heart woes

I went to the small animal hospital at the vet med school today. After four hours and $600, they told me that she has the beginnings of a heart disease (probably the same thing that Sinbad had) and recommended a prescription. I took it, meaning I'll have to shove 1/4 of a pill down her throat twice a day, possibly for the rest of her life. But at least I get to keep my girl for now. And hopefully for a long, long time to come.

While I was at the animal hospital, I heard a story that made me cry and left me praying for the family it affected. A woman and her young teenage daughter brought in a chihuahua from the neighboring state, probably a four-hour drive. The woman was crying, and told her dog's story to another woman in the waiting room. Apparently, there's a condition where the dog's brain can slip out of place and down toward the spinal cord. Usually, when this happens a dog dies fairly quickly. However, for some reason their dog has survived two and a half years in this condition. She didn't say why, but I think the dog has been having adverse affects lately because she said they had an appointment scheduled to put him down today but just couldn't do it, so made the ride to the vet med school to see if there was anything they could do. They can't just do surgery to put the brain back into place, because when it slips it swells and then won't fit back into place. The woman got called in when she was done telling the story, and I couldn't help it. I started crying, and the woman who had been conversing with the family started crying, too. I just hope and pray that God spared this little dog's life and will give it many more years with its family.