Nicki's long-awaited neurological appointment has finally taken place and the final diagnosis: everything looks normal, but she may be a little slow. In other words, she's never going to be an agility trial champion, but if there is a Special Olympics for dogs, she will probably do very well.
In truth, the final word didn't surprise me. She has improved so much in the month she's been here. At first she didn't seem to hear and we weren't sure if she could see anything, but now she responds to sounds (though not usually to voice), she obviously sees, she doesn't circle as much as she used to (now mainly when she needs to pee or poop). She still doesn't make eye contact, but kind of looks past you, which makes me wonder if she has better peripheral vision than straight-on vision, but I haven't really noted any severe problems with her, other than that she's not quite the brightest bulb in the package.
And that's pretty much what two neurologists (or a neurology intern and a neurological assistant) said.
I wondered about the fact that she is totally unresponsive to any good tasting treat, but they tried putting some alcohol under her nose and she reacted to that and tried to get away, which shows that she smells something.
It's like everything else -- she sees, but who knows how clearly (I can definitely relate to that!). She hears, but who knows how much? She can smell, but who knows how much?
Mainly, though, when she was sent up to be spayed three weeks ago, they decided that they didn't want to mess around with anesthesia until they had a clearance from the Neurology Department that it wouldn't harm her, so that's why this appointment was necessary. Now we can go ahead with the spay and then become more aggressive about finding her a forever family. (Sniff, sniff...)
If someone can figure out the best way to housebreak and train her, she will make that person a fantastic pet because she's so easy to have around, other than the peeing. She is also so independent that she can easily be left outside in the yard on nice days. So far, here, she hasn't shown any signs of barking at the neighbors, which already puts her a step up from Lizzie and Sheila!
She was one exhausted puppy when we finally got home. The appointment had taken about two and a half hours, from check-in to check-out and the hands on stuff was stressful for her. She was happy to collapse in her cage and take a very long nap, for most of the rest of the afternoon.
While Nicki was napping, I decided to take Ashley out to lunch.
Tomorrow is her birthday and when I asked what her plans were for her birthday she said "nothing," and I couldn't let that happen. We went to a new hamburger place (the name of which I've already forgotten) and...my word was it good! It was one of those places where they made hamburgers out of hunks of meat, not prefrozen patties, where the mushrooms and onions (I had an onion mushroom burger) were fresh chopped, and where the onion rings I upgraded to were beer battered and...oh my....incredible. Best onion rings I've had in a long time.
We had a leisurely lunch which allowed us time to chat about all sorts of "getting to know you" things that we rarely have an opportunity to do during the frenzied moments of dealing with doggie issues. I got to ask her more about her "real" job (the one that pays the bills) and heard that she works for a division of the UCD Vet school which does necropsy exams on large animals. Ashley doesn't have hands on experience with those big, dead animals, but that's what they do elsewhere in the building.
I only bring this up because I just loved the story she told of one of the vets who works in a different facility in the state calling Ashley to report that he needed a replacement cell phone because he dropped his inside an elephant on whom he was doing an autopsy. He assured her that he had dug around trying to find the phone and that, in fact, he had retrieved the phone, but that it no longer works.
I don't know about you, but I think that beats the "the dog ate my homework" story all to heck!!!
The other good news tonight is that Walt's brother finally had the ventillator removed and is able to talk. He's on the road back!!!
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