05.06.21 My Buddy’s Story, by Grannie Rosie

Ya’ll know that we adopted Buddy who was a rescue poodle at the Tangipahoa Parish Animal Shelter. We adopted him back in December. We’ve been taking him to the veterinarian in Amite that the Shelter recommended. There he was treated for an infected eye when we first got him, was neutered, tested for heartworms (was negative), got his rabbis shot, and had his teeth cleaned and three teeth pulled.

The Animal Shelter said he was 6 years old which we accepted. We’ve never known how much he weighs.

Since we adopted Buddy he’s had a cough that he does a few times a day. It sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball but he never actually coughs up anything.

He also has a piece of black skin at the corner of his eye that sticks out. That eye also oozes a tiny bit.

I didn’t particularly like the original veterinarian as they never told me much and I couldn’t go inside because of Covid and couldn’t check out the place. Since Buddy needed to be seen because of the cough I found a different Veterinary Clinic in Amite and made an appointment.

The new one is Kent Veterinary Clinic on Factory Street in Amite.

I was able to go into the waiting room but not in the back with Buddy.  The Vet in Hammond that we use to bring our lab Nacho to always allowed us back to be with her for whatever they were doing.  Maybe now Covid has everybody changing things but I did appreciate being able today to sit in the air-conditioned waiting room.

From the minute we arrived, they were attentive, polite, and informative. Yay for finding a great Vet that let me go inside! Going inside is not as big a deal as was how they were with Buddy and what I learned.

Buddy is not 6 years old, he is between 8 and 10 years old. That immediately made me sad because our time with him won’t be as long. But we will just love him a little extra each day we have him.

A few recent photos of Buddy just cause he’s so cute!

He weighs 8.5 pounds which we never knew. Having dementia robs me from thinking of things I need to ask a doctor and I’ve never asked about his weight and wasn’t told his weight.

The doctor, Dr. Drew Doucet, sat with me and explained several things.  He said Buddy’s life before us was a hard one. The skin sticking out of his eye is from him being clawed by another animal and it not healing properly. He said his other eye was clawed but it healed okay. Buddy’s cough came from being around other dogs that have that cough.  He said they have treated six dogs that came from the Animal Shelter with that same cough. Buddy is now on steroids for the cough and had an antibiotic shot for his eyes. I have the steroids and will be giving him one each morning until they run out. I’ll bring him back to the Veterinary Clinic in two weeks for a recheck.

The disturbing part of the visit today came when the Veterinarian said Buddy’s teeth were in bad shape and needed cleaning. I told him the original veterinarian cleaned Buddy’s teeth and pulled three of them. He told me no they did not clean his teeth even though they told me they did and charged me for it.  Buddy needs one more tooth pulled.  Dr. Doucet doesn’t want to clean Buddy’s teeth until the cough is completely gone and the eyes are all cleared up.  He will clip the little skin piece off Buddy’s eye when they put him under to clean his teeth.

I can’t tell you how let down I felt to hear we were taken advantage of by the original Veterinarian. I am happy that we now know way more about Buddy than we did before.

Precious Buddy has helped me so very much while I’ve been grieving the loss of my honey Roy.  Roy didn’t want another dog but I’m pretty sure he would love Buddy just like we do. Buddy snuggles right up to my legs at night when we are going to sleep. He follows both Chip and I everywhere we go. We can tell how much he loves us and that he is so thankful for the good life he has now.

Well, that’s it for the Buddy health update. I am thankful for the folks at Kent Veterinary Clinic and believe we’ve found the right doctor and staff for our sweet one.

First thing tomorrow I’ll be contacting the original clinic to have Buddy’s records sent to the new clinic where he will be loved and well taken care of.

Now if we could just do something about how stinky his farts are, we’d be set!

It’s almost the weekend so ya’ll have a Blessed one! Rosalyn