It's a Team's Life

We need a Veterinarian

By Linda Caffee
Posted Jan 27th 2020 7:38AM

Luckily our pets are pretty hardy, and in twenty years on the road, we have needed to find a vet three times. Each time we were able to get on the internet and search for a vet’s office that was in the vicinity.

When we put our kitty Squeaky on the truck as a kitten, he was much sicker than we realized when we left home. At that time, we were able to get him into a PetSmart that had a Banfield veterinary clinic inside and get him on the road to becoming a healthy kitty. After great expense, he became healthy, and it now a full-grown cat with lots of energy and no health issues.

Recently though, we had another scare with our German Shepherd, Texas. While at home over Christmas, she was running down the stairs and fell at the bottom. She yelped and then went on about her excitement of being home. We thought nothing of her being a little sore as she was still running and playing. Her soreness showed up sometimes when she would sit or standup as she would give a small cry. We again did not think much of it as she is a little bit of a drama queen. When she gets a sticker in her foot, she screams her head off till the sticker is removed, very embarrassing.

We got back in the truck, and she seemed to be doing very well. She is always ready to play ball and to catch her frisbee. She likes to go for walks, and through all of these activities has not shown any sign of pain. Then she was getting up into the passenger seat and she did something and cried again and started slightly favoring one rear leg. Now it has been approximately a month since she fell, and she has not healed. It is time to find a vet as we cannot wait another month till we get home.

One of our daughters lives in Tucson, AZ, and we wanted to see our granddaughter as well, so we headed that direction. The search was on for a vet, and the first two calls were a bust as no one had time to see Texas. Then Bob found the VCA Animal Hospital in Tucson, and they are open 24 hours. The receptionist was fantastic and told Bob where we could park the truck to bring Texas. Luckily, we could use our daughter’s car and get to the veterinary office.

This was my first visit to a VCA Animal hospital, and I learned they are located all over the United States.  I did a little research on the VCA Animal hospitals and found that they have three locations in Saint Louis, which is the area we have our home. None of them were open 24-hours like the location in Tucson.

We were treated with respect, and they were very upfront with what they thought was wrong with Texas and the options. Before they would x-ray her, we had to look over the costs so that there would not be any surprised, and I sure appreciated this. From our initial call to the VCA Hospital to paying the bill, I was very impressed with their level of service.

Texas was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament, and in the x-ray, the vet also saw the very beginning of hip dysplasia. She is basically on bed rest for the next two weeks, and then she can go back on walks. She is not to catch her frisbee any more or do strenuous leaping or even trying to jump in the truck. All we can do is try to slow the process of what we know is happening with her. Luckily, she adapts quickly to anything, and she will be fine not getting to do anything for a couple of weeks. The other suggestion was to keep her thin to take the pressure off of her joints. Keeping her lean will not be a problem as she does not eat any people food, and she has never gulped her food.  All in all, with some special care, she will be a truck dog for a long time.

VCA Animal Hospitals 

Texas after her x-ray and being sedated. She was a sad sight.  The rear leg that is stretched out is the one that is hurt. 

Bob & Linda Caffee

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO

Expediters since January 2005

[email protected]

 

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