I thought this was an exciting moment. Remember Dudley?
From 32 pounds to….da da dum…. 26.5! We are on our way!
I went into the room to congratulate the owners, an older couple. The man looked less than impressed, but the wife was thrilled. After a little bit of casual digging, it became pretty obvious that he was the source of the ham-sneaking, and the Missus had finally laid down the law. She was glowing at her success.
As they were leaving, we revisited the idea of a dental cleaning, as well as a repair of Dudley’s severely stenotic nares.
“Do we really need to do that?” asked the Mister. “He’s seven and has been fine so far.”
I demonstrated my new favorite trick, pinching my nose partly shut and breathing in. I look stupid but it is quite effective, especially when I invite skeptical clients to play along. The Missus, of course, tried it and was immediately contrite.
As they were leaving, the Mister (who did not participate in my demonstration) said, “We’ll think about it.”
The Missus waited a beat, leaned over and whispered, “We’ll do it.”
Dudley, looks like things are looking up!
On July 28, 2009 at 6:39am, Lisa said...
That’s an awesome update! And 6 lbs is a noticeable loss! One of our adopters adopted a doxie from us. She was way overweight when she was adopted-32 lbs. The adopter got her down to 18 lbs over the course of a year. Multiple feedings, treats such as carrots, apples and rice cakes. I’m glad to see the wife is concerned with Dudley’s health and will bring him back for a dental. You may have felt silly doing the demonstration, but you’ll be keeping Dudley healthy!
On July 28, 2009 at 10:37am, kimchi said...
WOW! Way to go Missus! It’s always interesting to see the interaction between the people when it comes to the vet care for a pet. and 6 pounds is a lot for a tiny guy like Dudley! that’s…almost 20% of his body weight?! holy moley! Go Dudley, GO!
p.s. that is such a great demo for the nose issue…
On July 28, 2009 at 9:19pm, macula_densa said...
5.5 pounds in 3 weeks? That’s a lot…! I mean, I’d consider that a lot for a human!
On July 28, 2009 at 9:20pm, Dr. V said...
Our scale is a bit inaccurate at times, so I don’t know how exact we are, but the overall effect is there.