Coated With Fur: A Blind Cat's Love

by Kristen Nelson

  “Great,” Nate replied. “We followed your directions, and everything went well. I’m so glad we came in for the X-ray,” Nate remarked.

  “Yeah, knowing she was done after the seventh pup made the whole thing less stressful,” Phyllis added.

  After Kim disinfected the table again, I motioned for Nate to put the basket there. Kim took out the first puppy, a big male, and placed him on the baby scale. Willy stood on her back legs, front legs on the table to see what we were doing with her pups. I used a treat to get her to sit down. Allie held the pup while I checked his mouth, listened to his heart and felt his abdomen. When we finished, she let Willy sniff him before returning him to the basket. Each puppy wore a different color collar, making it easy to tell them apart.

  “Are you weighing them at home?” I asked.

  Phyllis nodded. “Every day, just like you told us to. They’ve been gaining two to three ounces a day.”

  “That’s perfect,” I replied as I worked on a small female wearing an orange collar. The pup squeaked loudly when I placed my stethoscope on her tiny chest. Willy put her paws on the table to see what we were doing to her pup. Kim let her sniff her baby before she put it back in the basket. Willy tried to grab the pup out of her hands. An excellent mother, she did this with every pup.

  “OK, Miss Willy,” I said after finishing with the last pup. “It’s your turn.” Willy dropped her ears and tried to hide behind Nate.

  “I’m not going to save you,” he said, pushing her toward me. I started with her head and worked my way to her rear end, paying close attention to her mammary glands. Each felt soft with no signs of damage. With minimal pressure, crystal white milk dripped from each gland. Kim fed her more treats while I checked her vagina. The mucosa looked great, no tears or inflammation. There was a small amount of blood-tinged fluid on the floor, which is normal for several days after whelping.

  “What’s the verdict, Doc?” Nate asked.

  “Willy and her pups look great. But you two look a little tired,” I replied.

  Phyllis and Nate looked at each other and laughed.

  “Still recovering,” Nate answered. “Her temperature dropped on Monday morning, and she started having contractions later that night. The first pup was born at 1 a.m. Tuesday. She delivered the last one at 5.” Nate rubbed his eyes. “These puppies are a lot of work.”

  “Just think how Willy feels,” I reminded him.

  “When do they need to come back again?” Phyllis asked.

  “At six weeks for their first vaccination and fecal examination. Then again at eight, 12 and 16 weeks. Allie will fill out a health booklet for each pup; you can give it to the new owners.”

  “Great,” Nate replied. “Thanks, Dr. Nelson; see you in six weeks.” Phyllis clipped a leash onto Willy’s collar.

  I opened the door into the lobby for the family to pass. Right outside the door, a large dog sat in front of a woman. I instantly recognized Lilah, the friendly German shepherd waiting with Kay Beaumont. Lilah swept her tail back and forth on the floor when she saw me. Willy took one step into the lobby and froze when she saw another dog. The hair stood up on her back as she stared at Lilah.

  “Oops, let’s wait until the lobby is clear,” I said. I slowly closed the door, pushing Willy back into the room. “Please wait here until I come to get you.” I disappeared out the back door into the pharmacy/lab room with Kim.

  “Would you mind putting Lilah in an exam room?” I asked Allie while removing my surgical gown. I quickly donned my lab coat with “Dr. Nelson” embroidered on the pocket. With our thermostat set at 68 degrees, I needed an extra layer to stay warm. Allie entered the dog room through the back door. I heard her spray the table and wipe it down before calling Lilah into the room.

  “OK, the lobby is empty,” I said, poking my head inside the cat room. This time, Willy left quietly.

  I pulled Lilah’s chart out of the plastic wall holder, wondering why she was here. On the blank line on top of the physical exam form Allie had written “X-ray for pups.” I stared at the words in disbelief. Lilah couldn’t possibly be pregnant, could she? The picture of her rear end dripping with pus entered my mind.

  “Good morning, Kay,” I said as I entered the room. Lilah rushed to meet me, her lips pulled back in a doggy grin. “And good morning to you, too, Sweetie,” I said to Lilah. “So you’re here for X-rays,” I said to Kay.

