I took Sanibel to the vet today for her annual checkup. She usually behaves at the vet–always a little scared and nervous, but she cooperates. Today she decided she was going to be difficult. She reminded me of myself a while back. When I was six, I had to get stitches in my upper lip because my dog bit me. My family and I were taking a walk down the street and a bull mastiff caught a glimpse of my dog, a tiny yorkie, and attacked him. Once we got my dog loose from the others dog’s mouth, I carried him back home. Little did I know that every single rib was broken and as I put him in my arms, I hurt him. In response, he jumped up and bit off a chunk of skin above my lip. That was traumatic enough for me. Then, my parents told me I had to go to the hospital and get stitches. You would have thought I was dying a brutal death. Not because I was in pain, but because I absolutely was not going to the hospital. I didn’t win that argument and next thing I knew, I was in a hospital room. The doctor was trying to give me a shot of anesthetics so he could sew me up. I was so hysterical and volatile that the doctor had to put me in a straight jacket just to calm me down for the shot. Now, take that picture in your head of little me freaking out and apply it to Sanibel at the vet today. She was terrified to be there. She was shaking from the moment we got in the car. It’s funny how she could sense we were going somewhere she didn’t like. The nurse called us in to the room. She attempted to take her temperature (in the rear) but because Sanibel kept tucking her tail, she had to take the temp 3 times. Then, she pried Sanibel’s claws off of me to go weigh her. She brought her back in the room and said the vet would be with us shortly. No problem…we are half way there. All that’s left is 2 quick shots and we’re out. The nurse came back in the room and told me it would be a little longer because the vet was with another patient. I asked her to clip Sanibel’s claws while we waited. In the past, they have done this in the room while I held her. For some reason, the nurse took her out the room. For the next 5 minutes, all I hear is Sanibel crying and screeching. I had no clue what was going on, but I knew it had to be bad. The nurse came back in the room looking a little frazzled. Sanibel had pitched a royal fit so bad that it required a muzzle over her mouth. She was described as a “Tasmanian Devil”. The nurse had red scratches that covered her arms and apparently Sanibel peed all over the floor. I felt horrible for her behavior. The vet finally arrived in the room. Sanibel had such a horrible experience getting her nails clipped that the vet couldn’t even look at her ears, teeth, eyes, etc. Sanibel was being such brat. She turned her head away as if to say, “Umm, no. I don’t know what you are trying to do, but it’s not going to happen.” At this point Sanibel had her front paws up on my shoulder and was clinging for dear life. The vet told me that the nurse needed to hold her during the shots for my safety…I guess she envisioned Sanibel lashing out on me. Sanibel starts to bark excruciatingly loud and bites the nurse. She has a playful bite…but this is NOT playful. She is 100% on the defense and that lady was not going to lay a hand on her. I didn’t know what to do because Sanibel turned into a little devil and I’ve never seen that side of her before. I just stood there and let the trained professionals figure something out. The vet suggested they put the muzzle on her again. I’m sure Sanibel was thinking, “Oh, I’ve seen this before. You must be crazy!” Sanibel jumped up on my left shoulder. All four paws were on the top of my shoulder and her head was tucked in my shirt. How she stayed up there, I don’t know. Obviously, she was making it impossible to get the muzzle on. The vet decided to put a leash on her and take her to the “lift table.” She explained it to me and assured me that she was not going to harm my dog. I didn’t really listen, but it was something like a short leash connected to a wall and some other stuff that would make this easier. I told her it wasn’t a problem and she could do whatever it took to calm her down for the shots. I expected it to take a while to give her the shots. The vet and nurse were back in the room in less than a minute. They said that once they got her connected to the lift table, Sanibel was fine and accepted the shots with no problems. Apparently, Sanibel freaks herself out during the down time while waiting for the vet. They have now put an alert on her file to do everything at once to eliminate the violent anxiety Sanibel brings upon herself. After MUCH appology, we left. I dropped her off at home and went straight to the grocery store…which is another story in itself. I had to go to 3 grocery stores to find one can of chili beans. I guess tonight was chili night for everyone.
A Merry Heart 