The Brown Bear Weighs In...

I'm not saying man's/woman's best friend isn't worth their weight in gold, just saying my 80 pounder (she is up 6lbs just like the rest of us this time of year-oopppps) is worth more than that... both literally and figuratively. Wow, has modern veterinary medicine come along way since the farm days when dogs just got a little "shot" of whatever the other barn yard animals got. About this time each year we head on over for the annual round of vaccinations and a little check up by Dr. Rich to keep the brown bear healthy. We happily hand over our weary check card to the tune of $350.00 and know that we are getting off easy. Miss Kato has been one spendy companion (note to self check into pet insurance). I mean who even knew that a dog could tear an acl requiring surgery and 4 weeks of hydro-therapy (yes walking on a treadmill submerged in a tank of warm water) at the U of M. I have no idea what she got herself into that causes her to break out in a major case of the hives resulting in an emergency room trip for some sort of steroid shot. Of course their was the time the experts think she suffered from speenic torsion (don't even ask) which meant an early morning visit not only to the regular vet but also a day's stay at the emergency room. It was completely freaked out the time she got stung right in the eye by a bee and her eye socket swelled to look like she was holding a golf ball behind her lid (no wonder her face is getting all grey). Then this winter the "big accident" when she was impaled by a mostly snow submerged steel fence post. Resulting in about 35 stitches, a drain tube, 3 medications, a narcotic pain patch and 10 hours in the emergency room, five follow up visits and a lonely Christmas holiday filled with me in a mild depressive state (another mental note-should have asked for a narcotic patch for me too). Throw in a ex-ray to find out she had not swallowed a tennis ball rather just had major gas, a stick puncture through the kinda-webbed-part of her toe, a case of kennel cough, a few ear infections, and a couple of bladder infections for good measure and we coulda had ourselves a BMW 5 series. Ah well, who needs a flashy car anywayz. But tell me where else you can find a running partner who NEVER bugs out of a workout. I would do it all over for a furry friend who wags her hearty tail when she sees you open your eyes in the morning. I mean it is all worth it to get a good laugh of outta her "de-fuzzing" a new tennis ball (she just has this thing for the nap). You'll likely only find this amusing if you are a dog lover too...

Oh Miss Kato we love ya!