August 7, 2019

White Dog came out to greet Dr. Spohn when she and her tech arrived this afternoon to see Pearl and Opal. WD made a bit of small talk as Zso and Bai stuck their snooters in the travel bags and Steve chased down a suddenly not so sure Pearl.

Pearl has recovered from her bout of the tummy bug but we drew blood just to make sure all was well. Her wellness exam was due so the doctor held our resigned girl and prodded around. She was impressed at Our Girl's overall health, the whiteness of her teeth, and the lack of any bumps or lumps. She was amazed when Pearl allowed Steve to set her on the house scale to be weighed...21.8lbs, perfect! We will have blood results by end of week but Precious Pearly got a thumbs up in health. The vet left a kit of manufactured foods designed for weathering tummy issues and a medicine chest supply of metronazidol just to have on hand.

And then it was Opal's turn. Opal had not been sleeping during Pearl's ordeal so she knew to dash when Steve's gazed turned in her direction. Dr. Spohn and Jodi were entertained by the Darkest White Dogs as Steve raced after Miss Opal, fast and suddenly slick as an otter. He was actually puffing a bit after cornering her by closing the dog door and bedroom to limit the game to around and over the bed.

Opal was not so quietly resigned. She squirmed and wiggled and demanded a secure hold as blood was drawn. Pearly barked to warn her and all of the Army moved unhappily closer. A dental is going to be needed in six months or so; thankfully Opal is a slightly better traveler than Pearl so she will go to see Dr. Julia (we love that our two vets work cooperatively). Opal is heavier but Dr. Spohn allowed for her body structure being stockier than Pearl's. "Their size is deceiving in general with all of that fur," she said.

"A free urine sample analysis comes with the blood panel and is good for six months if you can collect them," the doctor told us. There is nothing in last year's blood numbers that indicate we should be looking for anything specific and if something turns up we have that option. But otherwise if you cannot get one it is fine."

And we were done.

Steve saw them out and paid the bill then went to reopen the dog door. "Too bad we were not paying closer attention regarding samples," he said, "seems nervous Pearl left a puddle in the bedroom."