(Woodinville, WA)
Today Wazzu went to Animal Medical Imaging in Kirkland for her ultrasound. When we first arrived, they had us pick Wazzu up and lay her on her back on a long foam bed that was angled on each side so it kind of made a long V shape. In other words, it kind of cradled Wazzu so that she'd stay on her back and wouldn't fall to either side.
This is a very unnatural and submissive position for a dog. And while Wazzu wasn't too sure about this she stayed very still. When we got her on the table they then asked me to put my hands on her knees to hold her back legs straight out so they could easily reach her tummy. Wazzu was such a good girl - she'd laid there completely motionless. While in this position, they gave her a nice cool summer haircut as they shaved her lower chest and tummy.
After finishing with the shave, they said Wazzu could be on the floor as we waiting for the vet to come in the room. As soon as Mike put Wazzu on the floor she kind of tucked her bottom under and slunk around in a little ball. I guess having no hair on your tummy feels really weird. She was not a happy puppy.
When the vet came in Wazzu had to go back up onto the table on her back. She wasn't happy about it but complied very nicely. They put this gooey gel all over her tummy and as soon as they started that, her back legs (which I was holding) started shaking and quivering. But she held so still - she was a perfect angel.
At one point during the ultrasound the vet said the next part would be very uncomfortable as he'd need to press really hard to see one of her kidneys. He really pressed hard but Wazzu still didn't move one bit.
From what the vet told us, her ograns looked pretty normal other than her spleen. I guess the spleen is supposed to be very small and just on one side of her body. Wazzu's however is very large and goes all the way from one side of her body to the other. Because of this it was decided they needed to do a guided aspirate of the spleen.
They had to take five samples from diferent parts of the spleen. To do this they put a different needle into Wazzu five times and wiggle it around a little each time. Sweet little Wazzu held so still but her eyes were as big as baseballs and I could feel her tense way up as they were sticking each needle in her.
What a brave girl she was. The vet and the tech couldn't get over how good she was. The vet said she was the best dog he has ever worked on in over 30 years. He wished they were all like her. He also mentioned that he'd like to use her in his classroom as he teaches new vets to do this. But Wazzu said a big "no thank you."
When they were all done they gave her a whole bunch of doggy biscuits as she hadn't been allowed to eat for the last 24 hours. She enjoyed the treats but we thought any dog that good deserved more than doggy biscuits. So on the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen and bought her a milkshake. She thought that was really good!!
All the rest of the day and evening she wanted to be right next to me. I couldn't move a muscle without her moving even closer.
I had taken a camera with me to take a picture of Wazzu getting the ultrasound done but when I got there and had to hold her legs during the whole hour long procedure I instantly went into concerned mommy mode and forgot all about the camera.
She's much happier now that she is home and has food in her tummy but she's not at all happy with her new haircut!
Much love to my sweet little girl who has had to endure so much during this past year.
Debbie
6/14/07
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