The dogs needed their anal glands expressed. I didnt usually get them expressed outside of their checkup because they generally made solid poos and didnt have much to express. However, earlier this year they both had distemper and nearly died. They had runny and mucousy and even bloody poos for a long time and the fact that they might have filled their anal glands had not escaped me. So, when they kept flipping over and licking their butts every few minutes i figured it was probably time to get it taken care of. Theres not a lot i wont do. Ive gone up inside of chickens looking for stuck eggs. I’ve pulled cactus out of dog paws, picked poultry lice out of chicken feathers, combed fleas out of puppies’ fur, and dealt with tons of diarrhea, urine, and vomit. What i will not do is express my own dogs anal glands. The way they look at the vet after having it done, all betrayed and such, the way they wont even take a treat from them…i dont want them to look at me like that, like i violated them. No, the vet’s gotta do that one. This is one thing i am not you-tubing.
Originally i planned to just have their anal glands expressed by the vet during boarding when i had my surgery. However, there was so much drama and so many variables surrounding it and it kept getting pushed back or cancelled and then i had to start all over with a new doctor who couldnt be seen for over a month. I decided the dogs couldnt wait for me, they needed a vet visit separate from whatever i was doing medically. So i scheduled one. They told me they didnt do visits anymore. They did drop off at 9 and pick up at 3. I thought, “thats a strange way to operate as a veterinary office, but whatever suits them.” I thought it might be better to have people wait and take their dog home afterwards because then they wouldnt have to find a place to put a whole day’s worth of animals from 9 to 3….but who was i to judge how they had decided to do things? So i took the day off work (promising to come in and make it up on saturday) and drove to the nearest legit city to have the dogs’ anal glands expressed.
I took the day off work. I wrangled both dogs in the car. I drove all that way. When i got there they had plywood on the dog entrance and so everyone had to go through the cat door. So now i am trying to keep cashew from all the cats and other dogs and keep both of them well behaved, on leash, and sitting behind or by my legs. The receptionist/tech says to the lady he’s talking to, “hold on. Let me address this lady here and then it will be easier to talk to you.” He turns to me and apologizes and says, “im sorry. We just dont have room for you.” I was confused. I thought there might be some mistake. I called and made this appointment weeks ago. I wasnt a walk in. They were scheduled to be here. He then explained what he probably should have explained on the phone when he said they dont do appointments anymore, they just do drop off at 9 and pick up at 3. They had not changed their name or their website but they were no longer operating as a veterinary office. They had decided, without advertising in any way, to become a triage emergency animal hospital where the bleeding and near death cases took precedence and the others only got seen if it was a slow day for emergencies. Had i known that, i wouldnt have booked an appointment…oh, sorry, a drop off and pickup day. So i said, “well why dont they stay in my car and whenever you have a moment to see them ill bring one in and they can go back in the car and you wont have to worry about where to keep them. I took the whole day off work. Im flexible. I have a phone charger and a full tank of gas. The kennel can be the car.” He said that was not helpful. I asked why. I told him that he was telling me he had nowhere to put them, and i was giving him a place to put them. He said that would not work. I asked why. He said, “because he doesnt have time to see them today.” I said, “okay, what if i go home and bring them back at 3, when everyone is picking up, there must be some vacancy then…”. He said, “no, that wont work either. He has appointments at 3 as well.” I said, “im confused, i thought you said there were no appointments and everyone did pickup at 3. What are you doing from 3 to 5? I dont care if they never enter the clinic. We can skip the shots. You can express the anal glands in the parking lot. Ill hold them. I just need their anal glands expressed, thats all.” He said, “no, i dont have any availability for you today.” So i said, “hey i took the whole day off work for this and drove in from another city.” He said, “it would be best if you could come back on monday and we’ll try again.” I said, “i cant come back on monday. I work 3 cities away on monday and i also live in a different town. This is not convenient for me i cant just hop over from across the street.” He said, “fine, then leave them and