Trip to the Vet

Last night Joe noticed a small red bump on Ava's eyelid. I started over analyzing it (surprise, surprise, I know) and did some heavy googling on red bumbs on dogs. I saw a lot of gross things and some cancer-related things, which definitely didn't help my anxiety. But then I saw some very similar bumbs that were diagnosed as stys, and they were no big deal. Joe then managed to talk me down off the ledge and I agreed to wait and see what it looked like in the morning.

This morning her eye was completely swollen and the bump was bigger, with a red dot in the middle, which looked like exposed skin. That was that - she was going to the vet! Now, my problem was that my vet was an hour away in the area where I worked, and I technically wasn't supposed to bring Ava to work with me anymore because she wasn't vaccinated for kennel cough.

I tried finding a vet close to where we live, but they opened at 9:00 a.m., the time I needed to be at work. My two choices - take Ava to the vet we had already been to, and bring her to work with me for the day, OR wait for two hours until the new vet opened, hope there was an early appointment available, and hope that the exam didn't take too long. Well, I know the exam would take forever because Ava has serious issues and vets need to know EVERYTHING before they diagnose anything (at least, good vets should). So, I decided on option A. I emailed my team and told them the situation then headed to work.

I took her to the vet at 10:00 and wouldn't you know it - the swelling had disappeared. Seriously, it was like that one time we went to the ER for a swollen eye only to have the vet ask us which eye was supposed to be swollen. Embarrassing. But the bump was still there, so she definitely still needed to be seen.

I swear, it looks a lot worse in person than in this picture. The bump is on the top right corner of her eye.

The vet was very sweet and even though Ava was so unhappy, I felt really good about the visit. The vet gave us ointment to be put on and in her eye twice a day and said it should clear up soon. Fingers and paws crossed!

She spent the rest of the day lounging on my desk at work, happy to be back with her mom.

New Vet

Ava needed her prescription refilled, so we were finally forced to find a new vet here in Seattle. I hate looking for a new vet, I stress so much about it. I have had some bad experiences, and with a 'special' dog like Ava, I have to be certain that if something flares up due to her condition, the vet will do all he or she can to help her. I had that in Cheshire (I told you about crying, yes crying, when I left my vet there, right? Embarrassing, but true.)

Anyway, usually I visit half a dozen vets in the area, tour their facilities, the whole nine yards before making a decision. Well, I didn't give myself enough time to do that, because Ava needed her meds. So, last Thursday, Joe took both dogs into Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, which was recommended to us by some people I work with.

Joe took them because it was his day off and I had to work. But he said that he was very impressed with the amount of time the doctor spent with Ava, looking her over and asking a ton of questions about her condition.

She spent about an hour with Ava, then checked Jackson over in about ten minutes. Ah, I love my mutt!

Two nervous dogs.

I hope this vet works out. I may go ahead and check out a few others, just to make sure.