"Suja" wrote in
:


"Mary Healey" wrote in message:

Then again, what's the likelihood
of my vet being able to diagnose a vague "Ain't Doin' Right" when
I've got nothing more than an impression to go on?

Mine have always taken my vague observations like that seriously, and
usually been able to figure out what is going on.

That's three votes for "hie thee to the vet" (diddy, Suja, Tara). I've
been sitting here, talking myself out of a visit to Dr. Donna, so it's
helpful to hear that I'm not just being an over-reactive "mommy".

Trust the gut instincts. Check. If he's not back to obnoxious by
tomorrow, we're going to go a-visiting.

I've had friends
give me grief about taking my dogs in when they see just fine, and
then be astounded that there was in fact, something wrong with the
dog. Then again, I don't understand just how it is that raging UTIs,
staph infections, joint problems, etc. can go unnoticed until someone
who doesn't live with the dog points it out.

Heh. One time, Regis-the-horse was just not *quite* right. Well, gait
irregularities weren't unknown to him, but this was more irregular than
his usual "how the hell does he move like that?" ambulations. I looked
him over, didn't see anything. My horse vet looked him over, didn't see
anything. We stood next to him, chatting, trying to brainstorm what
might be the problem. She put a hand on his stifle to look under him
(thinking that his slight off-ness might be a plumbing problem), and
just happened to put her hand on a seroma (probably from a kick) the
size of Texas that conformed exactly to the contour of his stifle joint
and was, therefore, really hard to spot. Once she felt it and pointed
it out to me, it was HUGE and OBVIOUS and how he managed to walk without
limping like an arthritic old man first thing in the morning is one of
the mysteries of the universe.

Sometimes the glaringly obvious gets overlooked when you're too close to
it.