Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Last night was really tough, I have to say. Star is really depressed - she won’t eat, and I had to talk her into going for a walk, both last night and this morning. I almost got her to play with me on the bed (one of our nightly routines), but it was half-hearted play, at best. I so wish I could get the message across to her that Jo is actually coming back (unlike Tim and Winnie, her previous house-mates, who left her forever earlier this year). Poor girl.

Normally, JoLee is my shadow. Tonight, whenever I turned around, I would look to make sure I wasn’t going to step on him, and he wasn’t there. When it was bed-time, Star didn’t even try to sleep on the bed with me; she went to the dog bed and laid there. Very sad night, all around.

This morning, I called the vet’s office at 8:30 and there was no answer; I left a message, knowing that Dr. Grosch was probably busy taking in surgery cases, etc. When she called back (not much later), she told me that JoLee is doing very well; he was at the door of the kennel, wagging his tail when she came in; and although she hadn’t been able to take him out yet, he didn’t appear to be overly sore. Great news!

I asked Dr. Grosch about the post-treatment care regimen, and this is it:

First month: leashed only walks in the back yard.
Then she’s going to re-test him, and if he’s all clear,
Second month: short leashed walks only (no off-leash runs).
After that, he should be good to go.

I’m not going to contemplate what happens if he isn’t all clear, but I imagine it would involve another round of Immiticide, and starting over on the whole restriction cycle.

I called again at noon to find out how the second injection went. Colleen said that Jo did just great, notwithstanding a cat fight that broke out in the clinic during the process. I can hardly imagine JoLee being still and calm during a cat fight!

During lunch, Star shared chicken with me, but when there was no more chicken to share, she took her lonely self off to lay in the sun under a bush, rather than laying next to me so I could pet her. I think she’s angry with me. I suspect once she sees JoLee tomorrow, everything will be forgiven. Poor Star.