Whew!
Yes, I am still alive! As some of you know, the last couple days have been really rough. I have a puppy that is 10 years old (shut up! They're always puppies to me!), and poor ol' Higgins (that's his name), hasn't been doing well. Despite being blind, mostly, he's always been an active little fella. He's part Jack Russel and part Pekinese.
Anyway, a couple days ago he just.... stopped. He was very lethargic, not even able to stand up, peeing on himself, and then he stopped eating. So, took him to a vet that we'd heard does really good work. I am sure they do, but we spent $100 for the initial visit, which consisted of a shot and a flea pill.
We know we have some fleas, but for the most part the puppies have never really had a problem. This vet said it was so bad that Higgins needed a blood transfusion. !!!! So, that meant that they wanted $500 up front.
I don't have that kind of money right off, so brought him home, keep him comfy. He's cold. His temp is 95 and it's supposed to be about 102. Manage to scrounge some money today, but only manage about $330. That's not good enough and the vet still refuses to take him.
Some good friends recommend another vet. Actually get to talk to this vet on the phone and he is PISSED that the first vet refused to take him. He listened to what was said, and said to bring him right away, that it was an emergency. o... head to that vet, Higgins in hand, and he looks him over. Says that yeah, he does have fleas, but it is very unusual for them to actually kill your dog. The flea pill had killed them all and he said that there has to be an underlying problem.
That vet, Dr. Wojo, is fucking awesome. He took him in, already took blood, and says he does need a transfusion, and if we'd have waited til Monday like the other vet said, Higgins would not have made it. He already has a donor dog set up and we are going to do everything we can for him. He didn't even ask for any money down to leave him there.
Higgins is not out of the woods yet, and he still may not make it, but he is at the puppy hospital and we're working here at home to make it hospitable. Since we can get it replaced basically for free we're ripping out our carpet to get rid of fleas and going to have this place cleaned up so hopefully if baby Higgins can come home then he at least doesn't have the fleas.
Now I am home, destressing after running around all day, and trying to get the muse back to get into my plays.
My greatest thanks to all my partners, understanding as they have been, and I promise I have not fallen off the edge of the earth!