To the Vet!

This morning the dogs and I went off on an adventure to the veterinarian's office.

Yes, I took all three dogs.

Yes, I was alone.

No, it was not fun.

Re-Pete is the oldest and was the first to be weighed this morning.  He weighed in at 6.9 lbs!  He didn't like being placed on the scale and managed to pee all over it (horrifying moment #1).  However, of all of my dogs, he received the cleanest bill of health.

Re-Pete doesn't do well with vaccines.  The last time he had the rabies vaccine, he went into anaphylactic shock and, had I not been sitting in the waiting room of the veterinary school at MU, very nearly died.  

Our new vet wasn't comfortable giving him the rabies vaccine, even with an antihistamine shot, which is just fine with us (better safe than sorry!).  The only problems that came up were his teeth (his breath smells like his behind), but at nearly 7 years old, that's to be expected.  He'll likely be going in again soon to have his pearly whites cleaned.

Penelope, drama queen extraordinaire, did surprisingly well at the vet.  She weighed 7.5 lbs, which isn't too bad considering she's had two litters of puppies and is spayed.  I blame her cute face and attitude for the weight gain.  It's tough not to share with her when she looks at you with her sad, puppy dog eyes.

Anyway, she had a bit of gunk in her left ear.  It's the ear that was broken when she was a puppy, so she doesn't like having it touched.  While the vet was doing the exam, Penelope let out the loudest fart I have ever heard come from a dog (horrifying moment #2).  Of course, the vet was pretty close to her hind end when it happened.  I nearly died.

Penelope's biggest issue today was about her knees.  Apparently they have a tendency to pop out of place.  One was out of place during the exam and the other popped out and back in to place.  So long as it's not causing her any serious pain or lameness it isn't an issue, though she may have to have surgery one day down the line.

The vet described Wally as a "potato with a tiny head."  Yes, he's a bit chubby, I won't deny it.  He weighed in at a whopping 8.6 lbs.  It may be time for a diet.

Of all of our dogs, Wally is the least socialized, so he did not enjoy the trip to the vet.  He, too, managed to fart in Dr. R's face (horrifying moment #3), though, if you're going to squeeze a dog's belly, you've got to be ready for it.

Wally's ears were full of black gunk.  It was nasty.  What's funny, though, is that he is always cleaning the other dogs' ears (Re-Pete's ears were spotless), but they don't always return the favor.  The vet got out a handful of giant cotton swabs and started digging stuff out.  I was shocked at how gross they were (horrifying moment #4).  Of course, he came home with a medicated ear wash to help get rid of any infection he has down there.

So we survived our trip to the vet's office.  I'm not sure I ever want to do it again, at least not alone.  It is nice to know that all three are (relatively) healthy!