Dr. Will Could Give Agassi Lessons!
Luky demands that I transcribe his thoughts about Dr. Will Draper (www.thevillagevets.com/vets.htm). He also insisted (and I agreed) that we include a link to Village Vets in his "Luky's Links" section. So, before I have to listen to the story for the 153rd time and begin to confuse my conversational English with conversational Malamute (a much more difficult language to articulate, but highly addictive to the ear), I'd better go ahead and translate the saga once and for all.
It all started a month or so ago when Luky began losing his appetite. That's right, all you dog-owners out there, a dog losing his appetite is a bad sign . . . but even more, those who might be Malamute parents will be able to aver that Alaskan Malamutes are food thieves and would-be hogs given half a chance. I've always attributed the apparent propensity to gluttonous display to the breed's genetic roots in Yukon-like territories. You have to figure that when food is found lying about on the ice floes, any survival-oriented, local resident Canis lupus (regardless, Wolf, Malamute, Canadian Eskimo Dog, Greenland Dog, Samoyed, Husky, etc.), is going to eat first and smell, think, digest or get sick later. After all, whether the understanding is called upon from genetic memory, or mother's example, the dog knows that if it's edible, then it's fresh-frozen. And not only that - but if he doesn't chomp on it immediately, then some other inhabitant of the frozen landscape will make quick work of the potential meal.
In other words, it's been my experience that Malamutes do not care about restaurant reviews. They may have table manners - Luky is a stickler for linen napkins and all the trappings of haute cuisine - but, like most of his Northern lupine brethren, he eats fast, and gobbles whatever looks like food. Not only that, if any other 4-legged critter acts interested in something lying around on the ground, it immediately takes on the look - and apparently, aroma - of filet mignon, and he swallows it before he even sees it! He doesn't like the description, but it's both accurate, and the cause of our recent troubles and emergency.
As I say, Luky was losing his appetite. We went to our regular vet a couple of times, did a little testing, but always came back with a clean bill. Then he started throwing up a lot, and experiencing other "explosive" symptoms.
So Luky's stepmother, Karen, decided to take him to a new vet in Decatur. Village Vets was recommended by a dog-loving neighbor, and before I knew it Luky was getting a barium scan.
The report was a little scary - to paraphrase the Vet Tech: "We see what appears to be a mass, but it is not showing up very well, and to be perfectly honest we will have to do exploratory surgery to be sure if it's really there, and what it might be."
"Okay, I guess we'll have to go ahead and schedule that. Who is the surgeon?"
"Dr. Will Draper . . . one of the doctors who opened this hospital."
Luky was already there so I couldn't ask his opinion, but over the previous eight or ten weeks he had become increasingly uncomfortable, so we figured he was going to go along with whatever we decided. But it wasn't until after the surgery that I learned the small-world nature of the entire scenario.
Some years ago - very early one Fall morning in 1994, as I recall - one of Luky's older brothers (i.e., a previous May Malamute), Pioyok, bloated for the second time and got his ticket to sleddog Heaven. Bloating - medically, per Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloat), "gastric dilatation-volvulus," is a serious condition for large dogs, and more common than we wish were the case.
Pioyok had bloated before but was saved with emergency surgery. So we knew this time was the last - plus, he was already nearing 100 years old, counting both dog years and the age acceleration sometimes attributed to larger breeds. So, without knowing it was his last drive ever, he climbed into the car and rode with his whole pack to Pets Are People, Too (www.petsarepeopletoo.net/). We knew there was a 24-hour emergency service, but even so we were forced to awaken the doctor on duty - that's how early it was.
As alpha dog - I suppose - I was trying to avoid the emotion of the situation and remained outside, guarding the parking lot from any intruders who might have wanted to introduce fantastic bargains gathered from midtown dumpsters, or invite us to a curbside breakfast, etc. So, I let Debbie and Josh lie on the linoleum floor of Pets Are People, Too with Pioyok lying across their laps as the doctor, having confirmed the diagnosis with X-rays, administered Pioyok's intravenous boarding pass to the next world.
I did not get to know him then, and I can't really say I know him now since that morning in 1994 was the only time I actually stood and spoke with Dr. Will Draper. But it was not until Luky's recovery from exploratory surgery (see prior post -), which produced a tennis ball on a rope from his stomach, that I learned the same Dr. Will Draper who had just saved Luky was the same doctor who, 12 years before, had helped Pioyok move on to run with his celestial pack.
