Rosie napping after a visit to the vet
2019 Lif Strand photo
Just a quick report on Rosie’s veterinary visit today.
She was such a good girl! She had to be helped up and down stairs — she seems to not have had to deal with them before in her life — but did not squirm or object to being lifted. She spent a lot of time giving me, the vet, and his assistant kisses, and cooperated so nicely that Rosie earned a treat for her efforts.
Dr. Duncan said that most of her scabs are from fly irritation, and as he poked at them some scabs fell off so they are about healed. The lump under her chin is a scar from an abscess, now healed, probably several months old. She has several other old scars. None of them appear to be from fighting. What I thought was a hot spot on her foot is also an older scar, but she has been licking it and irritating it. I’ve got to watch that so she doesn’t make it worse.
She got vaccinations including rabies. Her heartworm test (done right there at Dr. Duncan’s mobile clinic) was negative (yay!). He gave her a dewormer for regular worms, too.
Dr. Duncan looked at her teeth and said they’re in good shape other than a little tartar. There’s some wearing of the incisors indicating she’s around 5 years old. He could find no evidence of Rosie’s having been spayed, and in fact it looks like she’s coming into or going out of heat right now. He thought she’s had at least one litter, possibly more. I got the number of SNAP in Silver City, a place that helps out with the cost of spaying, so I’m going to give them a call.
As for what she is, breed-wise: No guarantees, but she is more like an American Staffordshire Terrier than an American pit bull. She’s more delicately built than a pit bull, with a less broad head and jaw. Which is not to say that she couldn’t be pure pit bull, or a pit bull cross. But I’m going to tell people she’s a Staffie and avoid the stigma attached to pit bull.
Rosie is sacked out now after such a stimulating day. She deserves the rest, and when she wakes up there’s another yummy treat waiting for her.
[Edited to add info about SNAP: They help low income people with spay and neutering, but the dog has to be brought to Silver City. The participating vets there do surgery before they open in the a.m. so that would mean a 3 1/2 hour drive one way plus an overnight. The cost for that would equal the savings in the cost of spay. So much for that!]
