We will take Natasha over the to veterinary clinic (la clinique vétérinaire) in Noyers-sur-Cher at about 8:30 this morning. It's for her spaying — sa stérilisation. We gave her a bath yesterday. First, I called the clinic and asked whether it would be a good idea to bathe the dog (lui donner un bain), or whether bathing her at the clinic would be part of the preparation for surgery. The answer was: if you think she needs a bath, do it today, because you won't be able to bathe her while she has stitches.
So we did it. (I think Walt got a picture or two, but I didn't. The one above is from a week or more ago.) Natasha liked the bath! I filled a plastic tub with warm water, mixed dog shampoo into the water, picked up the dog, and gently set her down in the mixture. She was calm and collected the whole time. I didn't try to wash her head. All this happened in the utility room shower, so it was easy to rinse her off when the bath was done.
I took these photos off the clinique vétérinaire's web site.
The temperature outside was close to 90ºF (30+ ºC), so all we had to do was take Natasha outside and let her run around for a while to dry off. Then Walt took her out for the late-afternoon walk. To tell you the truth, she smells better now.
The two vets who are partners in the clinic are Dr. Jean-Yves Nourdin and Dr. Caroline Guéguen, in the background.
The veterinarian (le vétérinaire or véto) who is scheduled to perform the surgery is a neighbor of ours, though we really only know him from taking our dogs and cat to see him and his colleagues for the past 14 years. By the way, he's a fairly young man whose sister happens to live in Sebastopol, California. Or did he say Petaluma? Either way, she's near San Francisco, and he visited her there last year.
Both Dave and I love this photo of Tash. Also the ones of her bath which Walt put up. Brought back floods of memories - when they are wet you realise just how much is coat and how little is dog!
ReplyDeleteDoes Tasha like being clean? Zara, our tricolour, who looked so cute and angelic that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, loved to roll in cow pats! The smell was terrible and could clear a room in 5 seconds!
Collette did the same thing once near my place in the desert of California and Walt had to wash her with dishwashing liquid and hose her down to get rid of the foul smell!
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I remember that well. We were about to put Collette in the Jeep and set out on the 5-day trip to coastal Carolina. The smell would have made us sick!
DeleteOn one occasion she did it whilst we were out walking on the hills of Dartmoor and it almost cleared the moor. We couldn't bear to put her in the car, so looked for a mountain stream to wash her. It was a small rill which looked clear enough to drink .... until we put her in it. All the mud washed up from the stream bed and we got in even more of a pickle! Eventually we found a ranger station with a wash basin and cleaned her in that. She hated the basin and wriggled so hard we all got drenched. Happy days!!
DeleteIt's pretty warm here too - over 30ºC - so Inca, the Lab., will be getting her bath outdoors, with a fine spray from the hosepipe ! She is only bathed in the shower over the winter.
ReplyDeleteHope Tasha's op goes well, and she recovers quickly.
How great that Tasha liked the bath! That is such a sweet photo of her :)
ReplyDeleteWe bath our granddaughter in much the same way;-) I like seeing the people who will be taking care of Tasha. I hope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteTasha is back home now. She seems fine, and the sutured incision looks clean and neat. We just have to watch now and make sure she doesn't start trying to pull the stitches out.
DeleteGlad it is all done now. Any procedure is always a worry.
DeleteWe put an old T shirt on our one girl who tried to take her stitches out. It seemed kinder than an Elizabethan collar.
DeleteGlad to hear everything went well!
ReplyDeleteWe did the Tee shirt trick every time our dog had any kind of surgery or thing that he would lick until bloody .. he wore my sons old concert tee shirts .. he was always good for a laugh, that pup.. He loved it when I laughed, so he would stand there in a tee shirt wagging his tail and grinning, while I helplessly giggled.
ReplyDeleteI miss that dog.