Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Scrappy.

“You sure do know a lot about Pit Bulls.” – the woman on every first date I’ve ever been on.

Yeah, I kinda dig ‘em. Especially one with a really bad wheel. But that leg had surgery performed on it yesterday, and it was a success. Then the fun kicked in. Which included: the vet not telling me I would have to transport Ricky to an all-night hospital so he could have an IV drip all night. And the accompanying cost. (Tack on another 500 bucks to make it an even four grand.) Then I waved off the crazy stretcher they offered and picked up my 76-lb. dog and carried him out to my SUV.

Ricky had been holding in an enormous twosie all day, as they’d neglected to let him outside. It began coming out of him in the back of my SUV, so I pulled an emergency stop and let him finish on some grass. That’s where I took the pic in today’s splash.

Moms and dads, I appreciate the jobs you do and the pressures you face, and I know the needs of a dog are nothing compared to that of a child, but carrying my helpless Pit into the second hospital with his IV and pain meds, watching him confused and unable to sit, knowing all the visits back to the vet and the rehab that lay ahead, and the cost/poop/responsibility was the closest I’ve ever felt to being an overwhelmed single parent.

The vet at the second hospital must have sensed it, and said to me, “Hey – imagine if he tore both knees.” I snapped out of it. Perspective. No charge.