Only DH wasn't thrilled with the idea of driving the 30-ish miles. I think it still would have come out cheaper, even including the price of gas, if we had gone there, and I think it would have been great to have her seen by professionals. I'm a little sad that I wasn't able to take her to them, after all. Obviously, the main thing was to try and get the tooth extracted sooner than our original Thursday appointment. I might have been able to drive her all the way down there, myself.
At the same time, I also sent an email to the general email address for the vet clinic. It was Monday when I received a reply, but it was a great, thoughtful reply, complete with an apology and an explanation. I'll post it here for you to see:
I'm afraid I owe you several apologies. It sounds
like Kansas has experienced a "perfect storm" of everything going wrong
and for that I am very sorry. I am also sorry for the delay in my
reply, and did not intend to cause you and certainly not your pet any
distress over this long weekend.
At that same
time I also instituted a policy that non routine surgeries should not be
scheduled on the Friday before a long holiday because, although we had
not had problems, we would not be able to recheck the pet if there were
complications post surgically. I'm sorry that this was not explained
and that the surgery was not pushed forward in the week. I have not
reviewed to find out why this was the situation.
Also
complicating Kansas' situation is that we have been down a doctor the
end of this past week, making scheduling more difficult for our
receptionist. Most non routine surgeries would be able to be
accommodated within the day, but I'm certain that the combination of
these factors on the Friday before a 3 day weekend culminated in Kansas'
situation
I
am not in the clinic now, and have been away from my computer since
Friday morning, so have not had an opportunity to review your case or
interview [the attending vet] or my receptionist regarding this case. I rarely
ever go for this long from communication with the clinic, but labor day
weekend is historically the only "slow" 3 day weekend of the year and
thought I wouldn't need to get back after discovering I left my cell
phone at home...see what happens? I understand that you did get to see [the attending vet] on Friday, did she get you started on pain control and
antibiotics? Typically a slab fracture with pulp exposure will require
extraction of the tooth, and our pre surgical prep consists of reducing
the pain and risk of infection. Is Kansas still eating well? I hope
so.
Please bring Kansas
in this Tuesday (tomorrow) morning - if your schedule can accommodate
it, and I will make
sure that Kansas tooth is cared for. Again, I am sorry for the pain
and anguish that you and Kansas have had this weekend. We will review
the implementation of our policies with our staff to try to avoid this
situation for any other patients in the future. We exchanged a few more replies, and settled on bringing Kansas in at 8:30.
It went well. I didn't get to talk to anyone about the issue, but they were expecting her when we arrived, and while they were asking me questions, having me fill out paperwork and telling me what time they'd probably be working on her, a tech (the same guy who talked me through Macie's euthanization and watched me blubber and shake/nod my head repeatedly) came out to take her to the back. She did her usual "Eeew! A strange man! Don't come any closer!" thing that I haven't actually seen her do since she was a puppy. All he did in repose was turn his back, and, just like when she was a puppy, she went up,sniffed his legs, he dropped a leash over her head and she went right with him. I like that guy a lot. I only see him here and there, for very short times, but he is REALLY good at his job. He was the tech that actually got to assist with the procedure, and he was the one who came out when I went to pick her up and told me all about it. After he went back to get her, the vet whom I'd been emailing with came out with the pieces of the tooth to show me which was which and give me his version of the play-by-play. Another girl brought Kansas out and I was trying to give the vet my polite attention and time, since he was so good to do this for us, so I ignored Kansas for a bit . The poor tech was just standing there. I finally handed her our leash so she could at least switch the leashes and go on her way. Then Kansas started pulling for the door and whining. I hope they don't mind that I didn't even acknowledge Kansas til he was done talking, but I wanted to give him my full attention.
IWhen I had first dropped her off, they had said they would see her around lunchtime, but while I was still there they had a cancellation, and said they'd get started at 9:15. That meant I'd be able to pick her up at 3:00, instead of 5:00 like they'd originally said. I had to leave for work by 4:30, so she would have had to wait there til DH got off work and could get her. This way, I was able to pick her up, get her settled in a little bit and then leave, and DH was home an hour later.
