Vet visits

With 6 large breed dogs indoors and at least that many fosters outdoors, our house is not exactly a cat-friendly environment. But we have one named Eleanor. She mostly lives on or under the front porch of our house. She hates me, or is scared of me anyway, probably because I yell at the dogs so much. The only one at our house that she ever really liked was Jack, our first rottie. She would come up to him and rub her head all over him and would snuggle with him.

We had kept everyone safe for 9+ years or so, but one day when I was in Kansas, Eleanor ended up in Gypsy's mouth and was just seconds away from complete disaster. Fortunately, Clay was there and saved her, by prying open Gypsy's jaws to free the cat, who immediately ran under the porch.

We didn't see her for a couple days but the food continued to disappear from the porch. When she did finally show up again she was limping, carrying one of her front legs. That continued for a few more days, so I decided it was time for a vet visit. I borrowed a trap and set it up on the front porch. It was baited with a can of tuna, but still I was surprised to catch her before even going to bed that night. She spent the night in a crate in the van and we went to the vet the next morning. Xrays showed a clean break on one of the arm bones, so she got a splint, some overdue vaccines, and a dog-free, cat-safe place indoors back at home.

She's still not fond of me, but will purr for Clay.

A couple days later, Emmylou turned up lame, carrying her left rear leg.

Our Gypsy must be 12 years old now and Emmylou looks older than that based on her teeth. She didn't have much quality care for much of her life, but she's a shepherd/greyhound mix and she is a lean, wiry, tough old girl. She is also the best hiking companion imaginable.

She and I are both out of shape from lack of hiking this summer, so I suspected a muscle pull because it seemed to happen suddenly when she got up one day. Five days of Rimadyl and bed rest brought no improvement and she even stopped eating. She was walking on three legs and could go downstairs on her own, but I had to carry her up the steps. She was visibly in pain and I couldn't stand to see her like that. First thing Monday morning we went back to the vet.

Xrays showed she has the hips of a six month old, but the knees are extremely arthritic. On top of that, she had a slight fever and showed a slight positive on a test for erlichiosis, a tick-borne illness that causes inflammation and pain in the joints. So, she's back home with meds and an effective pain reliever. She will at least eat the chicken and rice I'm making for her, and sometimes the dog food, and she's resting comfortably now at least. I need to get her back in shape for hiking season this fall and winter. It will be good for both of us.