Vet time!

Tommy had his annual vet trip tonight. He has only been to ‘my’ vets once before, and as no harm had been caused, I thought this trip would be easy. But he was so worried, bless him! He was quite happy in the waiting room watching the world go by but that certainly changed after I had to drag him into the consulting room! He wasn’t having any of it…

When we eventually 'coaxed' him in, the vet and I thought a sniff round and weigh might settle him. Tommy now weights 9.35kg! That's a 1.5kg or 20% increase, but the vet said he doesn’t look fat, his ribs are nicely defined and his spine is covered, so that’s ok. It’s probably down to more body mass. We then got him on the table where the vet listened to his chest and checked to make sure Tommy’s chip was still readable, which it was. Tommy had his standard boosters and kennel cough up the nose. All without problem but he took some persuading to eat his treat!

Mr Gilmore, in my opinion, is an excellent vet. He stands away from the table and never looks the dogs in the eye unless he has to. When he examines the dog he seems to choose his moments, and is quick, but gentle. What needs to be done is done very quickly and without undue stress. We talked about pet insurance, as I’m still unsure as to what breed of dog I should class Tommy as – JRT, JRTx or general mixed breed. Mr Gilmore said that he would be happy to sign off documentation stating JRTx. He then went onto say that JRT are very healthy, sturdy breeds and don’t seem to have any inherent problems that a lot of pure breeds do. I didn’t have the heart to say I wanted it more for the public liability! He also cracked a joke saying he’s a fine dog, looks very healthy but could do with some plastic surgery on his ear! I am happy to pay more for his services.