Stoical Doggie

After taking Fips out for a walk, Michael came running back in, throwing open the door with a bang, and yelling “Fips got stung by a wasp!!”

“So?”

“On his tongue!!” Michael said with exasperation, “help me get it out.”

I ran over and held Fips’s head as Michael got some tweezers and pulled out the stinger. Fips is such a brave doggie, submitting stoically and trustingly to our ministrations.

“Well... all’s well that ends well,” I said.

Michael was not convinced. He worried that Fips, especially since he was still a puppy, could get an allergic reaction that would kill him. Michael’s worry was instantly contagious.

Down to the truck and back to Moraga. Michael holding Fips in his lap and both of us rushed and worried.

Smith examined Fips’s tongue and his swallow. He said that if Fips hadn’t had a more serious reaction by now, the chances were that he wouldn’t have one at all. He recommended some Benadryl for a day or so.

While there, he checked out the umbilical hernia which has gotten smaller. The left testicle is definitely "undescended" and will have to be taken care of. Smith recommends removing both. Michael gets sullen.

Dr. Smith is learning to handle us as soothingly as he handles Fips. Even though we’ve been to his office mostly for routine shots, we do fuss and worry about everything....worms, the umbilical cord, the missing testicle... and now the swollen tongue.

I hope Fips realizes that all this to-ing and fro-ing to Smith’s is because we love him. Probably not, but he seems to like going to vet. Since nothing painful happens, it's all just an outing to him.

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