Vet visit

Yesterday I took Marvin to the vet for a wellness visit.

In theory I suppose you're supposed to take your pets for annual check-ups, but I'm not so sure I agree with this especially when you have a young pet that doesn't need to be 'monitored' like an older pet.  But we've had Marvin for 20 months now, and aside from his initial visit back then, he hasn't been back.

Marvin rides in his carrier in the car very well, so there was no anxiety there.  When we entered the waiting room there were no other pets waiting (although some were in the examining rooms), so Marvin could walk around, sniff, explore, and discover.  I can only imagine what he must have been thinking since there were so many doggy smells there, yet he couldn't see any other dogs.

The vet took a small blood sample to run tests (all negative, thank goodness) and gave him shots for rabies and distemper
.  She explained that Marvin will likely be lethargic later on, and that his leg may be sore from the injections, and to let her know if it persisted the next day.

(As an aside, while I was paying at the reception desk, a woman came to the desk and said to a clerk "Can you send someone outside to help?  An older woman fell and is injured."  A woman waiting in the reception area overheard this and said "I'm a nurse - I'll take a look at her."  As Marvin and I were leaving we saw the woman lying on the sidewalk in front of the entrance, blood on her face, the sidewalk and the parking lot, and several people attending to her with towels, tissues, and a blanket.  I heard one of them say "We've called 911 and an ambulance is on its way.")

When we got home Marvin appeared overjoyed at being back in his familiar surroundings and almost bounced around the house as he found toys to bite and shake and play with.  After doing chores for about an hour, I put Marvin in his crate before leaving the house for a few hours.

When I got home from my errands, Marvin seemed like a different dog.  His ears were pulled back and he seemed to have no energy or enthusiasm at all.  He came out of his crate and just stood there looking at me.  I wasn't alarmed, as I recalled the vet's information.  As is our normal routine, I called Marvin to go outside and "go pee pee and poop", but he just stood there.  I ended up having to pick him up and carry him outside - he didn't want to walk.  When he did walk, he had a bit of a limp.  Poor little guy's leg must have really hurt.

The rest of the night Marvin was very sedate and not at all like himself.  Fortunately this morning he seemed a little more like himself.  I called the vet's office and they suggested we "keep an eye on him", which is rather difficult to do since we both work.  But when I got home from work Marvin was almost back to normal.