As I mentioned yesterday, I had to take Ayla to the vet because her vaccinations were due. Since our other vet is about about 45 minutes from here and it’s been pretty hot out, I didn’t want to subject Ayla to too much travel.
Going to a new vet is a bit of a nerve racking experience for me. Although my German is quite good I still never really know what to expect. I ended up somewhat randomly choosing a vet that is near to us. The vet which was recommended by a friend wasn’t open this morning and no one would be there until 5pm. So I called a couple of other places which were also closed and went with the first one where I actually got a live person. Veterinarians here certainly don’t seem to have a stressful life, working only a few hours a day. Unfortunately there were no appointments available this morning but the receptionist informed me that they had visiting hours from 3-6pm. Of course this could mean that I’d have to wait a little while and I doubted there would be air conditioning there so who knows what a hot Newfie would end up doing in the waiting room. The waiting room at our old vet’s office is very small and holds maybe 20 people. This could result in a very complicated situation if there are a lot of people sitting around with pets.
When I arrived at the office, I wasn’t really sure if I was in the right place. Although I was on a main street of the town, the address of the office was on an old house and I didn’t see any signs for the vet. But I walked down a bit further and actually found the office right next door. It’s actually quite nice, with a fish pond and big glass doors to the waiting room and reception area. The fact that there is even a reception area at all was a major improvement over the last vet. There you just walked in and sat down in the waiting room until someone from the office noticed you. Not that this had any reflection of the vet herself. She was very competent from what we experienced.
Their waiting room is thankfully about three times the size of the old place which made it a lot easier to move around with a Newfie. And Ayla was actually on her best behavior. I don’t know whether it was because she was still tired from me waking her up in the middle of nap time or she just wanted to make a good impression…but I was very pleased. She made a friend as well. There was a large Golden Retriever which arrived after us and happened to sit on the same side of the waiting room as us. One of the owners was a 16 year old girl who absolutely loved it when Ayla did the frogger in the middle of the floor.
It turned out that we didn’t have to wait all that long and our meeting with the vet was quite quick as well. He explained to me that there are now new vaccinations being used that can last up to 3 years, depending on how the dog’s body breaks it down over time. He explained that if we would like we can give Ayla a blood test next year to see if the rabies vaccine is out of her body yet and would then determine then if she needs a booster or not. This honestly does sound like a very good option to me since I’m not wild about giving Ayla medications when she doesn’t actually need them. We barely even take meds ourselves when we are ill so why should our dog? But the vet did say that the blood test will cost a bit more than the vaccine itself…but better than over-medicating I say.
He examined her eyes, ears, teeth and heart as well. He did mention that her heart beat was a bit erratic but that he had seen that in many dogs already during the day and considering it was probably 90 degrees in that office and she was very excited about all the other dogs, it’s not a real concern. He also noticed that flesh inside her eyes is a bit red but noted that this is so common in Newfs that he doesn’t normally treat it. I told him that we had tried drops, medicated and more holistic, a year ago but it brought few results and we both agreed that she doesn’t seem bothered in general.
So Ayla has another clean bill of health and it would seem we have a new vet. I did actually find out that we have a vet here in town as I drove home from the dentist today but this place has an actual office and not just a space in a home so I figure the 15 minute drive there isn’t so bad…but it’s nice to have a backup so I will have to go right down the number of the other office down the street.
She also got a new accessory for her collar because they now give out tags with the rabies vaccine. It’s a little, purple bell shaped tag…very chic. And with it clanging against her other tags, we can now keep even better track of her and it gives the cats a bit of an extra warning also 🙂
