Onyx Update

Wake up. Let Onyx out to go "poddy". Take a shower. Get dressed. And suddenly it's time to leave. But I'm hungry. In true Rachelle fashion, I slept till the last possible minute giving myself only enough time to take a shower and get ready. I quickly scoured the fridge to find just enough pre-made smoothie to fill my blue plastic glass. Surely it would be just the thing to quiet my growling stomach as I drove Onyx to the pet clinic for a bandage check and x-ray.

The plan was to get everything I needed - my purse, my keys, the mail, and the smoothie - into the car, then come back into the house to get Onyx and put her in the car. It was the first time that Ben & I weren't both taking her to the clinic and I knew our ride there would be interesting since she doesn't sit still and there was no one to hold her down.

I lift Onyx into the front seat and her nose immediately finds my smoothie sitting in the center cup holder. A couple of tongue laps later, there was red smoothie dripping from her face onto my gray seats. I run for paper towel to clean up the mess. I throw Onyx's leash up and over her body to get it out of the way of the door I'm about to close and go figure... it lands in my smoothie cup that I'm yet to have a drink of. As I'm cleaning up the mess, many thoughts cross my mind. I hadn't even backed out of the garage yet, what else is going to happen!

As we approached the on ramp to the interstate, I could see that traffic was backed up and moving very slowly. A short cut - there's gotta be one. I navigated my way through previously uncharted side streets and we made it to the clinic on time, but not without Onyx sliding off the front seat and hitting her head on the glove box when I had to step hard on the brakes once.

I pull in the parking lot, shut off the car and get out. As soon as I get out of my seat, Onyx decides she will take my spot (instead of waiting for me to come to the other side of the car to let her out)and in the process has her foot hovering over my smoothie still sitting in the cup holder. Thankfully she managed to step over it and not in it. That would have been one heck of a mess.

After getting her harness and leash hooked up, we make our way to the door and I could tell Onyx remembered this place. She became very tentative and almost tip-toed into the building. After 30 seconds inside, she decided that she should pee a huge puddle right in the entry way. Lovely. I know this kind of stuff happens, but it's still embarrassing. After all, we were just outside. We had to get a mop to clean it up!

When it was Onyx's turn to see the surgeon, he took her leash from me and brought her into the back to do some x-rays. I had two minutes to take a breath - too bad my smoothie was sitting in the car (not that I necessarily wanted it after Onyx had some). From the lobby, I could her whimpering & barking. I laughed to myself -even when she's not right next to me, I know where she is by her sound. It's amazing how you know which dog is yours by the noises that they make.

A few moments later, the surgeon came out to tell me that Onyx's x-rays showed that her bone is starting to heal and that the plate and screws they installed have not moved any. She no longer has to wear a splint. All good things. We still have to keep her quiet for another month though, which means no jumping, running, or playing and no walks. We have to continue to keep her on a leash to go poddy. As we were walking back to the car, Onyx gave me a look almost to say "Look at me, I'm a free woman. No more bandages on my leg." She was a happy girl.

Our ride home was much more calm and Onyx has been sleeping since we've walked in the door! It was a rough day - getting yelled at for stealing smoothies, hitting her head on the glove box, and being held down by vets to take x-rays!