All this means so little to the rest of the world - and next to nothing to even the dog and Malamute owners who might happen upon Luky's blog - but believe me, the whole thing has meant a lot to Luky and his pack (me, Karen and Gabriel), and Luky feels as though the connection to Pioyok through Dr. Will is bound to be important within the overall Lupine meaning of life.
It all started a month or so ago when Luky began losing his appetite. That's right, all you dog-owners out there, a dog losing his appetite is a bad sign . . . but even more, those who might be Malamute parents will be able to aver that Alaskan Malamutes are food thieves and would-be hogs given half a chance. I've always attributed the apparent propensity to gluttonous display to the breed's genetic roots in Yukon-like territories. You have to figure that when food is found lying about on the ice floes, any survival-oriented, local resident Canis lupus (regardless, Wolf, Malamute, Canadian Eskimo Dog, Greenland Dog, Samoyed, Husky, etc.), is going to eat first and smell, think, digest or get sick later. After all, whether the understanding is called upon from genetic memory, or mother's example, the dog knows that if it's edible, then it's fresh-frozen. And not only that - but if he doesn't chomp on it immediately, then some other inhabitant of the frozen landscape will make quick work of the potential meal.
In other words, it's been my experience that Malamutes do not care about restaurant reviews. They may have table manners - Luky is a stickler for linen napkins and all the trappings of haute cuisine - but, like most of his Northern lupine brethren, he eats fast, and gobbles whatever looks like food. Not only that, if any other 4-legged critter acts interested in something lying around on the ground, it immediately takes on the look - and apparently, aroma - of filet mignon, and he swallows it before he even sees it! He doesn't like the description, but it's both accurate, and the cause of our recent troubles and emergency.
As I say, Luky was losing his appetite. We went to our regular vet a couple of times, did a little testing, but always came back with a clean bill. Then he started throwing up a lot, and experiencing other "explosive" symptoms.
So Luky's stepmother, Karen, decided to take him to a new vet in Decatur. Village Vets was recommended by a dog-loving neighbor, and before I knew it Luky was getting a barium scan.
The report was a little scary - to paraphrase the Vet Tech: "We see what appears to be a mass, but it is not showing up very well, and to be perfectly honest we will have to do exploratory surgery to be sure if it's really there, and what it might be."
"Okay, I guess we'll have to go ahead and schedule that. Who is the surgeon?"
"Dr. Will Draper . . . one of the doctors who opened this hospital."
Luky was already there so I couldn't ask his opinion, but over the previous eight or ten weeks he had become increasingly uncomfortable, so we figured he was going to go along with whatever we decided. But it wasn't until after the surgery that I learned the small-world nature of the entire scenario.
Some years ago - very early one Fall morning in 1994, as I recall - one of Luky's older brothers (i.e., a previous May Malamute), Pioyok, bloated for the second time and got his ticket to sleddog Heaven. Bloating - medically, per Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloat), "gastric dilatation-volvulus," is a serious condition for large dogs, and more common than we wish were the case.
Pioyok had bloated before but was saved with emergency surgery. So we knew this time was the last - plus, he was already nearing 100 years old, counting both dog years and the age acceleration sometimes attributed to larger breeds. So, without knowing it was his last drive ever, he climbed into the car and rode with his whole pack to Pets Are People, Too (www.petsarepeopletoo.net/). We knew there was a 24-hour emergency service, but even so we were forced to awaken the doctor on duty - that's how early it was.
As alpha dog - I suppose - I was trying to avoid the emotion of the situation and remained outside, guarding the parking lot from any intruders who might have wanted to introduce fantastic bargains gathered from midtown dumpsters, or invite us to a curbside breakfast, etc. So, I let Debbie and Josh lie on the linoleum floor of Pets Are People, Too with Pioyok lying across their laps as the doctor, having confirmed the diagnosis with X-rays, administered Pioyok's intravenous boarding pass to the next world.
I did not get to know him then, and I can't really say I know him now since that morning in 1994 was the only time I actually stood and spoke with Dr. Will Draper. But it was not until Luky's recovery from exploratory surgery (see prior post -), which produced a tennis ball on a rope from his stomach, that I learned the same Dr. Will Draper who had just saved Luky was the same doctor who, 12 years before, had helped Pioyok move on to run with his celestial pack.
All this means so little to the rest of the world - and next to nothing to even the dog and Malamute owners who might happen upon Luky's blog - but believe me, the whole thing has meant a lot to Luky and his pack (me, Karen and Gabriel), and Luky feels as though the connection to Pioyok through Dr. Will is bound to be important within the overall Lupine meaning of life.
posted by RAM at 11:52 AM
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