Hello!  My name is Bella and I want to tell you a story.

My mom got me when I was about 9 weeks old.  She brought me to the Park Road Vet Clinic to meet my new doctor (which to me sounded scary until I got there).  I met Dr. Meghan (Goodrow) for the first time & I loved her!!  She was so nice to me & always gave me cookies when I came in to visit.  Dr Meghan told my mom that I had a bit of a cold on that first visit so she sent us home with some medication (“antibiotics” she said) to make me feel better. 

A couple weeks later I still had a bit of a cold “hanging on” so I was sent home with more of the medication. 

When I was finally over that darn cold (at least I thought I was over it), I went back to see Dr Meghan, but I wasn’t feeling too good that day – I was “a little off” as my mom said.  I had fallen off of mom’s bed a few days before that (silly me!) and I was walking slowly & having what my mom called “head tremors” (mom thought my ear was bothering me).  Dr Meghan checked me all over (it tickled) and found that I was a little sore on my lower back (probably from falling off the bed) and my mouth hurt a bit (I was teething).  She gave my mom some yummy tasting medication to give me and more of the antibiotics because I was still a bit sick.

A couple weeks later I was really over that cold (really!) and I got to go back to Park Road to see Dr Meghan again.  Dr Meghan checked me again & said I WAS over that cold (yeah!) & then she gave me something called a vaccine.  I didn’t even know she did it – I was too busy eating cookies.

Mom brought me back to Park Road again a couple weeks later for some booster shots with Dr Meghan.  I got 2 pokes this time and my friend Kathy gave me extra treats because she said I was such a good girl.

 When I was about 5 months old my mom started talking to me about how I was going to have a "big operation" soon.  I was a little nervous, but mom kept telling me everything would be ok.  She told me that Dr Meghan would be with me the whole time so I didn't have to be so scared.  The night before my "big day" I wasn't allowed to have any food and I wasn't too excited about this.  Then it was my "big day" and mom brought me to the Park Road Vet Clinic early in the morning. 

I got to see my friend Rebecca when I got there so I was happy.  She went over some paperwork with my mom that I didn't understand so I just played around on the table trying to get someone to give me a treat.  Then Rebecca took me to a kennel in the back where I waited for Dr Meghan to come in. 

My mom had wanted to have something called Pre-operative blood work done for me to be sure I would be ok with the anesthetic they were going to use for me so Rebecca got someone to help her poke me for some blood (it didn’t really hurt). 

When Dr Meghan saw my blood work results, she decided that I shouldn't have surgery, but I should have some other blood work done.  She talked with my mom and she thought it would be a good idea too, so they started my new blood work (I think they called it Bile Acids testing).  The best part was that they let me have some food!!  I wasn't sure about the food because it was something that I wasn't used to, but after one bite I was hooked! 

 When Dr Meghan got my test results back she decided that I needed to go to another, bigger hospital (Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital in Guelph).  I did not like this idea at all!  I like my friends here and I didn't want to go somewhere I didn't know anyone.  My mom came to get me and brought me home with my new food. 

I went to the other hospital about a week later and the doctor there checked me all over & wanted to do some MORE tests.  They used a cool looking machine to look at my insides - it was neat!  Then they did some more blood work - I was starting to feel like a pin cushion! 

The ultrasound showed that I had enlarged kidneys and a "right sided extra hepatic portocaval shunt" (how's that for a mouthful!), which means that I had a problem with my liver.  The only signs I had that anything was wrong was that I was not growing like I should have been and I had a day or two were my mom said I was acting funny.  Otherwise I was a happy, carefree puppy enjoying my life.  (Dr Meghan explained it as I had a blood vessel that was carrying my blood around my liver instead of through my liver so my liver wasn't able to take all the bad gunk out of my blood and bad stuff started building up in my body making me feel yucky and not letting me grow like I was suppose to). 

The doctors at the big hospital talked to my mom about surgery for me to hopefully help me feel better.  My mom decided it was best for me to have this done so they scheduled me for another "big day" a few weeks later.  My mom brought me home from the big hospital and I had some medications to take every day. 

When my new "big day" came, we went back to the big hospital and I was really nervous because now I wasn't going to have Dr Meghan with me.  My mom kept telling me everything would be fine so I relaxed (a little).  After my surgery was all over I had to stay at the big hospital 2 nights because the doctors there wanted to make sure everything went ok & I didn't get sick from the medicine that they used.  They gave me some good medicine that made me sleepy - I really liked it.  I was very happy to see my mom and go home though.  They sent me with even more medication & told my mom that I could go see Dr Meghan again - I was excited - I missed Dr Meghan. 

I got to go back to Park Road Vet Clinic to have some more blood work done after I was all healed from my surgery, but I didn’t care - I got to see all my friends again.  Dr Meghan said my blood work was great so I didn't have to have any more of my medication & I was able to have my regular food again.  (Don't tell my mom, but I would have kept eating the special food - it was yummy!) 

I now have a clean bill of health, I am gaining weight like I should be, and I am enjoying life again thanks to my mom, Dr Meghan, all the staff at Park Road Vet Clinic and all the staff at the big hospital (Ontario Veterinary College Teaching Hospital in Guelph).

Oh, my mom said I should also tell you that everyone should get the Pre-Operative blood work done for their pets that are getting surgery done – it saved my life!