Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ray Visits the Specialist

Ray's appointment with the specialist was today. He was supposed to fast for 12 hours before the visit, so Gregg didn't feed Ray when he got up. I decided to skip breakfast in a show of solidarity with my dog. I stayed in bed until the last minute, took a quick shower, walked Ray around the block, loaded him into the car and hit the road. 
We arrived at the vet right on time; 8:15. Ray, as usual, charmed all the girls.  He was doing his best to behave, trying very hard not to jump on them or mouth their wrists. He wasn't being particularly successful, but he tried very hard. 
While we were waiting for the Dr., Ray practiced his sit/stays. He's starting to get the sit part pretty well, as long as I am persistent in pushing his butt to the floor; the stay part is a bit trickier. 
The doctor reviewed Ray's medical records, examined his legs and (mostly) confirmed what I had been told by the lady at the rescue society, that Ray probably didn't have lymph nodes in his back right leg and that as long as he got plenty of exercise it wouldn't cause him any problems. As a precaution, the vet took a blood test to check for a tick-related disease that could cause Ray's symptoms (results pending). She also contacted Ray's previous eye Doctor to get the medical records from that visit (the first page of the report was there but not the results of the visit). Those records also confirmed what I had been told previously, that Ray had a detached retina in one eye and was almost completely blind in the other eye. What I didn't know, but what I expected, was that Ray would eventually go totally blind. The vet's assistant said that I didn't need to make an appointment with the eye specialist recommended by my usual vet, but that I could do so if I wanted to get a second opinion.  
Ray and I went home and ate breakfast. It was a 2 hour consultation and half an hour each way so it was lunch time (well, pretty much). We were both starved. Ray, however, had been able to bum some liver treats off of a nice lady who was at the vet's waiting while her dog was undergoing cancer treatment. I don't like liver or I would have been tempted to ask for some too.
Ray was exhausted after his visit, so he hit the couch. I decided that work could wait 'till tomorrow so I let the sleeping dog lie. 


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