It goes against all the rules of story telling, but I’m starting this story at the end: Isaac is back home and making a spectacular recovery.
Early Sunday AM he had diarrhoea, stopped eating and started throwing up water and bile. Monday he stopped puking but didn’t start eating. Tuesday, still no eating and he started twitching and getting stiff in the legs. He's only eight and a hlaf years old, but by the time we got him in to the vet Tuesday afternoon he looked like he was a hundred and eight years old.
Dr. Judy said: Your dog is as sick as a dog can get. She had no earthly idea what was wrong with Isaac, but she got it through our thick and emotional heads that he was dying. She got him on antibiotics and narcotics and got him through the night. Wednesday AM she got him into The Animal Health Clinic in NDG for x-rays. They had no idea what was wrong with him either but Dr. Elkin and a slew of totally dedicated honest realistic and really funny women got Isaac though x-rays, IV re-hydration and an emergency exploratory operation to see what in the hell was going on in there.
In a twenty-four hour period we heard every possible diagnosis, from lymphoma to meningitis to acute rheumatoid arthritis to liver cancer and lots of other even worse sounding things that I happily can't remember the names of. The definitive moment came when two different veterinary surgeons looked at Isaac’s abdominal x-ray and said: That’s totally bizarre. Well, then, we knew they were on to something.
Waiting is the worst thing. We don’t like waiting for the metro to come. We certainly don’t like waiting to find out if our dog is going to die. We have learned that the best place to do your waiting is down at dog level, on a blanket and towel pallet on the concrete clinic floor.
Turns out that Isaac had a ball in him. To quote our friend Rosella: “Wow. A ball. It's crazy. A ball almost killed sweet Isaac.” Two years ago he was running in a pack of dogs at the park and, being a champion ball catcher, he caught a smaller dog's ball on the run and swallowed it and was still in him, even though the vet we had at the time laughed at us and said it would break up and pass though him. On the contrary. Dr. Elkin found the ball lodged in the entrance of Isaac’s small intestine. A litre and a half of gastric acid accumulated in his stomach. Now wonder he couldn't eat or walk and was shaking all over.
Dr. Judy called the Clinic while Isaac was still in surgery. We told her about the ball. She couldn’t believe it. She asked if it was a large ball. I said: It’s larger than a small intestine. When we told the story of the ball to all the people who work at the Clinic the story was much more believable because by then we had the ball in hand and the ball still had its bounce in it.
Isaac is recovering amazingly. He spent the night at The Animal health Clinic and we were allowed to take him home late the next day. Yesterday. We're so grateful and relieved and stunned and exhausted. And in debt, but we'll deal with that later.
One of the many things we discovered during this ordeal is that animal clinics go through vast amounts of towels and blankets every day! They rely on donations. Spread the word on this so people know - everyone had old towels and blankets! And just about any animal clinic or shelter or hospital would find them useful.
Another thing we realized is that vets treat people too – for shock and fear and indecision and emotion. A whole extended community of people helped us make the long string of difficult decisions that eventually saved Isaac’s life. Our love and thanks to:
All our friends, neighbours and colleagues who sent good wishes Isaac’s way.
Kavita, for sending us to Dr. Judy in the first place.
Joseph, for driving us around and around and around town.
Dr. Judy and all her staff at Clinique Vétérinaire Plateau Mont-Royal, for being honest, for getting us through the first difficult round of decision making and for sending us off with an extra towel, which we sat on in a lot of strange places during the subsequent rounds of waiting.
Dr. Elkin and Allan and all the amazing women at The Animal Health Clinic, for being honest and human and fast, for bringing us pizza and for being so funny even whilst working their asses off doing six or seven surgeries a day!
The animals on staff at The Animal Health Clinic who made the waiting easier: Molly the bow-legged mini daschund, who minds everyone’s business. Honey the sexy tabby cat (who needs a home). And Kiwi the parrot who talks to the dental machinery.
The Animal Health Clinic runs an un-official animal shelter full of perfectly good pets. People bring them in to be put down. Dr. Elkin and Allan just can’t do it. If you’re considering adopting, enquire with them. A woman came in and adopted a kitten just after Isaac came out of his surgery and we feel this a good omen.
Dr. Judy @ Clinique Vétérinaire Plateau Mont-Royal - 514-842-5490
127 ave du Mont-Royal Ouest, Montréal QC H2T 2S9
Dr. Elkin Seto @ The Animal Health Clinic - 514 369 9119
5601 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal QC H4A 1W4
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