The Day Petey Almost Died

Petey went to the vet today. He got a clean bill of health, particularly considering that he is almost 12 years old. Keep that in mind as you read the following story, I don't want anyone to get unduly upset...

One Friday this summer, I got home from work before John. As a general rule, he gets home first and lets Petey out. When one of us gets home no matter how long we've been gone, we are greeted with incredible enthusiasm. Petey will watch us drive up through the window beside the door then stand right in front of the door on the side where it opens to welcome us in. If we take too long he'll go back to the window to check on us, then back to his post. Taking too long means about 5 seconds, so he runs back & forth a lot if we're carrying packages or doing anything to impede immediate progress to the door. So this back and forth can happen quite a lot during the few steps we take from the car to the back door. We call it the Petey dance.

This particular Friday, however, I was met by a much more subdued Petey. He was glad to see me, but he didn't do the dance or even jump on me as I entered. His back was somewhat arched and his head was hanging down, almost like he'd been scolded. Of course he hadn't been, I'd just come to the door. He looked up at me without moving his head, just his eyes. It was obvious that something was very wrong. I was certain that he needed to pee because he'd been in the house all day, so I called him out on to the porch. He slowly made his way out the door, but refused to go down the steps. I picked him up and carried him over to the grassy area beside the driveway so he could take care of business. He arched his back even more which made me think he had some additional business to attend to as well. Instead of doing that, he flopped over on his side, almost like he fainted. I stood him back up and stayed knelt beside him, trying to see what his problem was. He flopped over again. He had the most pitiful look in his eye, that I was sure he was dying. You may recall that there was a lot of tainted dog food out this summer, and although we hadn't given him any of the recalled food, you never know. There could have been more tainted food out there undiscovered.

So, here I was on a Friday afternoon, with a dying dog. I scooped him up and took him inside and put him in our bed. I called John's office, but he was already on the way home. I called his cell, but got the voice mail. I didn't know what else to do, so I got in the bed beside Petey and stroked him over and over telling him what a good dog he was. I wasn't going to let him die alone. John got home and I told him of Petey's dire straits. John quickly realized that there was a serious issue, so he called the vet!! Why didn't I think of that!! The vet was closing for the day, but gave us the number for the pet emergency clinic nearby. Since we were calling people now, I thought about calling my cousin who has been to veterinary assistant school and knows all about animals. She thought that a visit to the emergency clinic was unnecessary and that Petey was just in pain of some sort. She prescribed a baby aspirin and taking him to the vet in the morning. She also called a friend who agreed with her assessment, so we gave him a baby aspirin and let him sleep with us that night.

Saturday morning he was better, but not completely so we took him to the vet. Once we got there, he started acting like he was fine. I learned later that this is part of the pack mentality. He didn't want to get put out of the pack for being weak, so he was faking being strong. We saw the vet, who was very kind and gentle with Petey. She felt up and down his spine and hips, no reaction. She pulled his head up high, no reaction. She pulled his head to one side, and again nothing. She pulled his head to the other side - YELP!! Yes, Petey had a crick in his neck!!! Perhaps he slept wrong during the day while we were at work.

That is when I learned that Petey is the king of drama. I have never, ever met a dog with such a flair for the dramatic. I truly thought he was dying less than 24 hours before and had people from here to Colorado (where my cousin lives) and back trying to figure out his problem. Oh yeah, the vet prescribed a baby aspirin!!

Today the vet called him a baby...then she said she thought he was a bit spoiled...she's a smart woman...