we’ll do our best.” I said, “hang on, you just told me you didnt have a place to put them. What do you mean leave them? Leave them where?” He said, “i said leave them and we’ll do our best.” I said, “do your best, what does that mean? I’d rather keep them in my car until you’re ready. I want to know where it is that you intend to keep them if you are all full up. I mean are you going to tie them to a table or let them run loose back there or what?” He said, “im going to do exactly what i said; my best. It would be better for me if you could bring them back monday but since you’re telling me you cant do that i said i’ll do my best.” I stared at him skeptically. I wasnt sure where exactly he intended to put my dogs if i left them and until i understood his meaning, under no circumstances would i be leaving them. They were coming with me at this point, my mind was pretty made up, but i was sort of stunned that everyone in the waiting room was acting as if this was totally normal and were absolutely unphased. A lady standing near the door said in a comforting but slightly parental tone, “they’ll be fine. He’s not going to hurt them. Theyre in good hands.” The receptionist/tech started shouting and shaking his head up and down emphatically, “Thank you. Thank you mrs johnson, thank you.” I said to her, “but i dont understand. He’s just said he doesnt have a place to put them, a kennel to hold them in, they’re all full. So how can he have room for them now? Where is he going to put them if he has no more kennels?” She emphasized her point by speaking slowly and raising her eyebrows, “They fit them in.” I still did not understand. None of this was making any sense. They all waited for my answer. I paused, unsure how to make them understand the ridiculousness of this argument. Finally i said, “these are my dogs. Im responsible for their safety. Im trying to work with you hear. Im trying to understand what you are talking about, but if you cant tell me where they are going to be kept and how while they’re here, i cant leave them.” The man was angry now and doing the emphatic head bobbing and the raised voice that i remembered him by, “no, you are not trying to work with me. Im trying to work with you, but you dont listen. As i said, leave them here and ill do my best.” I said, “okay, we’re not doing this. I’ll just go. They’re coming with me.” As i left, mrs johnson shouted after me, “he said you could bring them back monday.”
I loaded my dogs into the trunk and then climbed into the drivers seat. They needed their anal glands expressed. I had taken the whole day off work to drive them here and take care of this. I had to find some way to get them seen today by another vet. I took a moment to chastise myself for being stupid and giving this vet another chance. I had left them a year ago when the receptionist/tech had gotten in a yelling match with me, insisting that my dogs had always been 75 to 100 lbs and i had always bought the extra large dog breed heart-worm and flea medications. i told him i lived with the dogs and i would know better than he did whether they were extra large breed dogs or not and ive never met a 75 lb australian shepherd dingus butt have you? He insisted i was wrong and refused to sell me the right weight class of meds or let me talk to the very busy vet. I left and told him he was a nincompoop. He told me i was being unnecessarily difficult. When he informed the vet of the incident the vet called and asked me to give them a second chance. He said i had highlighted a problem he was unaware of in that the tech misunderstood the system and the way things were organized in the files and had been selling the wrong weight class of meds to the customers for weeks and he was now really concerned about this. He said its a hard job and asked the guy wasnt rude to me or anything was he? I told him he was. The vet asked me to come back and give them a second chance. I told him id try again next year when the vet tech was trained up a little more but not right now. I had dealt with his inability to multitask and his predecessors fondness for screaming at the customers whenever there were too many for her to handle in the waiting room even though we were all sitting patiently, but trying to convince me my dogs were 75 to 100 lbs and i had just never noticed the change from 28 lbs and 38 lbs to 75….now that was stupid and i wasn’t doing it anymore. It had been over a year and i came back to give them a second chance only to find out they’d gone further into ridiculousness. I was right the first time. We were officially done with this vet. I dont know whats wrong with his brain that he makes the decisions he does. He saved sili’s paw once with a surgery and i appreciate him for that, but this mess is just absolute ridiculousness and we’re officially done. If he were the last vet on earth i would pray instead.