I got back home and about an hour later, DH texted me to say that the clinic had called him 15 minutes prior. They had taken my number as the number to call, but they still always call his phone first, instead of mine. it doesn't' matter how many times I tell them. I called them back and THE VET himself (whom I hadn't met or spoken to at that point) got on the line to tell me that Kansas' teeth were "shining up beautifully" and that the broken tooth was actually BLACK on the back side and that he thought it had been cracked "a month or so ago" and the Nylabone had just finished it off. She was doing well with the anesthesia and they were going to get back to finishing things up.
I had to have Airlie there for her own wellness exam at 10:30. Kansas was out of surgery and sleeping it off by then, so they were able to give me a couple of reports and said I could come back after 3:00. Airlie's appointment was fine. She was happy to see everyone when they first came to the room, and she was good when they took her to the back for her heartworm and fecal tests. Then she practically dragged them back to the room afterward. They talked about how she's the opposite of Kansas- that Kansas does better in the room with me and slowly warmed up to them by the end of the visit (she was trying to "shake" so our new vet would give her another treat), whereas Airlie did better when she was away from me. Once they brought her back into the room, she had had enough of them, ran behind me and climbed up onto the bench and hid in the corner! She wasn't being ugly, so I just let them handle her, rather than dragging her down and forcing her to participate. She cowered, tucked her tail, tried to sink into the floor... But they just kept petting her, feeding her treats and worked around it all. It was fine. She weighs 46lbs, so she's gained about 4lbs. It's fine and she still looks great, but it was a surprise. She'll lose it once it's cool enough to play Frisbee every day again. I'm always surprised when they gain weight once they're done growing. Got h ome around 11:15 that time.
Airlie and Leo were really funny at home without Kansas. They were all kinds of out-of-sorts and both of them slept most of the day. Normal for Leo, but Airlie is never NOT climbing on me, begging for attention whenever I sit down to read or watch TV. She didn't do any of that.
I went back at 3:00 and after listening to everyone share their war stories, we got home around 3:45. Kansas was a little out-of-sorts at first, but she drank some water at intervals and peed a few times, so I knew she'd be ok til Kevin got home and wouldn't puke. She was hungry and wanted to eat, kept standing in the kitchen in her spot, staring at the stove where I usually set their bowls before feeding them. I didn't want to feed her since I was leaving, and I knew I had to give her antibiotics with food later, so... I let her out a few times, brushed her, brushed the other two and did their teeth. Did the rest of my getting ready for work. She went to her usual place by the door to lie down. Leo and Airlie have been a little uneasy around her, after sniffing her over really good. She pooped on herself when she woke up after surgery. They cleaned up most of it but said I could bathe her tomorrow. I got most of it off with a brush once she had dried, but Leo sure didn't feel comfortable sleeping in his crate next to her when I put them all to bed. He pitched a whiny fit and I ended up dosing him with some of his Bach flower stuff. He's fine.
DH reported that Kansas was a little restless while I was at work. I fed her and gave her her meds when I got home. She kept everything down, but was still out-of-sorts, lying in her crate but not sleeping. She usually won't let herself sleep until I finally go to bed, though, so that's not so unusual. She did wake up after I'd bee asleep for an hour, and need to go out. She was still unsteady on her feet at that point, but seemed fine this morning. She even expected to take her usual morning walk, though DH had nixed that idea. She ate, took her meds, and seemed inclined to go back to her bed, rather than hover near me like she usually does when she's STILL WAITING for me to walk her. So maybe it was a good thing. She greeted me enthusiastically when I returned from work a little while ago, seemed to think I was going to walk her, but is now resting comfortably and still not badgering me about it, so, I guess it's ok.
I didn't walk Leo and Airlie, either, since I know Kansas doesn't do well being left behind. I could have walked Airlie and left Leo home with her, but I just decided we'd call it a "rest day" and sleep in, instead.
I may regret not walking the other two, long about 5:00 this afternoon...
$480 all-told (that includes Airlie's vet care). Here's to no more vet visits til Kansas' birthday in January.
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