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Thursday

Henry got neutered on Thursday. Poor guy. I haven't had any patience with people who don't want to get their pets spayed or neutered, but now I get it. And I remember feeling this way when I got my cat spayed, too. I hate to change them in any way just because I want to - it seems so extreme. The cat peed in my face one morning while she was in heat; that made the decision much easier. With Henry, I think of it as: if he ever gets away again (and that's entirely possible) or if he interacts with dogs in the dog run, it's not that uncommon here for people NOT to get their pets fixed. So, puppies could result. And Henry doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who's gonna pay child support. So, no kids for him.

Advice from Meg

We got some encouraging words from Meg: "In another day or so he will feel all better and won’t even remember the experience. He can whine and complain to Maggie all day about how he’s not a 'real man' anymore, and she can tell him that all her boy friends in New York are in the same situation and that he should get over it."

Droopy

Henry was the saddest, droopiest dog you've ever seen on Thursday when he came home. His walk was very wobbly. He likes sometimes to walk on the edge of the curb like you did when you were a little girl and pretending it was a balance beam (okay, maybe not everyone did that). I'm amazed that he didn't fall off. Check out this picture of him - see the bags under the eyes - there's no iris showing here whatsoever - just bags and bloodshot white parts.






















































In the Closet

Then he hid in the closet - and I followed him with the camera - and then he left because I'd bothered him. Again - you're seeing no eye here - just bags.
















Red Spot and Stitches

He has this little red spot - and look where the stitches are (two little blue stitches) - not at all where I'd expected. Also, you can kind of see in this first pic how much his rib cage juts out.
















Microchipping and Lost Pet Service

He also got microchipped, so if he does get away, he has a shot at getting back. They now have this thing they give you when you get the dog microchipped where you can sign up for an alert service that notifies shelters and vets that your pet is missing and lets you make flyers online. This sounds like a total ripoff to me (though it's cheap) - I mean, the vets and shelters check for chips when the dogs come in, right? They say 90% of pet deaths are caused by getting lost. That sounds like an overly dramatic statement. It didn't make sense but of course it's because the shelters euthanize so many animals. How creepy is that though if it's even sort of true - all these animals die because they're lost. Ugh. Ok, now I want the ripoff service.

Why I Like Henry's Vet

When I pulled up to drop off Henry, there was a white chicken outside the dogs' pens, and they were barking their heads off at her. I asked inside. Chickens fall off the chicken trucks - which they do all the time - it's really sad - you see them in their tiny short cages all piled up on the back of a long truck and it's so often for one chicken to get free and climb up to the top of the pile. When the truck picks up some speed on the highway that surrounds Athens, the chickens fall and go splat. I didn't know any survived. Anyway, the receptionist said, chickens fall of the chicken trucks, and somebody picks them up, puts them in a box, and leaves them outside the vet's door. So they fix them up and let them live out their lives there. They feed them and take care of them. Here we are in chicken processing central and these little gals end up getting to taunt dogs. The one I saw was tall and elegant looking, thinnish, not like you'd expect.