Medication Mystery

2014 has definitely been a year of transitions for me and my family.  Aside from some wonderful job promotions, the biggest change has come in the form of a dog.  My Grandmother has been battling Mantel Cell Lymphoma for three years now.  She is doing a fantastic job and looks as gorgeous as ever.

What we were not expecting was for her to take a tumble at home.  This fall landed her in the hospital for two weeks during the month of July.  At 91 years old, the difficult decision was made to place my Grandmother in a nursing home.  She needs to be in a place where she will have care 24/7.

That is when an even bigger issue arose.  What will happen to Tiggy, her long-haired Chihuahua?  Tiggy is an absolute sweetheart.  I should know.  My husband and I fostered Tiggy before introducing her to Grandma (who had begun to feel lonely after the passing of her beloved Benji).

Tiggy doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.  She gets along well with our pack, including our cat.  And you barely even know that she is in the room.  Still, taking on another dog was not in our master plan.

My Grandma was broken-hearted when she found out she could not take Tiggy with her to the nursing home.  She was so worried that Tiggy would be given away to strangers.  That is when she offered to pay for all of Tiggy’s care as long as we would let her live with us.

Tiggy has absolutely blossomed being around our dogs again.  I think she is more of a dog person than a people person.  I have managed to teach her to shake hands, though.  She is slowly coming out of her shell and it is a very beautiful thing to watch.

Since we have such a large pack, purchasing flea/tick and heart worm medication is quite costly.  I discovered a wonderful website:  www.petmartpharmacy.com.  All I had to do was create and account and provide my veterinarian information.  Then, I simply select the desired medication, Petmart Pharmacy faxes the request to my vet and the vet sends them the “Okay.”  Within five days, the medication is at my door (with a bone treat inside).

This website is much more cost effective than purchasing the same products at my vet’s office.  And they have been so great to deal with.  Most recently, I received a phone call from the pharmacy stating that the vet wanted to up Tiggy’s Advantage Multi dose from the 3-9 lbs. to the 9-20 lbs.  This was going to be an additional $1 charge and they were checking to see if this was acceptable.

I was very puzzled.  Theo, our long-haired Chihuahua, weighs 7 pounds, and he is much larger than Tiggy.  I decided to go to my vet to see what had changed.  Upon my arrival, I explained the situation to one of the front staff.  The woman had a very snooty look on her face as if it pained her to speak with me.

She reluctantly pulled out the binder that the office keeps containing all faxed medication requests.  Flipping quickly through the pages, she slammed her hand down and pointed to a number.

"Yes, I wrote 9.13.  That is how much Tiggy weighs," she sniffed.

"When was she weighed last?" I asked.

"Let's see...December 2013."

Really?  She expected me to remember Tiggy's weight from December 2013?  I nodded and stated that I had just been confused because I thought she weighed the same as Theo and was concerned about overdosing.

"It's better to overdoes than under dose.  If you under dose, you might as well not give them (the dogs) anything at all," she huffed.

What appalls me the most is the woman's attitude.  We have several friends that work in the office who treat us like rock stars.  Even the vets smile when we walk in.  Everyone loves us, so what is the deal with this lady?

And why would she ever even hint at me not properly taking care of an animal?  That is the greatest insult anyone could ever give to me.  Anyone who knows me knows that our animals live the most spoiled lives that they could ever live.

If I didn't care about Tiggy, I wouldn't have come in with questions.  I would have simply said, "Sure," to the Petmart Pharmacy people and possibly given her an overdose that could have had deadly consequences.  Instead, I was searching for answers like a responsible pet parent.

My advice to other pet parents is do not be afraid to ask questions regarding your pet's medication.  If something has changed, you certainly have the right to know why.  And do not be intimidated by any staff members.  Remember, your money is allowing them to receive a paycheck.

Devilish Doxie

When we found out we were getting new neighbors, I was nervous.  Not everyone loves our pack as much as we do.  There are some people that just simply hate dogs and will look for any reason to get them banned from the surrounding area.

 

Imagine our surprise when we were introduced to Dolly*, a chunky brown-colored Dachshund.  As you know, my husband and I recently adopted a double dapple Dachshund that was born without eyes and is completely deaf.  We instantly bonded with Dolly and her owners.

 

I will admit that the first time we let our pack outside since Dolly’s arrival was quite noisy.  We have worked very hard are raising polite pooches and we want to keep them that way.  It wasn’t long before we found out that Dolly is a runner.  She was used to living in the country where she could roam free whenever she wanted.

 

One bright Saturday morning, I happened to be placing my breakfast dishes in the sink when I see a streak of brown fly by the kitchen window.  Sure enough, it was Dolly racing across the street.  Horrified, Matt and I threw on whatever shoes we could find and raced outside to help catch Dolly.  We definitely did not want to see her get squished.  And the people that drive down our street do NOT obey the speed limit.

 

Dolly’s mom and Matt managed to corner her in a fellow neighbor’s yard.  I had just run back inside to use a bag of dog treats as bait.  Dolly’s mom thanked us over and over and swore that they would be getting an invisible fence.

