exodus31three: Veterinary Miracle Worker

I try not to be one of those people who constantly talks about their dogs and just drives everyone crazy, but that's near impossible for me. I've just got to talk about what went on this past weekend with Ginger B.

On Thursday night we noticed that her head looked like it was twitching every second. She's never done this before so I had no idea what was going on. I finally noticed that her throat/neck seemed to be having spasms which was making her head jerk.

Friday morning I took her to the vet. I'm not naming names, but it starts with Pet and ends with Vax. By the time we left they had diagnosed her with a respiratory infection. The doctor was in with us for only about 5 minutes and didn't run any tests or anything. I'm obviously not a veterinarian, but it just didn't seem right. Nonetheless, I got her antibiotics and went home.

By Saturday, Ginger could barely walk. It was so sad! It was killing me that she was hurting and I had no idea what was going on! (I guess that's what it's like having a sick baby??) She was just laying down all day. She couldn't stand up on her own and couldn't go up or down the stairs without crying. On Saturday and Sunday I talked to two friends who are vet techs or have been before (thanks Cory and Paul!) and we started thinking maybe Gin had a back injury. And then it hit me, she DID have a back/neck injury!! I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner! After working at a chiropractic office for 4 years in college, you would think I would have realized this right off the bat. Her symptoms were exactly like those of patients I had seen at the chiro.

Look how sad! She was hurting

For some reason she thought it was comfortable to lie on my side on Saturday

Remi knew she felt bad

Monday began my frantic calls to try and get her into a veterinary chiropractor. Everyone knew of only one in Memphis and when I called I found out he was booked for the day. And didn't have any openings until Wednesday! I was so upset. I became the crazy lady crying on the phone to the front desk workers. So embarrassing. I cry about everything. I finally called the vet back for the third time to ask them to go ahead and schedule Ginger for Wednesday and to please call me if anyone canceled for Monday. The lady that had answered the phone was the third person I had spoken to and asked me what was going on and to describe Ginger's symptoms. I tried not to be too blubbery and managed to tell her everything. She reassured me that everything was going to be alright and that she would talk to the doctor and call me back. When she called me back, she said that if I could bring Ginger and drop her off then the doctor would see her in between patients. I was so thankful and let out a sigh of relief!

I picked Ginger up that evening and met with Dr. Parker to discuss what was going on with Gin. He said that he had given her an adjustment and showed me some stretches to do on her neck to prevent and help reduce muscle spasms. Ginger was like a new dog!! She was wagging her tell, prancing around, and just looked like she felt 100x better. So we got sent home with some muscle relaxers and pain meds and an appointment for next week just to re-check her. Dr. Parker at the Shelby Center for Animals in Bartlett, TN was awesome! I was so thankful to find a doctor who cared about what was going on with Ginger and who stayed a little later than closing time to talk to me about Ginger.