Friday, May 29, 2009

Tate's Trip to The Western Veterinary Specialists

This morning Tate & I headed out to Calgary to see Dr. Devall again. We had seen her last Sept. when she was working in Edmonton. Tate responded very well to that visit, he went back to his energetic self , & I even took him off his pain medication! Tate has some arthritis & a weakened rear end, I'm not really sure why. Anyway, armed with a map I had no trouble finding my way to the clinic, just a slight over shoot due to construction in front of the building!...I managed to get myself turned around in the right direction, not easy in Calgary with all the one way streets I might add!!....I even made it to my appt. with 5 min. to spare!
Dr. Devall is wonderful & Tate enjoys his visits with her.....I was right when I suspected his pelvis was higher on one side, I know my dog!! Dr. Devall did some pushing & stuff to fix it, do you like my technical explanation!!, his ligament that is attached to the pelvis has tightened do to his injury, ie: Kort flying into him & sending him rolling!...he has been favouring the one side so now it is bigger/thicker/tighter ?, something like that! So we will still have to see Dr. Devall again as it is something that can't be fixed in one visit. Luckily, she will be attending the regional agility trials here in 2 weeks, so I claimed a spot with her ! Tate also had acupuncture & laser therapy on his hip. This will promote healing. I have a ton of exercises & stretches I need to do on him everyday too. We also came home with some Chinese herbs to boost his immune system into gear. I am so thrilled these vets exist, I know this really helps Tate.
So after getting some parting instructions on how to find the McLeod Trail, I headed out. I did find it, however, I somehow managed to get myself heading north instead of south!! Have I mentioned all the one way streets!!! After an hour of circling & sight seeing LOL!, I even got to see China Town, whoo hoo !!!!, not !!, I found my way south.
But wait, the fun was just beginning!, as I was doing my circles, I noticed this funny grinding type noise every time I turned my steering wheel.....I knew this was not good, so as soon as I could I pulled into a garage station & pulled out my handy dandy guide to owning an aerostar. I found out that I could be low on power steering fluid....soooo, I look under the hood to find the power steering thinga ma jiggy, & pull out the dip stick, yes, dip stick!! Ha, it was low, so, into the garage station I go & purchase some power steering fluid, I maneuver my arm into the burning hot engine & fill it up. Gosh, I felt sooo butch!!! Works like a charm now, no more grinding noise! As Wendy would say, " I am woman, hear me roar" !!!
It's been a long day!, but a great day!, I'm tired, can you tell??
Ok, I'll leave you with pictures of Tate this morning as we were about to leave. He looked happier on the way home! My intention was to take pictures in the clinic but I forgot to bring the camera in, oh well!

8 comments:

Sharrie said...

Glad to hear that he has found a super vet. Wish you had taken the "after" pictures so I could see how happy he looked going home. Nice work on the car repair!!!

Bobbi said...

Lol, your too funny!

manymuddypaws said...

jo you are awesome. I can't believe you went north instead of south....oh wait...I can...

that's very cool that you repaired your van yourself. you are such a "know how" kinda girl.

see you tomorrow!!!

Donna Brinkworth said...

I am going to look into this for River - thanks! And thanks for the warning about wrong turns! I went to IKEA two weekends ago and took a wrong turn - with my DAD in the passenger seat (not fun haha!)I just read about Dong Quai being good for older female dogs (and people - maybe we will share)...
Donna and the gang

onecollie said...

Tate got some Yi Yi Ren Tang !!!

Dianne SS said...

What an adventure for you and Tate! Love reading your srories. Seems like you and I have a similar sense of diection. I rarely get to a new place in one direct try! Anyway, sounds lilke a good program for Tate.

Paws on the Run said...

I'm very impressed about the vehicle repair. :)

Squishy said...

You ARE one butch, spine fixing, road navigating woman!!! Thank God Tate has you as a mom!!
Next time remember the camera!!! Gosh!!!!
I think pictures of cars coming in the wrong direction would be interesting also!