Last night my little dog Chewie, was sitting on the floor looking up at me with her big brown eyes and so I decided to pick her up like I always do. When I did she let out a screech and continued crying for a few seconds.
I was horrified and I tried to see what was wrong but couldn't find anything but she was shaking quite badly. We went to bed and this morning she did it again. My wife was on night shift and on her way home, so I called her and said I was going to take the dog to the vet. She was almost at home and wanted to come with me so I waited. I tenderly picked up Chewie to get her ready and she yelped again.
It's funny how much you can love an animal that basically eats, poops and sleeps all day. At this point I'm really starting to get worried, so instead of picking her up by hand I put a blanket on the ground and use it as a sort of hammock. That seemed to work pretty good and we made our way to the truck. My wife pulls into the yard parks the car and hops in with me, then she asks "Did you make an appointment?" and I say "No." she replies "What if they don't take her in?" I say "Oh, they will." and we leave it at that. All you parents out there can understand my mentality at this point. Whether you have kids or pets, they are all our babies no matter how old they get.
We get to the vet and Chewie is in seventh heaven from all the lovin my wife was giving her on the way. I go inside and tell the clinic my very sad story and they get me right in. (awesome) I go get the dog and the wife and head inside (They were waiting in the truck ) We have a little room where we waited for the veterinarian, while we are waiting I put Chewie on the ground to see how she is doing and she starts sniffing the floor and walking around sniffing things without a care in the world. I'm looking at her like she is going to make me look like a deranged dog loving worrywart that panics at every sneeze and boo boo and rushes into the vet as if it's an emergency. So, I go over where she is and pick her up and set her on my lap to wait on my lap while we wait for the vet. No yelping, no crying, she just looks up at me with those big brown eyes and the smile on her face.
The vet enters the room and I feel like an idiot that has to pass a test he never studied for. The vet is a woman and she starts asking me a whole series of questions, then asks me to put the dog on the table, so I grab the blanket to lift her, (y'know for visual effect) and of course the dog seems perfectly fine while I do it. The veterinarian pokes and prods, bends and pulls my dog all over and still nothing, no squeaks, no nothing. At this point I tell the vet that my dog is going to make a liar out of me and she laughs and says it's ok because I'm not the first person this has happened to. Check-up over, and two hundred dollars later, (we did x-rays too) I go outside and put Chewie on the ground and she yelps when I put her down, I look around and of course nobody else is around to hear it. My wife comes out from clinic and we head home.
I know she needed to go to the vet and if it happened again I would take her in an instant but it would be nice for someone else to see what I saw and to know my fears were real.
Chewie's prognosis: Most likely back pain a swollen disk in the back that gets pinched when her back bends, usually when picking her up or putting her down. Pain killers and anti inflammatory medication used once a day for two days, limit movement for at least a week.
Scott Goerz
