A Weekend at The Emergency Vet

There’s nothing quite like spending your weekend at the Emergency Vet. Yep… a big fat U G H… It’s a combo of:

• Boring: you end up having to sit in uncomfortable chairs for what seems like an eternity
• Expensive: Emergency vets are like Emergency Hospitals. Thing just cost more when there is a rush.
• Anxiety: Inducing: you’re scared about your dog’s health and about how much it’s going to cost.

It’s indeed all these things and more wrapped into one package.

Gratefully I think Ranger is now okay, I’m still not sure what was/is wrong with him, but he’s stable. However it wasn’t always so clear, in fact I was pretty freaked out…here’s the break down of the weekend…

Ranger threw up or really spit up on Thursday, but seemed totally fine except for a bit of cough on Friday. Then at about 2am on Saturday morning, and again at 6am he awoke with more explosive hacks and some spit-ups. While he wasn’t lethargic- a telltale sign that your dog is not doing well and you have to go to the vet immediately- I decided Ranger really needed to go to the vet and he needed to go at that moment, i.e. he couldn’t wait until regular vets opened at 9am.

Ranger

I would have preferred to wait-emergency vet hospital visits are (as seen above) boring, expensive and anxiety producing-but Ranger’s regular vet wasn’t even open on weekends so basically I weighed the options, i.e. knowing I was going to get him seen right away but would be paying for that privilege, vs. getting him seen by a vet I knew but that still wasn’t his own a few hours later for about 40% less up-front.

Ugh again, I obviously chose the former and headed west down Santa Monica boulevard towards Sepulveda-the Veterinary Hospital Homeland-hoping for the best and still unsure if I made the right decision. See, I’m a bit of a Jewish mom when it comes to my dogs’ healthcare. This can be beneficial, as I know that I had my girl Bella as long and comfortable of a life as possible because I was hawkish about her health, but the flip side is that it can get insanely expensive.

Was I being overly cautious and neurotic, or was I being careful? I debated even as I was filling out the intake form at the Emergency vet. Thankfully I have insurance, which made me feel much better about going for the more expensive option.

Everyone at the emergency hospital (I went to ASEC) was very nice, and the vet I got assigned was so sweet and smart-she went to PENN after all (I happen to grab my PENN sweatshirt as I was getting dressed so we bonded immediately.)

University of Pennsylvania

But even as nice as everyone was, it’s just an overwhelming experience: between the estimates they give you and the options for treatment… do you keep them in the hospital or take them home for observation… do I go with the expensive blood panel or do a more limited one and then see…all that while you’re worrying about your dog’s health as you watch a stream of other dogs and cats facing some scary illnesses come through the door. With my rescue work and Bella, I’ve gone through the vet hospital experience more times than I care to think about, but you really never get used to it. It’s really enough to make your lose your mind.

At about 6:30am on Saturday they took Ranger back to get x-rays and do some other diagnostic tests. When they came back the very nice vet showed me what appeared to be “a fabric-patterned object” in his GI track. But it was unclear if this was what was causing him to hack and wheeze. His tummy was also full of poop so they needed to get that to pass so they could get a better view.  So they asked me to come back at noon.

I went and took a Pilates class that I had scheduled at 10:30, returning at noon upon which time they asked me to come back again because they had a dire emergency to deal with. While some people might have gotten upset at this delay, I knew that this meant that Ranger was stable enough to be back-burnered for a bit, so I went home, watched super disturbing episode of Toddlers & Tiaras (in case you don’t know about this show, it’s a disturbing look at the world of Pageants. It’s on TLC and I’m obsessed) and then came back at 2pm.

Toddlers & Tiaras

In that time the doctors witnessed one of his wheeze-fits and while they were still concerned about the GI issue, it was clear that whatever was going on with him was directly affecting his respiratory system and that is what needed to be dealt with. Gratefully Ranger still wanted to play and eat and eat some more so while they were worried that they didn’t know what was wrong, his clinical signs were pretty good.

So they sent me home with a cough suppressant and antibiotics. I could have left him at the vet for observation but who wants to leave their babies if they don’t have to-particularly for hundreds of dollars a day. This goes back to that expensive part that makes Emergency vets so challenging. They literally take a credit card deposit from every client in the amount that the vet anticipates your animal’s treatment is going to cost in advance of the treatment really even getting started. They do this because-and I know that this happens all the time because in rescue we get dogs that have been dumped at Emergency vets quite a lot, so they’re not making it up-people will simply leave a dog if the cost is too high. People literally take off and leave the vet to eat the cost, and care for the pet.

So back to the rundown… after we went home around 4ish, we ended up back at about 7:30pm-ish because Ranger’s hacking cough was just downright scary.

I was there with him until about 11pm when were discharged with new meds that would hopefully soothe him. Unfortunately they didn’t and we ended up back at 2:30ish.

Ranger stayed from 2:30am until about 5:30pm Sunday when I picked him up with different meds but still no new diagnosis. Thankfully though there was a decrease in the intensity of his coughing fits and some pending tests that might tell us if he has some sort of cooties.

The vets gave me instructions to keep him quiet and give him a combo of meds that should ease him, and the suggestion to bring him to his regular vet for follow-up. So we headed home and straight to bed to watch the Emmy’s together under the covers.

Ranger only woke up about every two hours or so with some coughs and the meds they gave me to give him, did seem to help soothe him. Too bad they didn’t give me any meds to help me through not having slept much over the weekend… but I guess that would have been somewhat illegal, appreciated but illegal.

Ranger is currently spending the day at his regular vet where I will be picking him up after work. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a new diagnosis… I’ll keep you posted…

Pet Seatbelts & Pet Safety

Guest Blog from my friend Amy!

