Living (it seems) in the car

Took Virginia and Nibble to see the vet way out in the boonies. I live in the downtown core of Vancouver and wanted to check out the new vet was out in the burbs. She has a lovely touch with the ladies and was quite impressed. She is also a little cheaper.

If you don't mind driving.

Nibble had the one lump in the "lady area" and either a couple more lumps coming up or lymph node swelling. The vet didn't like the area that they were in and said that she could go and look but that she might cause more damage than help because it depends on what the large lump was up against. We agreed that a "wait and see" approach would be good. Nibble also seems to have made a bit of a comeback with the weakness in her front legs, which is great to see.

Virginia has the lump and it was agreed that it needed to come out. A spaying was suggested because it has been said to lessen the possibilities of getting more mammary tumors. I wasn't sure about this and just went with the single lump removal. This was on Saturday about ten days ago. On Tuesday I noticed that she was growing another small tumor just above the large old one. Called the vet's and was told that both could probably be done at the same time but they'll look when I get there on Friday, March 16. Because of the drive, they are going to do her first and then let me come and get her. There's no point in my driving home because all I would have to do is turn around and go get her. I decide when I get there to have the spaying done as well because it seems that she is going to be prone to tumors. Nibble and Boggle have done well with tumor surgery and haven't repeated (knock on wood) yet. I guess Virginia is going to be like Teeth and may as well do it all if possible.

I come and get her and the poor beast has three cuts and has been glued. They suggest I put a cone on her if she gets fussy with the wounds.

I get her home and try to put the cone on. Nope. This is just not going to be happening. She pretty much chokes herself on it and fusses and wiggles and stresses. Forget the cone. She does also manage to open up the large wound and we are able to see her leg muscle and belly. Joy. I call the vet's. They are closed but have a couple of numbers for emergency vets. We go to the closer one and $75 later we go home. I won't digress on this complete arsehole that was in there causing havoc and taking up the time of everyone there but needless to say, some people need a quick shot to the head just to shake things up a little.

We get home and she manages to fuss open the smaller lump wound but this isn't too bad. It can wait. The emergency vet said that if it opens again it isn't a tragedy but to get her to the regular vet's in the morning.

Husband calls while I am showering and apparently we are told "GET HER IN QUICK, THIS HAS TO BE DEALT WITH!!!!!!!". Well, husband has a dental appointment and I have to be somewhere to pick something up so we decide to drop husband off, I will pick up said item and then I will keep going to the boonies. Husband is kind enough to take the bus home as I have no idea how long this will take.

I get there around noon and was told that the vet is doing emergency surgery. That's cool. I have to drop her off. How long? Maybe an hour and a half. Okay. Now here's the oddest thing. The vet receptionist just kind of looks at me. Was I supposed to say I'll come back tomorrow? Or say not to worry I'll go elsewhere? Or what? I just say okay. Will you call me? At about 1:45 after wasting close to two hours I go back and the vet is still not done. How long I ask. Dunno. Again, I am being looked at. I say well, I'll just sit and wait. It is pouring out and I don't want to wander around in the rain and end up spending money because I'm bored. It's reasonably warm here and quiet. More eyeballing. I just say "I have no choice, do I?". Silence. Unless you want to pay me to go elsewhere. More silence. It's kind of my fault as I should have asked for suggestions - "what would you suggest I do about this situation" would have resolved the eyeball issue and cleared it up. If, when I got there, I was told to come back the next day I guess I would have done so. Wouldn't have been happy but sometimes these things happen. The lack of communication was a little disturbing and then the eyeballing. Just speak, woman!

Ooof. At close to 3 pm the vet is done and has put staples on Virginia. We talked about the cone. Vet sees what I mean when some tape that was put around her neck to slow down being able to bend her neck to fuss is being worked at. Virginia has her feet caught in it. Then she doesn't. Now she's bouncing around the carry box going crazy. Feet are stuck again trying to get it off. I comment that this is the show with the cone. I'm given some tape to put on her because it might distract her and wear her out instead of fussing at the wounds. Better than the damn cone.

After being watched closely in a separate cage it appears that the staples are something she's not interested in dealing with. They are still intact and the wound itself looks red and angry (the emergency place apparently overglued her) but she hasn't pulled them out. All are still closed. Yay.

But I am sick of the car and sick of driving in the rain. I normally work graveyards and had to be reasonably alert to do this driving. Changed my work days a little to be able to switch sleeping so that I get more than two hours of sleep.

I am so glad that Virginia is going to let this heal, though. We have to go back in 10-14 days to remove the staples. That's okay.

Not bad for a rat that wasn't supposed to live too long. Maybe if she had pulled out the staples the prediction may have come true! Just kidding. Really. Really!

Keeping Up

Figured I was overdue for a post and listening to Lulu scream because one of the others was looking at her the wrong way seemed to be a good time for it.

We have some sick rats and not sure what to do about it. Nibble seems to be getting weaker and has a lump near her "female parts". There is a vet I want to try out in the burbs but am waiting to hear back as to a recommendation. Will shoot for the weekend.

Virginia has a lump under her front leg. This is a definite stumper as when we picked her up we were told that she was getting on and that she probably wouldn't be with us long. Her fur was getting old (or at least what it looks like when rats age) and getting skinnier. We fattened her up a little and she seems quite happy here. My concern is that an operation will make her last little while difficult. This was a decision we had to make for Teeth. Then again, an operation could help or at least improve the quality of her last six months or so. I'm considering taking in Virginia with Nibble and seeing what the vet thinks - I'd like to try out this new vet.

Clementine has been over-barbering herself and her chin looks quite red. I'd guess some kind of unhappiness or stress but I don't see or hear anything at the cage. Clementine can be a pest so any trouble she gets into is most likely her own fault. I'll have to keep a bigger eye out.

As for the Canucks, it has been a pleasure. Missed a couple of games because not feeling well but went last night and it was quite fun. They have definitely been playing better and Luongo has definitely played up to the hype. Looks like we'll have to shell out for playoff tix - the first time in about three years!

I do feel bad for poor Jan Bulis. Whatever he may have said about wanting to be traded or complaining about ice time, he is still a member of the team and for the Canucks to be successful he needs to do well. Booing and grumbling doesn't aid in that.

We bought a couple of camcorders - one cheap hard drive one and one cheap DV one. Once I figure out how they work I'll check out MyTube (?). I actually have a short clip of Lulu attacking my finger through the bars of the cage on the DV tape but am waiting for the firewire cable to come so I can put it on the computer.

Well, *I* think its funny.