Love is Blind

Call it mother’s instinct, call it crazy, but I knew early on that Toby wasn’t well. I sensed his illness in every move he made, and I grew fearful as I watched him deteriorate. While home for Thanksgiving I made an emergency appointment with our family vet, Bud. Bud was beyond sensitive, and expedited a blood panel to help shed some light on a dim situation. I suppose love really is blind because what I saw as petite, clumsy and shy was diagnosed as underdeveloped, unstable and despondent. In hindsight I guess I should look at it as a positive, I saw the good in a situation that was not…it was irrational, yes, but who said rational was such a regarded trait? So maybe I was temporarily blinded by love, but now I can admit to my 8 readers (since there are only 8) that there is a cautionary warning and “take away” for those that know me. Yes, it is hard to talk about, but amongst friends I can say that “My name is Lisa and I am slightly delusional and completely out of touch with realty when it comes to passing judgment on animals…my name is Lisa and I literally love all animals.” You may have a snarling out of control terror and yet I am quite sure that I would confidently call your Cujo “high energy”, “nervous” or even “agitated with a smidge of pent up anxiety that must stem back to a bad owner somewhere down the line”. Trainer and Behaviorist I am not.

The twenty fours of waiting were unbearable, and when the results finally came in the news was grim. My poor little 5.7 lb dog had abnormally high bile acid levels which Bud suspected was indicative of a liver shunt. A liver shunt is a blood vessel that carries blood around the liver instead of through it. In some animals a liver shunt is a birth defect, but in others multiple shunts form because of severe liver disease such as cirrhosis. A liver shunt is a common, yet highly serious condition often requiring invasive and very expensive surgery that is not always successful. I was instructed to seek a surgical consultation and additional blood work. Did I mention that this was only day 5? I must admit that I cried for an hour before my brother and his girlfriend were able to calm me down. Once the tears dried I did what any highly motivated ‘type A’ business woman in my desperate situation would do- I formulated a comprehensive action plan to get Toby healthy in a hurry! Now while I certainly don’t want to ruin the ending, I will say that Toby is now 7.1 pounds and we have graduated from health issues to those of a more behavioral nature. Not perfect, but I’ll take it!