Next Appointment

 

Jack was a 25 pound Beagle who knew lots of things.  He lived in town but he was like many dogs in the hound group—he loved to follow his nose.  Hounds’ noses are such scent detectors that they often forget boundaries and tend to stray from home.  Jack’s nose had led him across the street where he had been hit by a car.  His owner brought him to the hospital and after some x-rays were taken it seemed Jack had luckily survived his encounter with the car with only a broken leg.

The fracture was in Jack’s rear leg. It was reduced and placed in an external splint made of aluminum called a Thomas Splint.  This is taped on the leg and holds the leg immobile until the bone starts to heal.  The animal has to learn to walk with it and can usually get around well on three legs, carrying the splinted leg behind.

After Jack woke up from the anesthetic and received some training on how to walk with his splint he was ready to go home.  His owner was called and I explained to her that Jack should be confined in the house on one level to avoid stairs and that the splint should not get wet.  I told her she should bring him back in one week to have the splint and leg re-checked.  I also cautioned her to not allow Jack to run in town as he could be killed the next time he got hit by a car.  He had been lucky to only have a broken leg this time.  His owner agreed and said how much she appreciated all our care.

The next week at the end of a busy morning the receptionist found Jack sitting in the waiting room.  She told me she thought Jack’s owner must have just dropped him off without talking to anyone.  I went to the waiting room and Jack wagged his tail when he saw me. I looked outside for his owner but there were no cars in the parking lot. I took Jack into the exam room and rechecked his leg and splint.  Everything looked good but there was still no sign of his owner.  I told the receptionist to put Jack into a cage with food and water to wait for the return on his owner.

I left for the afternoon horse calls, and then came back for evening small animal hours.  At the end of the day we realized no one had picked up Jack.  I asked the receptionist to call the owner, aggravated at her for just dropping her dog off and leaving him and not picking him up. 

When we got her on the phone Jack’s owner said she was sorry she had missed the appointment but that Jack had run off in the morning and she hadn’t seen him all day.  It was then that we realized Jack had traveled about 12 blocks, crossing many streets, and had brought himself to the clinic for his own recheck exam.  His owner arrived in a few minutes and took Jack home.

As I noted before, Jack knew a lot of things.  He knew how to get to the clinic, on the right day, to wait for the door to open, sit in the waiting room and beg for treats all afternoon from the staff.  His leg healed fine, but it was always difficult to keep him from roaming.  But he had learned how to avoid cars; he looked both ways when crossing the street.  Jack was a very smart dog!