able to put their heads with yours and come up with a really good solution.
My local vet isn’t exactly top-of-the-line, and they help out with that sort of thing, so I bet yours can too.
I wonder if you could work out a deal with your vet where you go sign in by yourself, and then bring Lilly in a back door to an exam room, thus avoiding the stress of other dogs.
Our vet hospital has this option for contagious dogs, and I don’t see why it couldn’t work for dog-fearful dogs too!
Poor Lilly 🙁 I’m always fascinated that people actually board their dogs at the vet . .it must be so scary! I think the vet is stressful even for dogs that aren’t fearful. I hope Lilly gets a nice long break from visiting the vets office!!
So sorry about Lilly’s vet visit ordeal. Isn’t there some back entrance which you could use instead?
Jasmine is no stranger to scars, hers all healed up pretty well. You know what our vet recommended using to help healing along? Preparation H. Worked beautifully.
Do you have any mobile vets in your area? That seems like the kind of service just made for Lilly.
Hope her fur grows back soon so you can put this last medical event behind you.
Poor Lilly! It’s scary enough going to the vet without having a parade of other dogs around. You’re such a good mom, though, doing everything you can to make her feel safer 🙂
Here’s hoping the wound is all healed. I love reading your posts and seeing photos of Lilly because they help me understand animals better.