 

My heart fell.  While I understand that they wish to protect Dolly, I do not believe that shocking an animal is the best way to do it.  I realize that fences are expensive, but Dolly was simply doing what she had always been allowed to do before:  run free.  Now, they plan on punishing her for being “disobedient”?

 

Since my husband works late, I am responsible for “releasing the hounds,” as we say, in the evening.  I had just let them outside and went back in the house so that I could get their dinner ready.  All of a sudden, my fur babies were going absolutely crazy!  I feared that another sick raccoon had wandered into our yard.

 

I threw open the door and ran outside.  Keep in mind, I was in my pajamas, complete with fuzzy slipper socks and wet hair.  What I saw completely infuriated me.  There was Dolly on a long lead, like the ones used for outdoor dog ties.  This would have been a wonderful idea had our neighbors not allowed the lead to come all the way over to our fence.

 

Yes, Dolly was nose to nose with every member of the pack (minus Hope).  And what was Dolly’s dad doing?  Sitting outside on a lawn chair, talking on his cell phone as if nothing was happening.  I don’t know how in the world he could have possibly heard anything.

 

While our fur babies are typically very friendly, they also tend to be territorial when in the backyard.  I was so afraid that Theo (the leader of the pack) would feel threatened and try to take a bite out of Dolly.  I tried calling their names, but they were too distracted to even notice me.  And we had recently run out of dog treats.  In my desperation, I raced into the kitchen and found a box of uncooked pasta shells.  I headed to the back door and frantically shook the box.

 

That did the trick.  They all came running…except for Theo.  Once everyone was safely inside, I went out and physically picked Theo up.  Dolly’s dad was still on his phone.  I was beyond mad, but felt like I should try to make peace.  I discovered a box of treats in the basement and took one out to Dolly, apologizing for all of the noise.  Her dad laughed and said not to worry.

 

What I was wondering was why wasn’t HE apologizing to ME?  And why on earth did he think it was a good idea to let her lead come up to our fence?  Technically, the fenced in area is our property.  And I don’t want Ms. Dolly thinking she can cause a riot whenever she wants.

 

Since this incident, I always check to see if Dolly is outside.  If she is, I wait until her parents take her back in.  It is clear that they are not going to keep her under control, so I have to look out for my babies.

 

But this all pales in comparison to what happened this morning.  I was putting on my make-up in the bathroom, as usual.  That’s when I heard Dolly.  She was on a non-stop barkfest.  Thankfully, our babies had already been outside.  However, when Domino heard Dolly, he began to bark.  This caused Penny to bark…then Theo, etc.  I managed to quiet them down, but Dolly continued with her cater walling.  It was 6:45 a.m.

 

I just so happened to look out of the bathroom window in time to see Dolly racing across the back alley.  I waited to see if her owner was following her.  She never appeared.  Dolly then made a beeline for our carport.  I am guessing that she smelled our babies and thought she would pop over for a visit.

 

“That’s great,” I said. 

 

Matt, who was trying to get some extra sleep, came stumbling in.  “What’s going on?”

 

“Dolly is loose…again.”

 

He grumbled and soon reappeared wearing shorts and flip flops.

 

“What are you doing?”  I asked.

 

“I’m going to go catch that dog,” he replied.

 

He soon returned…dogless.

 

“Well, Dolly’s mom is on an important conference call and can’t be bothered to catch Dolly,” Matt informed me.

 

We couldn’t believe it.  What kind of pet parent wouldn’t put everything on hold to save their fur baby’s life?  A conference call?  Really?  What if this would have been a human child?  DCFS would have swooped in in a heartbeat.  I think animal neglect should be no different.

 

Matt had given up on trying to catch Dolly for the time being.  I had headed into the kitchen to grab my lunch and head off to work.  Who did I see running across the street?  Yep, Ms. Dolly.

 

“Now she’s in the street!” I cried.

 

I decided to play it safe and ask Matt to come outside with me and watch me back out of the carport.  I didn’t want to accidentally run over Dolly.  As we walked out, Dolly’s mom FINALLY emerged, curlers in hair, bathrobe  tossed carelessly around her.

 

“Come here, Dolly.  I have your bone,” she kept repeating.  She then looked up at us, waved and told me to have a good day at work.

 

Matt stood dutifully in the alley and watched as I slowly backed up.  Dolly’s mom was STILL trying to contain her.  I drove off enraged.  We should not have to worry about the neighbor’s dog.  We have enough to worry about with our own pack.

 

I was halfway to work when I realized that I had forgotten my earrings in all the commotion.  I tried to call Matt to see if he could drop them by on his way to work.  He never answered either of his phones.  When he did return my call, he apologized and explained that he had gone back outside to aid in Dolly’s capture.

 

I really hope that this is not going to be a new trend with Dolly and her parents.  They need to take responsibility for her.  We should not be made to feel that we are the only ones who care about Dolly and her safety.  Suddenly, that invisible fence isn’t looking so cruel after all.

 

 

*Name has been changed