Just Another Tuesday With Toby

Last Tuesday I woke up to loud yelping. They say a mother knows her child's voice, but at first I couldn't tell it was Toby crying in pain.

What really happens remains to be determined, but I think he fell off the bed.

I hopped up and fumbled over to him. He was still yelping and holding his limp forepaw off the ground.

He couldn't put pressure on it, and it looked like his shoulder was dislocated.

I laid him down on his side and pet him until he stopped crying.

Once I was sure that he'd be OK resting there, I got up and speed-dialed the Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C.

Whew, he didn't need urgent care. I made an appointment for Friday and tried to get Toby to go back to sleep.

Some mom!

Quickly, I realized that wasn't going to work. He was hobbling around and I was getting more and more worried that his leg was broken. I decided to give it some time and made a pot of coffee to start my day.

That afternoon, I met some friends at Starbucks and told them about Toby's predicament. My friend Sonia told me about a dog who'd broken his leg.

"They took the cast off of it and it was gangrenous so now he's a tripod," she said, referring to the animal's amputated leg.

I put my face in my hands as my eyes misted.

"That's not going to happen to Toby," Maya said reassuringly.

I wasn't convinced so I called the vet and got him in the next day.

Just like a broken car that won't show symptoms when it's at the mechanic, Toby stopped limping once we got to Friendship. Dr. Jeffrey Lavine and I couldn't even get him to limp as we paraded him up and down the clinic hall.

Dr. Lavine laid Toby on his side (but not before Toby planted a quick doggie kiss) and rubbed his injured leg, massaging it in hopes that Toby would tell us where it hurt.

Nothing.

I was beginning to think I'd made the whole story up.

We were sent home with doggie painkillers, warned to stop using them if Toby got sick.

As soon as we got home, he started limping again.

I gave him some of his medicine and hoped the week would end better.

And if the sound of a heaving dog is better, than I certainly woke up to a brighter day on Friday, even if I did have dog vomit on my new white carpet.

PS: Toby is doing much better!