Guess where I am?

Not at the conference. *sigh* I was preparing to leave when I noticed one of my babies, Snostorm, had a large swelling inside her mouth, on one of her gums. I was a little panicked as I know that certain types of bacteria can cause an infection that affects the heart. That's why they give the dogs antibiotics before they clean their teeth.

So, I had to make an emergency trip to the vet. It is an infection, and she'll have to be on antibiotics for THREE weeks. By the time I got home, most of the sessions at the conference were done. I would have shown up in time for dinner, but since I wouldn't have been at any of the sessions to meet people, I would have been trying to worm myself into an invite to join strangers. Yes, I am an introvert at heart. It's no big deal. I'll go in the morning and get to attend a full day on Saturday and half a day on Sunday.

Also, the vet, who is NOT our regular vet and didn't seem to realize, as I did, that the swelling was an infection, also indicated that Snostorm might have some kind of degenerative hip disorder. Which is bad news. She's only eight, and greyhounds aren't usually prone to that sort of thing. But our normal vet has never said anything about it. So, I'm going to get her opinion when she returns. This guy was just the floating "sub" vet. Who openly admitted to me that he didn't know what the swelling was. He did a cytology to tell me that it wasn't cancer. Okay, I'm sorry, but DUH. It was red, poufy and tender to the touch. Plus it's a new development, within the last day or so, and it's time for her yearly teeth cleaning. It was totally an infection and I can tell you that with exactly zero hours of vet school.

Still, when he said the hip thing, which might or might not be true, I had to try really hard not to cry. Snostorm is my baby. I hate anything that indicates she's getting older and might not be around forever. I did cry when the vet told me to put her on senior food a couple of years ago. It's been a lousy day.