Sunday, November 04, 2007

See ya later, Patches



My parents went on a long luxurious cruise to Hawaii. My dad asked me to take care of his little dog Patches while they were gone. She is a 3.5 lb chihuahua. I would have kept her at my house, but she tends to bite small children, and also foolishly picks fights with Francesca. She usually does this as Francesca is walking away from her, but Francesca will turn and pounce, and I'm afraid she might extinguish Patch in the name of aggressive play. So, my dad actually wanted me to board her at my clinic.

This worked out great. Patches was terrified (her state 90% of the time anyway), but we have a gentle kennel worker who would walk her for 20 minutes if that's what she needed to feel comfortable enough to poop. Many days I'd find her up front in the lap of one of the receptionists. She was weighed every other day to make sure she wasn't losing weight, and if she didn't eat her dry food, they fed her premium canned food.

Also while she was with us, I gave her a full check-up, ran comprehensive bloodwork, and did a dental cleaning. Boy, did she need it!



My parents drove up for a quick visit, and to pick up their Patch. She was so happy to see them, and her face finally relaxed into a doggie smile when she was in my dad's arms. It was nice to have a quick visit and lunch with them, and their grandkids were thrilled to get their vacation presents. Anthony and I got Kona coffee and macadamia nuts! What a deal.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks again for taking care of her so well! She looks and smells so good and she is very happy to be home. Thanks for the delicious lunch, too.
Love, M

Unknown said...

P&G are very interested in your dental expertise. Million questions being asked over here. ps Ev does have a costume on in one of the pics, look again ;)

Laura said...

I have a Chihuahua anatomy question for you, VetMommy: I was told by my new dog walker/Chihuahua daddy that chihuahua's cranial suture's don't fuse? Are their little domed skulls the result of hydrocephaly?

Emily said...

I love little Patch. She likes me, too, but of course, not as much as her mom and dad...

Dana said...

I really missed Patches on Saturday! I spent the whole day working in the office and she certainly would have been welcome on my lap. She's such a sweet little thing.

get2eric said...

Thanks to everyone at the clinic for minding of Patchie. I missed her but knew you all were taking care of her. Special thanks to Luke.

And to Dr Jenn for the blood work and dental.