  She nodded. “We need to know how many pups she’s gonna have, Doc. We’ve got a lot of people on the waiting list for her pups.”

  “With her good looks and sweet personality, I can see why.” I noticed that Lilah looked a little thicker through her middle. I kneeled by her side for the physical examination. I looked into her eyes with an ophthalmoscope, feeling her warm breath on my face. I scanned her left eye first, admiring the beautiful colors in her retina, then switched to her right. While I was looking at her optic disc, Lilah took advantage of the situation. She licked me right across the lips.

  “Eww,” I exclaimed, wiping my mouth with a tissue. Lilah wagged her tail, her eyes glimmering.

  “She loves to give kisses,” Kay informed me.

  “Yes, she certainly does.” I continued the physical examination by listening to her chest, then feeling her abdomen. Her mammary glands looked a little bigger since the last time I saw her. I placed my hands on her abdomen, feeling the organs slip between my fingers. Lilah had gained a lot of weight. The extra layer of adipose under her skin made it more difficult to find her organs. I closed my eyes to concentrate on what I felt. Her spleen rested more toward the ribs, and her bladder felt squished closer to her pelvis by a large fluid-filled structure in the center of her abdomen. I let my hands fall away in disbelief.

  “The last time I saw you two, Lilah had a pretty bad infection. What happened?” I asked. “I called several times to check on Lilah, but you never returned my call. And you never came back for more tests.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” Kay said. “After a week of antibiotics, she stopped dripping completely, so I didn’t want to bother you.”

  “But I only gave you enough for one day,” I remembered. “How did you have enough for a week?”

  Kay looked at the floor for a second. “Once we knew how much to give her, we got some more from the breeder. Since it was expired, he gave it to us for free.” She smiled at me.

  I stared back at her blankly.

  “Just for future reference, I don’t recommend using expired medicine on humans or animals,” I stated.

  “Can you take the X-ray now?” Kay asked, changing the subject. “I’m dying to know how many pups are inside of her.”

  “How far along is she?” I asked.

  “It’s been about a month-and-a-half since breeding her.”

  “OK.” I slipped a bright blue leash over Lilah’s head. “It will take about 15 minutes.”

  Outside the door, Kim and Allie waited for us to appear. Allie took Lilah’s leash from me without saying a word and headed to radiology with Kim trailing. Exactly 15 minutes later, two large films hung on the X-ray viewer. To my amazement, Lilah’s abdomen was full of small skeletons. I pulled a green Sharpie out of my pocket.

  “Are you ready to count puppies?” I asked Kay.

  She nodded enthusiastically.

  I uncapped the pen and wrote “1” over the first skull I saw resting low in Lilah’s abdomen. I traced the skeleton with my finger looking for signs of fetal death, including pockets of gas or collapsing bones. When I didn’t find any, I circled the “1” before moving onto the next skull. I wrote “2” over it, examined the skeleton and circled it. Slowly and methodically, I moved from the right to the left, leaving the circled numbers “3,” “4” and “5” on the film. With each number, Kay’s eyes grew larger. When I wrote “6,” her respirations increased. Her excitement continued to build until I capped the pen after circling “7” on the film.

  “Seven pups,” I announced. “Congratulations!” Kay beamed, her hand resting on
Lilah’s head.

  “The breeder will be disappointed; he was expecting 10,” she said. “But I’m thrilled with seven. It means she’ll be mine soon.” I handed Kay a sheet of paper titled “Whelping Instructions.”

  “These are a list of instructions detailing how to care for Lilah in her final weeks of pregnancy, what to expect when she whelps and how to take care of the pups,” I explained. I pointed at the back of the sheet. “Most importantly, this part tells you when to call me because of a problem. I want to highlight a couple of items.” I pointed at No. 1. “If she hasn’t started active labor within 24 hours of her temperature dropping, call me.”

  Kay nodded.

  I pointed at No. 2. “If she has been in stage one labor for eight hours without progressing to stage two, call me.” I pointed at No. 3. “And if she has been straining for 20 minutes to deliver a pup, call me.”

  “Don’t worry, Dr. Nelson. I’ll call you right away.”

