Toby is at the vet today for one of his big checkups. It is so sad to leave your dog when of course no dog likes to be at the vet. He’s nervous the whole time while I sign him in, and then he doesn’t want to be taken away. So you have to sit and watch your poor little animal be dragged away. The nurse suggested I act like I’m walking in that direction so that he’d go, but then I felt bad tricking him. I drove home feeling really sad, and I wondered how this is going to translate to motherhood of my own children. I guess at least when you have to leave them you figure out ways that they’ll be happy–it’s not like you’re leaving them at the vet all day to sit in cages. But still. It’ll be hard to ever leave, I know.
So now I’m at home, and it’s so lonely without Toby around. Normally he follows me around the house. Actually, I came back and went back to sleep, so now I’ve also essentially wasted half my day, too. But the point is that I woke up from my “nap” thinking I’d see Toby, and there was no happy little doggy face to greet me. I had a voicemail from the vet and when I called back I’m pretty sure I could hear Toby’s bark in the background. I know it could be another dog, but I also do know Toby’s bark. How’s that for ripping out my poor little heart? (See, I AM going to be insane with children, I know it.)
And now, assuming I’m not in labor, he needs to go back in a week for his teeth cleaning. I should have scheduled it all for today, but somehow I didn’t realize he was due for it, and by napping I missed the message and it’s now too late in the day for them to give him the anesthesia. Yes, they actually have such a thing where they knock out the dogs to clean their teeth. Yes, we have doggy insurance that covers these things.
Am I a complete nut job or does anyone else feel this way about their pets? Then again, I think most everyone who reads this blog regularly doesn’t have pets, so I guess you’d all be on the “nut job” side of that question.
No, I was that way with my cat Emerson (who has been adopted by his grandparents). The hardest was when I had to take him to get neutered and he had to stay at the vet’s overnight. I felt like a big traitor. I would really love to get a cat, but since we’re moving to Korea, I can’t. I miss having pets around.