Hi! My name is Amy.  I spent 8 years as a veterinary technician, and now I work as the Happiness Manager of the world’s largest pet insurance company, Pet Plan. 

For over a decade I’ve seen your pets both in a medical capacity and now in the insurance claims that follow. Betsy has asked me to say a little about pets and car safety.  I’m sure that the parents in the reading audience make sure that your children are safely seat belted and/or appropriately secured in your car. Sadly we often fail to protect our pets in the same way. Does Fido bounce around the back seat or sit in your lap while you drive? Let’s talk about dog seat belts.

A few months ago, a claim came to my attention from a family whose dog hopped out of a car window while the car was in motion!  Luckily, Niko survived thanks to the quick thinking of his mom and the emergency hospital, but in the process, he lost his fluffy white tail.

I had a few conversations with his mom and instructed her on car safety (she’d never even heard of seat belts for pets). In researching ways to support Niko and his family I discovered that most of my co-workers let their dogs hang out unsecured in the car. This prompted me to become the seat belt “advocate”.

Some dog seat belts are actually padded vests with straps for the lap belt to thread through, but others are more in the line of a “harness” with extra loops on the back that your lap belt will pass through.

You can even buy a special dog “booster seat” that comes with it’s own straps, kind of like a toddler safety seat. Any of these can give your dog the freedom to move around a bit, and look out the window.  You’ll know that the dog will be safe in the case of an accident, and you won’t have a dog in your lap, obstructing your ability to drive!

My own dog, Baku (see below), has a harness seat belt. It was inexpensive ($19.99 for the “small”), and he can use it out of the car as a harness.  It’s adjustable and he can look out of the window while we’re driving.  He absolutely loves it, and whenever I take it out of the closet, he knows he’s going somewhere fun (even if it’s to the vet’s office…weird dog!)

Baku!

Do your homework before buying one, to get an idea of what you are really looking for in safety and comfort. Check the reviews, if any, of the brand you’re buying, to get the consumers’ opinions.   Buy the appropriate size for your dog, and always put your dog in the back seat, especially if you have passenger side air bags, which have been known to cause injury in pets while they sit in the front seat.

Here’s a good place to start: Petautosafety.com

Thanks for reading!

Interested in finding out about Pet Insurance, please contact  PetPlan @ 866-467-3875 , and be sure to say Betsy Rosenfeld sent you!

Have dog, will rent

There is an amazing apartment building at the end of my block that has been sitting mostly empty for at least a year. From years back when I first moved to Beverly Hills I had always admired it, but I knew it was quite pet unfriendly and remained so at least up through this year when I was recently on the apartment hunt.

But last week I noticed a bevvy of action around the building. Apartments that had been empty for months were all of the sudden lit up and the building buzzed with the sounds of people, and wait what was that, yes it was the harumphs of  dogs barking. Looking in the windows as I walked by with Ranger I have seen a boxer in one apartment and a poodle and a hound of some variety in another. Aparently the landlords have had a change of heart.

I’m sure it has something to do with the economy, I mean how long could they let these apartment lose money. But it got me thinking about  dogs and renting. Why are landlords so hesitant to rent to dog owners. Of course there is the obvious soiling (nice euphamism, right?) issues, but I’ve seen non-dog onwers rip a place to shreds and besides landlords usually take a fat pet deposit to cover these cost. Then there is also the issue of noise, but I’ve had plenty of neighbors make tons of noise without the help of a canine friend.

I’m lucky enough to have found an amazing apartment (it was designed by famed architect Paul Williams who also designed that crazy building at the center of LAX) that was willing to take Bella, and now Ranger. But I also came with good references from my former apartment building. If you are a dog owning renter, and are having a tough time, do the following.

1. Give yourself time to find a pet friendly place. There are pet freindly apartments in every city. It just takes some time. Craigslist is awesome for finding pet friendly places.

2. Don’t give up. Dogs are too often given up because people can’t find housing right away. When you start looking for a place line up an interim place to stay, and or someome to babysit your dog in case there is  lag between when you have to move out of one place and when you find the second place.

3. Always ask. Particularly in this economy even places that say no dogs may consider it if you sign a 12 month or even offer to sign a longer lease if they take your dog.

4. Have references ready to give from your former landlord or neighbors. It may seem a little hokey but it might be enough to get them to consider you.

5. Get renters insurance that covers your dog. You never plan for things to happen but they do, and this way at a resonable cost you can protect yourself, your dog and your wallet!

6.  Be a conscientious dog owner. When you’re not, you ruin it for the rest of us!

bella & pet insurance

bella has been a card carrying subscriber of petcare insurance since 2003. and thank god. soon after purchasing the policy bella burst her spleen and had to have emergency surgery to save her life. the costs came to well over $2300 dollars. within a few weeks of submitting the claim petcare wrote me a check for $1700 dollars !!! that was 70% of the cost, minus my deductible.  how awesome is that?

within the last week, we have found what appears to be cancer in my sweet bella. it’s probably a bone tumor; not easy kind of cancer to deal with.  i made the call today to petcare. and to be honest i was/is/am really freaked. will they cover this? i mean i knew they covered her last time, but i’ve heard all the horror stories of both human and pet insurance companies not covering on technicalities.
while i of course don’t have anything in writing, i did have an incredibly reassuring phone conversation with the petcare representative. his name was gabriel and he was great. i have some tough decisions ahead on how to best chart the course of dealing with cancer. but at least with insurance i have a little less stress about how i’m going to pay for the decisions i make.

for more information on pet insurance click here for a great article in the houston chronicle about pet insurance!

think good thoughts for my bella girl!