  “And lastly.” I paused to get her attention. “Back off on her food. Lilah is overweight, which will make the whelping more difficult. What are you feeding her?”

  “Puppy food, just like you told us to,” Kay said. “And calcium supplements.”

  “I didn’t tell you to do that. I don’t recommend puppy food until the last two weeks of pregnancy,” I replied. “And you must be very careful with calcium. Too much can create just as many problems as too little.”

  “Oh, it must have been the breeder,” Kay said.

  I stared into her eyes with a frown.

  “But don’t worry, Dr. Nelson; I’ll take great care of my baby.”

  Too bad I didn’t believe her!

  Chapter 26

  Butch Returns

  “Where are you going?” Allie asked when I appeared in the lobby wearing my winter coat. I bought the black wool jacket with red lining when I lived in New York. Everyone seemed to wear nothing but black in the city. I attracted too much attention in my green nylon coat. I bought it without thinking about the white pants The Animal Medical Center required all veterinarians to wear. In my own clinic, I never wore white pants again because I was so sick of them. They looked dirty all the time.

  “I need a Diet Coke,” I replied. “Do you want anything from Burger King?”

  “No thanks,” Allie answered.

  I zipped up the jacket but left the hood down. February in Minnesota is always an adventure. Most days are cold and gray with artic winds blowing down from Canada. But toward the end of the month, a day above freezing reminds Minnesotans that winter won’t last forever. The lengthening daylight is the first sign of better weather to come.

  I walked along the strip mall, breathing in the crisp air. After months trapped inside, I relished the chance to be outdoors. I crossed the Highway 13 frontage road and headed straight for the front door, surprised by the number of cars in the Burger King parking lot. Inside, high school students filled most of the booths. I walked up to the counter to place my order.

  “Good afternoon, Dr. Nelson,” Becky Neiquist greeted me. “Would you like a Diet Coke?”

  “Yes, please, I need some caffeine.”

  “Greg said he saw your car at the clinic when he came in this morning,” she replied. “You were here awfully early.”

  “Yes, a dog was seizuring.”

  “Is he OK?” she asked as she filled a cup at the soda dispenser.

  “Yes, I gave him an injection, and the seizures stopped right away,” I assured her.

  Diet Coke in hand, I headed back to the clinic. I spotted a huge, black pickup truck with the frame elevated off the wheels parked in front of the clinic. Inside, Butch, the Great Dane, sat bolt upright in Dan’s man toy. He looked like a human towering over his owner. Around his neck hung — a black leather collar embedded with silver studs. Dan attached a leash to the collar and patted his buddy on the head. Butch scanned the parking lot, turning his head back and forth. When he saw me, he barked once to alert Dan.

  “Hey, Doc,” Dan said as he exited the vehicle. The truck tilted slightly to the side when Butch jumped down from the driver’s side. “What do you think of my new truck?”

  “It’s a beast,” I replied, remembering the name of a monster truck I saw when I was channel surfing.

  Dan smiled as he ran his hand over the front bumper, which was almost even with his head.

  “I got it last week. My old lady doesn’t like it, but who cares? A man needs a real truck.”

  I held the front door open for him without acknowledging his comment. When Butch entered the clinic, a hush fell over the waiting room. A woman sitting under the cat breed poster picked up her Maltese and cradled it in her lap. She turned her body away from the massive dog.

  A golden retriever standing at the front counter started to bark.

  “Knock it off, Trooper,” his owner ordered with his back toward Butch. Trooper stopped barking but continued to whine. The man dropped his checkbook on the counter and turned toward his dog. “What is wrong with you?” He spied Butch out of the corner of his eye and snapped to attention. His eyes widened in disbelief. “Whoa, that’s one big dog.”

  Dan smiled and took a seat at the far end of the waiting room.

  “Hi, Dan, I’ll be with you in just a minute,” Allie said from behind the counter.

  “What kind of dog is that?” the man asked.

  “That’s Butch. He’s a Great Dane,” Allie explained. “Dan, would you mind weighing Butch for me?”

  “Yeah, I’d like to know how much he weighs,” the man at the counter chimed in.