I called all the other vets in the city. Nobody had a cancellation. Nobody was willing to come out to the parking lot to express their anal glands. Nobody could fit them in. Suddenly i had a thought. There was a very expensive veterinary clinic on sidney baker for the people in the hills that could afford great customer service and elite veterinary care. I had a feeling if anyone wasnt booked solid it would be the fancy shmancy rich people vet. I called. They had an opening at 4. It would cost me 80 dollars instead of twenty but i was desperate, already expected the price difference, and accepted. I brought them home, hung out at the property doing chores and projects until 3, and then loaded them up and drove them back to the city to get their anal glands expressed. I just had a feeling this couldnt wait any longer and at all costs i needed to get this handled and taken care of today. we went in, filled out one paper, they were seen and back in the car in ten minutes…it took 60 seconds to pay, and we got a candy and a magnet out of it. Boy, rich people service sure is quick and efficient. They get their meds from a discount place. I really dont take them for shots other than rabies. I decided never to take them to a low cost clinic to get a rabies shot again after they contracted distemper waiting in line. I decided the rich people vet would be our new place for rabies shots and anal gland expressions. I was just fed up you know? I was willing to shell out once a year for it to be quick and efficient and not deal with all that nincompoopery and want to pull all my hair out. So i took the magnet and they became our new once in a while vet.
As it turned out i was right about this needing to happen that day. Sili’s anal glands were about to rupture. They want her seen back in 4 weeks to empty them again. Cashew faired better. Hers were emptied but there wasnt much in them. Sili was about to have a serious medical problem. So i made another appointment for both of them to come back in 4 weeks and mentally moved another $80 out of the account so i could be prepared. I hope that the excess build up is from all the diarrhea sili had while she was sick and that its still pretty empty when we go back but im sure they’ll give me a full report.
Side note: it turned out the chickens did not have gapeworm. All the pullets became infected with a respiratory infection that began with Georgie. The feed store said they had nothing for me and they could get in trouble with the state for marketing something as medicine and i needed to go see a vet for antibiotics. I tried to get the pullets in to see a livestock vet and they said they could see them in a month. Well **** they’ll be dead in a month you butts. This is why i dont have great history with doctors and vets. Common sense is why. I have too much common sense and i dont just walk blindly into the rosy reality they are selling. I called around and no one else would see chickens. So, nothing to do but treat it myself. I gave them a clove of chopped raw garlic twice a week. I dosed their water with colloidal silver every day. I bought an all natural respiratory poultry supplement powder (mostly herbs) to sprinkle on their food, i bought a mix of oregano oil and cinnamon oil to mix in their water, and i made them a salad of red pepper seeds, fresh chopped thyme, fresh chopped mint, and the respiratory powder every night and served it to them in a little cat dish. I made sure they all got around it before i set it down and had an equal chance at the contents. I made sure every bowl of water i gave them was dosed with the oils and colloidal silver. It took two weeks but they stopped sneezing, gaping, and panting. They seem to have a lot more energy now. The weather has been cold, windy, and rainy. That’s why i havent put them outside near the big pen recently. I also need to treat the adult chickens just in case, as i thought i heard a sneeze from one of the adults yesterday. I need to make sure everyone is totally well before i mix them, but to my surprise, the pullets began laying eggs at 4.5 months even though their breed says they will begin at 6 months. So, technically they can and have been eating some of the adult chicken feed lately. Once everyone is well, i will need to socialize them near one another once again and then they will have to go in the pen and see if they can hack it at the bottom of the totem pole and join the flock. Just so its clear what i have against vets: my dog got bit in the face by a rattlesnake and they told me they could fit me in next week. My chickens had respiratory infections and they told me they could fit me in next month. Im just saying, my dependence on natural medicine is not always a result of a financial decision or personal preference. Many times the official medicine route has not come through for me and its herbs, silver, and oil that has done the trick. I wanted to get them antibiotics this time. I thought it would be a quicker and more final fix. But they wouldnt have lasted a month untreated. I had only two options: do nothing or do herbal medicine and treat them myself. They either lived or they died but antibiotics in a month wasnt an option for us. For anybody wondering, no the unofficial triage pet hospital station does not do chickens.
Well the pullets are still alive and monday i will get more mint and thyme and treat the adult chickens. Next weekend is supposed to be rainy and cold as well. Im hoping the following weekend will be dry and sunny, better flock integration weather. It will give me some time to make sure everyone is completely well before trying to meld the two groups into one. Boy, i cant wait to have my bathroom back. Every time i raise chicks i swear im never doing it again but i always do.