typical

[Guest guest]

I've spent the last few days worrying about and caring for my Dad's

dog. He got into some meds of my dad's and ate about 50 anti-

diabetic pills. My dad didn't mention it til 4 or 5 hours after it

happened (even though he knows I have veterinary experience) but

when he did it was in passing. I called the vet when I found out and

found out what to do, since my Dad was refusing to take him to the

vet ( " If he dies, he dies " and " he shouldn't have gotten into my

pills " ). The first night I checked him every hour and he was okay,

so we thought he was out of the woods. About 24 hours after the fact

he started showing symptoms. I am flat broke, mostly because I went

to the limit on my credit cards after taking two of their Felv

postive cats to the vet when they got sick at the same time (one

lived and one passed away). I did what the vet told me for the dog,

which meant another night of setting the alarm every hour. I was

very angry about the way it was handled initially although much of

my anger has passed now that it turns out the dog is okay. I don't

know if my intervention made a difference, but I won't get a thank

you or any acknowledgement at all, because that would mean facing

the reality of what just happened. I feel like this was one of those

times when my dad was in avoidance and denial about the seriousness

of this situation...his behavior, to me, defies all logic and

reason. Even though I have a lot experience working with animals he

won't acknowledge it or ever come to me when this kind of thing

happens. He really won't acknowledge proficiency of any kind on my

part, he always has to 'know more and be better than' his children.

But this is his beloved dog and I just can't believe he reacted this

way. When it looked like it was over, I said something to the effect

that I was grateful that the dog was okay and hopefully wouldn't

have any permanent effects, to which he grumbled, 'I still don't

have have any pills'. He was only focused on the fact that his pills

got eaten right after the prescription was filled; and this man is

an animal lover. This is how it went with another animal of his, one

of the leukemia positive cats, he just would not take it to the vet

although it was clearly anemic; I ended up taking it even though I

had an animal of mine that needed treatment, I didn't want the cat

to waste away and die so I spent that money on getting the cat

tested and eventually euthanized. For anything else I wouldn't have

but animals are helpless and dependent. This time, though I was flat

broke. I just can't believe his refusal to do *anything* to help

this dog or acknowledge the gravity of the situation. He will never

give me credit for treating the dog either, it's as if it did not

happen. It burns me up because I could have made the dog throw up

the pills had I known about it when it happened. I don't

know...there is no logic or reason to what just happened, though...I

think it's his refusal to 'go there' when it comes to his animals

since he actually is very soft-hearted when it comes to animals,

there are 12 here, only 4 of which are mine. But he is very 'old-

school' when it comes to taking them to the vet. Anyway, the whole

thing was just infuriating but I know that I can't really 'bring it

up' because he isn't capable of dealing with the situation

rationally. This is just a vent, just getting it off of my chest.