When it rains it pours, I am going to be running a rehab facility here it seems. My heart worm infected dog is leaving for a few days for a second round of adulticide, and I am getting a sweet older boy who was found wandering with bilateral CCL ruptures. They have now been repaired and he’s coming here to recover.

His arrival means three dogs (two fosters and one of my own) recovering from surgery here, oy!

And of course, this brings up another BIG reason why mandatory spay/neuter is so evil - although they are frequently done they are not “routine” - these ARE major, potentially dangerous and very painful surgeries (although castration is a lot less invasive than an ovariohysterectomy, I doubt you will agree that it’s a very painful procedure) and no one should ever be forced to have them done on a pet against the owner’s better judgment.

And I’m glad you talked about price shopping. Having a good relationship with a vet you trust will not only result in better care, but will usually save you money in the long run.

I usually play tiny violins when SAR handlers from different parts of the country whine about their particular inimical flora. I’ll see your kudzu and raise you a stripmine solid with multiflora rose, beyotch!

But the handlers in the CARDA training groups we played with have my everlasting respect for coping with murderous foxtails and the mutant poison oak that hangs out at face level everywhere.

One of my boys had exploratory surgery on Monday. Turns out everything is OK, but boy oh boy is he sore. :(

As for nasssty foxtails, about ten years back I had an 18 month old bulldog apparently ingest one. The thinking is, it got stuck up between her gums and cheek and went right into those nice soft mucus membranes.

At first we thought it was a blocked salivary gland, which was drained and that’s when my vet found part of the foxtail. All looked OK, we hoped that that was all there was.

Poor Ursula ended up knocked out 4 times over a 3 month period. The last time, I returned to pick her up to a gleeful vet who had opened up her latest “hot zone” and reached in blind past assorted vital structures to pull out, by luck, most of a foxtail. I still have it in a jar somewhere.

Years later, I awoke to find her looking like a hamster with one cheek pouch full, apparently “most” of a foxtail is not always enough. The spot was drained again, no sign of the foxtail bits. It happened again perhaps six months later, again no sign of the offender but it did not recur again. My vet still gets a peculiar look on his face if I mention Ursula’s foxtail.

Griffith is scheduled to go under the knife himself next week. But as you point out, a neuter is a far less invasive affair.

I’m really hopeful that a safe chemical sterilant is not too far off in the future. It seems archaic to have to surgically remove organs to prevent reproduction.