Vet scare yields great surprise

Einstein yelped in pain tonight as he was climbing the stairs. When I rushed to see what was going on I found him leaning against the wall and refusing to move. I carried him downstairs and when I set him down his right back leg was shaking and he wasn't putting weight on it.

I quickly took him to the emergency veterinarian who feared he may have torn his ACL or popped his knee cap out of place. While he couldn't get into the car on his own, by the time we got there he was still limping but otherwise OK. The vet thinks he pulled or sprained something in his leg and put him on pain relievers. We're also supposed to limit his movement for the next few days...which means the dreaded crate.

But now to the really good surprise. We got Einstein from a local shelter where he came in as a stray last February. They didn't know anything about his history and estimated he was seven years old.

Well the vet thinks differently. He shows no signs of cataracts and his teeth are in pretty good shape, so Einstein is actually (drum roll please) FOUR YEARS OLD! I couldn't believe it. No more senior dog food for Einstein. He's still young and in his prime.

And in more good news, Einstein has now lost close to four pounds and weighs 36.4 pounds. Also, since I put away $50 each month for veterinary expenses, I didn't have to spend any money we didn't have on the vet bill, and that's with an $85 exam fee for the emergency veterinarian. If you don't have a monthly pet fund, you should start one. Just a little bit adds up over time and can really take the worry out of vet bills.