Polly Really Does Waddle (a little for now)

I was just saying to someone last week---after Finn’s seizure---that at least his illness was under control with the new medicine and that the days of stress and worry about my kids was over. I should have knocked on wood.

Saturday morning started out wonderfully with me getting to sleep in an hour. Paul got up with the pups and took care of them so I could get some much needed rest. Refreshed, I said good morning to all the kids and gave Finn his morning meds. But something wasn’t quite right. Polly wasn’t trying to push Finn away from the dropper and grab the yummy liquid for herself. She’s a bully and that was odd. Instead she sat a foot away and just looked at me with hurtful eyes. Something was very wrong.

We already had an appointment for Finn at the vet so we took Polly along. I thought it was something easily treatable like a UTI or bladder infection. She was having trouble peeing and since she was the “healthy one” I never suspected anything worse. On the way to the vet, we even spoke about what else we were going to do that day.

After an ultrasound and X-Ray, Dr. Aimee told us that Polly needed surgery right away since she had stones in her bladder and was obstructed. She made the arrangements at the surgery center we would transfer her to (Tampa Bay Veterinary Specialists – not Noah’s). I lost it. Thankfully Paul was there to hold me and comfort both Finn and I as I went into blaming-God mode.

He took Finn home, why stress the little boy out even more, while I waited for all the preliminary tests to be done and we skirted my little girl (who was visibly getting worse) to the surgeon. The surgery went great and they even did a biopsy of the liver since they were in there (since Finn has a hereditary disorder with his liver, the surgeon wanted to check Polly).

The other good news is that Finn is fine. He is on his meds, but no stones or crystals and a very healthy bladder. Polly gets to come home on Monday and she needs to rest, which will be a task with her pesky brother around.

Finn has handled sleeping by himself well and seems to be a bit more playful without the bull around. But he misses her too. Paul and Millie were there for us and in the stressful time of waiting to get the surgery outcome news, Paul and I did some deep-down housekeeping. He even fixed an electrical plug that was left ungrounded in my garage when the shelves were torn out replaced by a half-ass desk (but that fiasco is another story).

We’re all doing well, and the vet gave us a go for vacation with records in tow. I thank God that I have Polly and have always known that I needed her as much as she needed me. Patty and Guy put our bond into words, “If she had stayed with [her previous owner] she would have died since he would never have noticed the subtle signs of her distress. She is lucky to have you.”

I still feel like I am the luckiest one – to have them both!