I came home from the gym today and found Mia in pain, her rear end covered with blood. She’d been fine when I left the house two hours previously. I called the vet and they told me to bring her in right away. Turns out there was an abscess in one of her anal glands that had ruptured spontaneously. The vet told me it is extremely painful for dogs (no kidding). She had to shave Mia’s rear to get it all cleaned out. The hole is more than half an inch across; my poor brave girl. We’ve got her on pain pills, a special ointment and antibiotics. I am thankful the pain pills kicked in so quickly; you can see she’s already feeling better. Driving over to the vet’s office, I had all kinds of dire thoughts going through my head. I’ve never had anything like this happen to any of my dogs before. I’m so very thankful it’s not cancer or any of the other horrible things that flashed through my mind (the reality was quite bad enough). The vet assured me that Mia will be fine; it will take a while to heal, but she will make a full recovery.
It’s easy to forget how important my dogs are to me when we go through our regular rituals day after day (dogs do love a schedule). They are my family; a huge part of my life. Mia in particular is such a stoic girl, that it’s easy to overlook the little warning signs that I’d seen the last couple of days. She’d been licking herself, and had been panting and restless yesterday. Now that I look back, I kick myself that I didn’t see the signs earlier. The thought of Mia (or any dog) in pain or sick is just awful. I’m so relieved things are going to be okay. Rowan and Quill are keeping a close watch on her; I’ll skip my writers group meeting tonight. My best friend needs me right here at home.
Sorry to have missed the opportunity last night of meeting you–but oh, I so understand this. Our pets are also family!