The Point of My Quality Day

Remember the point of My Quality Day? Back when it was hard to find anything good in most days, I made it an exercise to find SOMETHING good. Today was one of those days.

It poured all day. 3.4 inches of rain, poured. I could hear the rain on the windows when I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. I knew it would, because I had told Joshua to call as soon as he had talked to the vet.

Late yesterday afternoon he walked over here with his two dogs. I should explain that Josh is the middle son, who lives nearby. The smaller dog is a little black chihuahua, named Loopy. The picture above is Josh and Loopy a couple of Christmases ago. A picture of Loopy yesterday or today would not be welcome. She was obviously one sick little dog. Actually, she doesn't like me very much, but she stood in the kitchen with her tail between her legs, shaking, and she let me touch and pet her. That is the first time ever, in the 6 years Josh has owned her, that Loopy let me touch her unless Josh was holding her. He said that she had not pooped for two days, and wondered what to do.

Well, I hadn't ever tried treating a dog with a laxative, and she is so small I wouldn't even know how much to try. I felt her belly, and it wasn't swollen or hot, so I told him to call the vet in the morning and then call me. Oh, did I mention that he has no car, so I knew I'd have to drive him.

So then I stayed up late blogging (as usual), and when the phone rang this morning, he said that we were supposed to be at the vet's in 20 minutes! It's a 15-minute drive. I may have mentioned that morning and I are not friends. If I have to leap out of bed it's usually a guaranteed headache all day. So I leaped out of bed and we were at the vet's in 25 minutes. But no coffee...

By this morning, Loopy had started bleeding. Exam, blood test, (Loopy let me hold her the whole time we waited for the test results- like I said, sick doggie) diagnosis... she had a badly infected uterus, which wasn't hot or swollen because it was draining, but she needed to be spayed immediately.

So we left the dog to her fate, I took Josh home, and got home myself just about in time to eat lunch. But by then, of course, I had that flaming headache.

I spent the afternoon trying to complete some assignments, and did succeed a bit, between holding my head and listening to the rain. No walk for Maggie or me. It was so dark in the house I had to turn on the lights.

But at 3:30 the vet called to say that Loopy was awake and doing well, we could pick her up. So it was off to Ludington again. Loopy was groggy, and her huge ears were droopy (they are her best feature!), but she was feeling well enough to give me the evil eye, and she wanted Josh.

So the quality in today is that Loopy is alive. The infection was so bad that the vet said she probably wouldn't have lived through the weekend without the surgery. I bought a cheap pizza to celebrate. Horray for the strong spirit of a little black rat with big ears!

See In Memory of Hoover Houdini Chips