Monday, May 16, 2011

The Vet

In another life I am not a business litigator...I am a well-visit vet. My job consists of providing intensive tummy-rubbing therapy for my patients...no shots, no bad news and lots of money! Now that I've exhibited my vivid imagination, let me say that I have the utmost respect for vets, specifically our vets at North Greenville Animal Hospital. Since moving to Greenville nearly 8 years ago, I've taken my dogs to Dr. Malphrus...later joined by Dr. Welch. Unlike my choice of dentist, coffee shop and hairdresser, I have never waivered on my vet decision. I happily pay the light bill there because they treat ME, in addition to my furry babies. I like to think that I "bother" my vets less now that I'm a more experienced pet lover, but I can assure you there used to be some excessive eye-rolling when my name appeared on caller ID at the vet's office. Maggie was my first and only for almost 10 years and I admittedly obsessed over every sneeze, every scratch...and god forbid, vomit!! I didn't understand why my vet at the time didn't have a pager, was never on-call and adamently refused to give me his home number. On a side note, all potential pediatritions of the future Hammond children should take heed.

So, Willy saw Dr. Welch yesterday for his first check up. I was such a proud momma...there was no tail-tucking (Lucy), no peeing on the lobby floor (Edi) and no attempts at world domination (Sadie)! Willy greeted the receptionist with a wag as I soaked up the compliments about how sweet and adorable he is. Before long we were in the exam room and things were underway. As I chatted with Dr. Welch about Willy's heart condition, one of the techs attempted to take Willy temperature. I was not prepared for the sound that emanated from my 16 pound angel. You would've thought Willy was auditioning for the staring roll in an after-school special about thermometer rape and its consequences on society. Bravo little fellow...bravo! With Willy's feelings on the matter of medical penetration abundantly clear, my new mission is to find alternative ways for vets to obtain accurate temperature readings. I'm thinking of creating an email account for suggestions of the same...savewillysfanny@gmail.com has a nice ring to it!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Willy's Woes

Adoption Day
Willy is the newest member of the Hammond Pack and the primary reason I've decided to start a blog. Some of you already know Willy's story through the Greenville Humane Society (an organization of heros fighting everyday to save animals) and you've opened your hearts and wallets to him. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and I want this blog to be a place for you to go and see your contributions hard at work.

For those of you who don't know the story, Willy is a 3 1/2 month old puppy with a congenital heart defect known as pulmonic stenosis. Without corrective surgery, Willy would likely not see his second birthday. Thank goodness we can do something to prevent such a tragedy! In the coming weeks, we will travel to NC State University so that Willy can get the treatment he needs to live a long and happy life of tormenting his 3 older sisters and eating shoes (of which he has already shown to have very expensive taste).


By way of background, my husband and I have currently have 4 dogs, including Willy. Maggie, who deserves her own blog altogether, passed away on March 21, 2011 at the age of 14. People think we're crazy for having 4 inside dogs and wonder how we do it. All I can say is that after we lost Maggie and came home to only 3, our house has never felt so empty and quiet. Four is our magic number...we can handle no more and no less. After Maggie's death, Jonathan and I got back involved with the foster program at the Greenville Humane Society. We fostered Willy and nursed him through kennel cough and it wasn't long before he chose us as his forever home. All things happen for a reason and timing is everything...if we hadn't lost Maggie when we did, our path would not have crossed with Willy's. We will continue to miss Maggie everyday but we're excited and honored to start this new chapter! 
Maggie