  Dan stood up and walked Butch over to the floor scale. Butch placed his front paws on the scale, then slid backward toward the door. Dan gave Butch a stern look and motioned for him to get on the scale again. Butch looked up at Dan. A long rope of saliva hung from his chin. After a 10 second stare-down, he stepped onto the scale.

  “One hundred forty-four pounds,” Dan announced. He patted Butch’s head before returning to his seat.

  “Whew, I’m glad I don’t have to pay his food bill,” the man said under his breath.

  Allie nodded.

  “And I thought you were expensive, Trooper.” The golden retriever perked up his ears upon hearing his name. Allie handed the man a receipt over the counter. Trooper nuzzled his hand with his nose, then walked toward the door. “I guess we’re leaving. Thanks for everything!”

  Allie smiled as she watched Trooper drag the man to their car.

  “Okay, Butch, let’s get you into a room.” Allie opened the door to the dog room with Dan and Butch close behind. She placed Butch’s chart on the center of the table and retrieved a thermometer and a tube of lube from the table. Dan took his place on a chair. Butch sat with his back pressed up against his leg. He watched Allie close the door with great interest.

  “Butch, I need to take your temperature. Then Dr. Nelson will be in to see you.” Dan pulled Butch to his feet and spun him around with his rear end facing Allie. When she grabbed his tail, Butch growled.

  “Knock it off” Allie growled back. She grabbed his tail again. Butch looked at Dan and tried to sit down.

  “Sorry, bud, you have to do this.” Dan put his hand under Butch’s abdomen. “Okay, try it again.”

  Allie grabbed his tail for third time and inserted the thermometer. She kept a close eye on Butch as she continued to hold his tail with one hand and the thermometer with her other.

  “Beep, beep.” Allie removed the thermometer. “100.0, that’s normal.” She cleaned the end with alcohol, replaced it in the drawer and wrote the result in the chart. “Dr. Nelson will be in to see you shortly.”

  Dan nodded in response. Butch shook his head, sending ropes of saliva flying in all directions. Allie cringed, knowing the entire room would need to be cleaned after Butch.

  I emerged from the cat exam room at the same time Allie finished with Butch. A silky Ragdoll cat rested in my arms. “Allie, I need some help trimming Roxie’s nails. She wouldn’t hold still for her owner.”
I held up a pair of nail trimmers. “Do you want to clip or hold?”

  “I’ll hold.” Allie extended her arms toward Roxie. The cat hid her face under my chin. “Oh, come on, Roxie. You know me.” Allie laughed at Roxie’s sudden attack of shyness. Normally, this cat was an outgoing, life-of-the-party type of girl. She took the reluctant patient from me. Allie placed one arm around Roxie’s neck, supporting her body with the other. I grabbed a back foot and began to trim.

  “You’re next patient is Butch, the Great Dane,” Allie informed me. Bits of nails flew through the air.

  “Yeah, I saw them in the parking lot.”

  “He growled when I tried to take his temperature.”

  I stopped trimming and looked into Allie’s green eyes. She had her contacts in, making the color really stand out. “With the owner’s help, I was able to get it, but I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.”

  “What’s he in for?”

  “He needs vaccinations and a heartworm test.”

  “Bummer, I was hoping we wouldn’t have to draw blood.” I kept trimming. Roxie was a star patient in Allie’s grip. I trimmed all her nails in record time without hitting one quick.

  “He’s grown a lot since the last time he was here,” Allie continued. She let Roxie’s head go. “I’ll put a muzzle on the door knob. Just in case you need it.”

  Once in the room with Butch, the first part of the visit was routine. I asked Dan a series of questions designed to identify any problem areas. Butch had been healthy during the last year. No problems accept for occasional diarrhea after Butch raided the garbage can.

  “And how about obedience?” I looked up from the medical record, waiting for the answer.

  Dan ignored my question. He uncrossed his legs and petted Butch’s head.

  “Did you take Butch to obedience classes?” I asked again.

  “Butch don’t need that, Doc. He listens to me just fine.”

  “What about your wife and son? Does he listen to them?”

  Dan continued to stroke Butch’s head, ignoring my question. He refused to make eye contact with me.