It was a typical Sunday afternoon filled with laundry and laziness. My dog, Logan, was a little smelly so I decided to give him a bath. That’s when I found the lump. There was a large lump on my dog’s bum right underneath his tail, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before. He didn’t wince or flinch when I touched it, but we decided it was intimidating enough to make an appointment with the veterinarian for later in the week. That night when we went to bed, Logan just wouldn’t leave the lump alone! This wasn’t completely abnormal, he had been occasionally dragging his butt on the ground or licking it. I thought this may be due to the fleas being back with the warmer weather — I was wrong. Around 2 in the morning, I woke up to the sound of Logan still licking and assumed he hadn’t stopped since we went to sleep. Concerned, I popped on the light to check on him and found his blanket was covered in bloody looking stains. I lifted his tail to check the lump and it was gone, replaced with a fleshy wound as if it was a giant zit that had just been popped. We cleaned him up with a warm wet paper towel and put the blanket in the wash. We don’t own any type of cone so I covered his rawhide with a thin layer of peanut butter and stuffed it with tiny bits of treats hoping that would keep him busy until morning.
The next day I called the North Star Animal Hospital (highly recommended by a close friend), told them what was going on and scheduled an appointment for later that morning. Now we don’t take Logan to the vet frequently, really ever, which I will admit may have been a mistake on our part as pup-parents. He only ever went to get his vaccines updated and that’s it. He’s getting older and I understand these visits are going to need to be more regular. However, his lack of regularity at the vet has made him very anxious when we do visit.
The nurse came in and visited with us for a moment to make sure they understood why we were there. It turned out Logan had a swollen anal gland that needed to be “expressed.” They needed to sedate him to perform this procedure, but as soon as any person in scrubs and gloves comes near he freaks out. Logan is a very social and friendly dog otherwise so this behavior is always a shock to me. Because of this, every veterinarian we visit has us muzzle him and it kills me every time. After he was muzzled, the nurse practitioners and vet started closing in he started wiggling, growling, and whimpering…it broke my heart. Despite my efforts to calm him it only seemed to raise his anxiety so they asked me to step out of the room. Dr. Mina Youssef managed to give him the shot without anybody in the room. That put me at ease a bit, but I wasn’t allowed to see him before he went under which killed me.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t hold it together through the billing process and started crying. Everyone was really sweet and tried their best to reassure me that Logan was in good hands. They told me they’d call me when he was ready to be picked up. On my way home I just couldn’t shake the heavy feeling of guilt and worry. I just left my dog there and he has no idea why. Later on, I rushed over to pick him up and he was a little…drunk. Looking back, it was kind of funny, but it certainly didn’t make me feel any better the day-of. That night, my boyfriend kept reminding me that I did the right thing and Logan will understand that this was for his benefit and he is absolutely right.
If your fur-baby is also a nervous wreck when it comes to vet-visits, remember this; We want our pups to have a long full and healthy life. Routine check-ups and vaccinations are one of the most important ways to provide that for them.
