I just need to talk about this [Not related to LoL]
For background story: I have had three dogs; Lily (a beagle dachshund), Carly (a golden retriever lab mix), and Minnie (another golden retriever lab mix). Minnie and Carly are sisters, Lily was picked up by a family friend who was moving and couldn't take her.
A charming thing about Minnie and Carly; They were the last two dogs in the litter, both golden retrieve lab mixes. Minnie had long, black fur and Carly has short, blonde fur.
Okay, now to the story.
About an hour and a half ago, my parents left to go to the vet because my dog, Lily, has been having some issues involving the bladder. It was a simple checkup, nothing to much, and just 10 minutes ago I received a call from my mother, who told me that I'm on my own for dinner, and that they were rushing to the ER. Turns out, they took a blood sample of Lily and managed to rupture a tumor that was in one of her organs that was leaking blood and making it difficult for her to breathe. I didn't get many details about it because my parents were presumably in the ambulance, but I just wanted to talk about this.
I've always had problems with veterinarians, not because I'm an animal and hate going to the vet, but because of how inaccurate they can be at many times. Nothing against them, I'm sure they're incredibly nice people, but my past experiences with them have been somewhat of a story.
Years ago, I think three or four, our local veterinarian diagnosed one of my dogs with bone cancer, explaining why she was having issues walking. It turns out that she actually has arthritis - how could you misdiagnose that for cancer? That's just one story of many.
About two years ago, Minnie passed away. We were on vacation in New York (I live in the Seattle area), and we received a call from our pet-sitter in the middle of the night. He had said that Minnie had a seizure and thought we should know about it ASAP. We called the airport, got on a plane, and went home 3 days before our vacation was supposed to end. The next two weeks had been a nightmare, mainly due to the fact that Minnie was now having seizures every day. One day, we took Minnie to a lake high up in the mountains, a place we had taken her dozens of times before as she loved to swim. It was a warm afternoon, the sun was setting, reflecting an amazing orange gradient over the surface of the water. I took some pictures that day, - the last pictures I would ever take of her - where Minnie was enjoying herself, trudging through the water, smiling with her toothy, sweet smile. The next day, we took her to the vet after she had a seizure early in the morning. They said that she wouldn't make it, so we put her down that day. We took the ashes home, and to this day, we keep that jar and kept it in a place we see every day while we eat dinner, gathered around at the dinner table, to remember how great of a dog she was. My family doesn't want to ever forget Minnie, we never want to forget her warming smile.
So, quite recently, actually, we had another bad encounter with the vet. The story above isn't really a bad encounter, it was just a sad experience all together. Anyways, I was taking letting Lily inside because we have them both inside and outside 50/50 of the time. Because Lily had been having bladder issues back then, we had to put her on a leash when letting her inside so she wouldn't do anything she wasn't supposed to do, and it was perfectly fine. Of course, we still had some moments where we had to clean, but for the most part, it worked. I let Lily in, and attached her collar to the leash. Right as I did that, she started screaming, and, much like a beagle dachshund, it was loud. Not knowing what I had done (I don't really even know if I had done anything, it just so happened by coincidence that I was leashing her), I jumped up and stood back - my parents would know better, anyways. She was rushed to the vet, all the while screaming in the car. It could have been a pinched nerve, or really anything - we still don't know, and here's why: When my parents arrived at the vet, they were told that they would be next up in line - while, of course, Lily was still screaming. For the next 4 hours, my parents were told that they were next. At that point, Lily had calmed down and stopped screaming because presumably the pain stopped. That, I guess, put them further back in the queue - which is stupid. Lily arrived at the vet screaming in pain, and that should be addressed immediately, regardless of if she calms down or not. My parents ended up leaving the vet without knowing why Lily was screaming in pain hours previously, and we still don't know to this day. Thanks, vet.
Now, Carly, on the other hand, is the only dog with me at home right now. Everybody else is gone, and it's just me. Perhaps, Carly, is one of the most durable dog that I've known. She's lived for 13 years with arthritis, her inseparable sister passing away, and many different changes involving her health, her family's health, and overall lifestyle. At the time of writing this, she's outside sleeping peacefully. I just wish that she can stay with us for many more years.
I love every animal, regardless of if they're hostile or not. They all deserve love and recognition, from everybody. It's a shame that there are people in this world that mistreat animals.
Just remember, you'll never know what you have until it's gone.
Update: Lily's gone. She's in a better place now. She was going to have a blood scan, and had a panic attack from the veterinarians. A tumor in her lungs were blocking her airstream after that, and her heart couldn't handle the loss of oxygen. She had a heart attack from that.
In all, we're not too surprised about it because she was 19 years old, well beyond the average lifespan of a dog her size. She lived a long and prosperous life, but for the past year we've known something was up.
Have a nice evening.
