I was VERY cool about the whole thing, and I wore my Christmas collar so that everybody would know how special I am. I sat on the scale and I weigh a whole 42 pounds - isn't that awesome? When SK got me I only weighed about as much as a feather from a really small bird - I was so hungry. She took care of that though! I've been eating 3 or 4 times a day for the past few weeks and I'm nice and solid now. There were lots of other dogs there, and I really wanted to play with the little black puppy across the room, but we were a little bit rowdy and some of the older dogs were just old grinches, so we had to stop and "behave". Boo, hiss.
All the nice ladies at the front desk made a BIG fuss over me and one special one is making a very generous contribution to help me get the surgeries I need. Then I went in to meet - gulp - the VET! Well, he turned out to be a very nice man, and below I have some pictures of us together - me and my personal physician - just like a king or emperor or something. I'm SO lucky. He gave me a good examination and we all decided that I'm probably 5 1/2 months old, not 4 1/2. He went looking around for my festivals (or something like that anyway) and couldn't find them, so I guess that's why I'm staying overnight there because tomorrow when I'm sleeping they're going to look around some more for them so they can remove them. Very weird, I know. Beats me what the goal is! I'm also going to have my hernia fixed (whatever that is) and have some baby teeth removed (who would have thought that a person could have too many teeth???) and then I'll get a vaccination and a microchip (I hope that's like a potato chip because they said I had to skip breakfast - uh oh - NOT good).
After that, my doc is going to take some pictures of my leg. I'm a little embarrassed because it doesn't match the others, but Dr. Leal and the TFM assured me that I am very handsome and that nobody even noticed that I had a bad leg. I'm that cute, I guess! Then when I wake up, everybody in the whole clinic (and there are lots of people) will be there to fuss over me and spoil me.
The TFM brought along some of my toys and bones, and I also have a nice red coat. It's going to be really cold and windy this week, and she didn't want me freezing to death when I'm outside. Did I metnion that I'm working hard on my housetraining? I'm SO successful, too. It's nice to be clean and dry - people like you a whole lot better this way, and I love to be picked up and snuggled. So, if I'm repeating myself, it's only because I'm so smart and so proud of my accomplishments!
Here are my pictures of Dr. Leal and me - aren't we a handsome pair??? I'm the one in the red collar, in case you were confused. My friends here at the clinic said they'd call with updates tomorrow. Underneath my pictures, the TFM said she'd give some details about my leg. I don't want to think about it, so I'll let her tell you and I'm not going to look. Wish me luck tomorrow! I'm not scared because I know I'm in good hands now and I'll be doing great real soon.
Love,
Tiny Tim
Temporary Foster Mom here: As I suspected, Timmy's leg deformity is NOT the result of a birth defect but an injury. Responsible breeders don't leave puppies alone with their moms because that sort of thing can happen in a heartbeat. Responsible breeders would also have taken the little guy IMMEDIATELY for vet care. Then again they would have fed him more than once a day too. Amazing. Anyway, had he received appropriate care at the time of the injury, Timmy would have been fine, but now we're facing some difficult decisions. We'll know more after the x-rays tomorrow. Because he actually does use it a bit, there's a chance that with surgical intervention, he could have a "peg-leg" - it would be serviceable, but not fully functional. Whether or not that is a viable possibility remains to be seen after the diagnostics. Unfortunately, amputation might well be the only appropriate route for this brave little puppy. Still, 3-legged dogs lead perfectly normal lives, and I personally know one who runs and trains agility every week.
He is, however, facing a minimum of two days of surgery - one to address his current needs (like neutering, dental, repair of his umbilical hernia, etc.) and the second to address his leg. What a terrible ordeal for such a baby to have to face. At this point though his future is looking bright now that he's in our hands and getting the medical care he needs. Next step is the perfect new home once he's all recovered. Assuming I can wrest him from the clutches of his new-found friends and caretakers at the vet clinic! He'll be a spoiled little beast when he comes home.
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