The Most Expensive Cactus in Sedona

 

This is a very expensive cactus spine. It cost $139. Mum says she's going to frame it. I think it cost so much because it's very old. It's been in my shoulder for ages, apparently. That's why my leg has been hurting and I couldn't jump in the car. Everyone said I had Are-Fright-Us. Today, it hurt a lot and made me limp so I had to pull out all my best communication skills to let Mum and Dad know about it. 

I couldn't reach my shoulder, so I licked my paw. They looked and looked, but couldn't find anything in my paw. I could have told them that. Finally, Mum decided they should do the arm pushy thing. It's a funny process, but I humor them because they don't seem to be able to hear a lot of what I tell them. Mum touches me somewhere and Dad pushes against her other arm to see how strong she is. When she's not strong, it means there's something up with the place where she's touching me. After lots of pushing and touching all over my leg, they found there was something up with my shoulder. That's when Mum found the cactus spine. But it had been there so long it was right inside and poking in the muscle.

That meant a trip to my vet, Dr Ford at Canyon Pet Hospital. He wanted to do something called Anna Sees Ya so he could have a look inside my shoulder and take out the hurty thing. Mum didn't want him doing that because it makes me sick, so he said if I was a good girl and could be very still, he could do a local. He and the nice girl with the treats took me to another room and told me "Check!", which means I have to lie very still while they look for cactus spines and burrs. I couldn't feel anything they were doing, but there was a lot of poking around and then he did some sewing, which seemed a bit strange, but he was a nice man so I didn't make a fuss.

Here's how my shoulder looks now after the sewing. I have too much fur for the sewing to look good, so the girl shaved a little square to show it off better. I think it shows up the stitching rather well, don't you? I only get to keep it for about 10 days, so I'll have to make sure I have all my friends over for a viewing. I thought you'd like to see it too, so here's a photo Mum took when we got home. It's a cruciate stitch, which is quite fancy. I would have preferred a purple thread, but there didn't seem to be a choice on offer.

 

 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more serious matters to attend to, such as making sure Dad doesn't forget to give me some of his dinner.

I passed!

Mum & Dad took me to the pet doctors in Flagstaff this week. I was a bit worried because they told me I was going for my exam, but I didn't know what the questions were going to be about. I studied up on duck hunting and what you're supposed to do if you see a rattlesnake. I even made sure I knew how to spell Barack Obama, because Mum had one about the president in the exam she took when she got the certificate that says she's allowed to live here forever.

It turned out that I didn't need to remember anything, because they were just doing an exam of my body to make sure I'm fit and healthy. My usual doc, Doctor Liz, couldn't see me, so I saw Doctor Lisa instead. I got a bit scared when I saw her as the last time I saw her was when I swallowed the poisonous mushrooms. I had to stay at the hospital and I didn't see Mum and Dad for nearly 2 days. I thought it was because they were mad at me for eating the mushrooms, but they said it was because I was very sick and Doctor Lisa was making me well again.

Anyway, Doctor Lisa was very happy to see me and gave me lots of rubbles. She sat down on the floor with me and checked me all over. She laughs a lot and is very gentle when she touches me. She said I got A's on everything - well, apart from something she called Arf-rightis. It's something to do with my right shoulder, because it gets stiff after I've been doing a lot of digging. Mum & Dad say that means I have to go easy on the digging. It also means I get more massages from Mum, and we do some stretching every morning now, which I like a lot because I just get to lie on my back between Mum's legs while she rubbles me.

Doctor Lisa said my teeth were very good, so Mum reminded me that it's because of brushing my teeth at night. She got a new toothpaste for me and I don't like it as much as the one we used to have. She says it's paltry. Maybe that's why I don't like it because I thought it was supposed to taste like chicken.

Everyone made a huge fuss over me for getting such a good report card, and I got a special treat on the way home. We went to one of my favorite places in the forest and Mum found me the last patch of snow. It was only as big as the room where we eat, but I couldn't have been happier. Snow makes me run like a puppy, and there's nothing that feels as good as rolling on my back in the snow. Exams aren't that bad after all.