Heartworm

I almost did not take Harley to the vet today.

Actually, yesterday I decided that there was no way that my 9am vet visit was going to happen because I was out late at Jack’s b-day extravaganza and Gib’s afterparty.

But for whatever reason I wake up at 8am and decide that I probably should drag myself out of bed and take the dog to the vet.

So, an hour later I’m standing in an examination room listening to a chipper veterinary assistant run down a list of extensive care plans for the dog.

I was quietly calculating how many hours worth of wages I was going to burn on this visit when the young-ish vet comes in.

The vet looks freaked out.

Vet: “ Oh my god, your dog’s heartworm test is positive!”
The assistant (gasping): “Oh my god!”
Me: “…um, okay, what does that mean?”
Vet: “Oh my god, I can’t believe he tested positive! I mean, I haven’t had a positive case in two years!”

The assistant gasps again. We all look at the dog as if we expected him to drop dead right there. Cue the ominous music.

Me: “Well is he going to die or…?”

The vet then adopted that tone that TV doctors use when they tell parents just how painful their child’s cancer death is going to be.

Vet: “No, well, I mean, probably not. We don’t know how serious it is because if he has had the worms for a while then they may cause heart failure. See what happens is that the heart enlarges…lungs filled with fluid…then horribly painful death… gory details… But I need to do some x-rays to be sure they are about $200. Sign this paper.”

While the vet left to re-check the test results, I called madre.

Me: “I’m at the vet’s. Harley has heartworms.¹ It’s going to be like $700.”
Madre: “Hm. Well, how good is the prognosis? Because that’s a lot of money to spend on a dead dog…”

The vet did not take my mother’s practical question very well – although the vet explained the three levels of heartworm (and the fact that the third level was basically untreatable) he seemed aghast at the notion of putting a dog down.

Vet: “Well, we will talk about our, uh, options, when we get there. We need to keep him here today to observe him just in case he has an adverse reaction to the medicine and faints or dies or something…”
Me: “Dandy. I’ll be at work.”
Vet: “Great. See you at 5. You have to go to the reception desk and put down a down payment. That’s our policy for all of our costly procedures.”

Dandy.

So I drive off to the suburbs and worke for 5 hours before heading back to the animal hospital.

Apparently Harley did not take his stay very well.

Assistant: “So I took him out but he didn’t go. But when I put him in the kennel he just looked at me and started peeing a lake!”
Me: “Oh my.”
Assistant: “Oh, and you were right about the flatulence.”
Me: “I wouldn’t joke about such things.”
Assistant: “Oh, and he also pooped in the kennel as well. It was soft just like you said it would be!”
Me: “I wouldn’t joke about such things either!”

They brought the dog out. He looked tired, unamused, and like he just got beaten up.

Vet: “He’s going to be a little sore, but that’s to be expected. Here’s his medicine. And remember he cannot get excited or exercised for the next few months OR HE WILL DIE. Okay? Short walks are fine, but nothing strenuous.”

Well, gee.

Brought Harley home and went back to work for another 5 hours.

When I back home Harley and I are going on a brief, non-strenuous non-death-enducing walk.

¹ So about this heartworm business…according to the assistant it takes 6 months for heartworms to show up in test results. I got the dog in March, so he had heartworm when I bought him. I call the animal rescue where he came from and the rescue manager says, “Oh, that’s a surprise! But yeah, we don’t test the dogs for heartworm. That costs extra. You gotta tell me first if you wanted that done.”