Us Two Moms

Poor Ginger is laying on the couch, not looking happy. She was spayed today, finally. It took 7 months to get her healthy enough to be able to go through a surgery like that. I have to say that we have the greatest vet ever. I've been taking my rabbits to her for as long as I can remember - probably since I was eight or so. I think that she does the things she does for us in part because of the loyalty we've shown, and I like to believe that she also just thinks we're a cute family with good hearts. At checkout time she comes out herself and discreetly explains the things she's knocked off our bill, "because you rescued them," she bluntly states. Today she 'forgot' to prescribe Ginger's pain pills (which cost $15 per pill) until after we had already paid, so she just had me slip them in my pocket. Everytime we leave there I start to tear-up because it's just the sweetest, most genuine feeling. I don't know if other patients get the same treatment, but it's nice to pretend we're special.

So mama Ginger is in her little spot, alternating between whining in pain and sleeping it off. She finally just took the one bite of food in her dish that was hiding the pain pill, so I'm hoping things will get better for her soon. When Mango was spayed a couple months ago it was nothing like this. Her youthful puppiness bounded into the house all reved up to play after we brought her home from the vet's. Had it not been for the stitches on her shaved belly, we might have thought they forgot to do the actual surgery. Jacob was obsessed with those stitches, and kept having us explain why she had the surgery. The constant repetitiveness made me feel kind of cruel for having done that to Mango. But really, there's no other option.

I feel more connected to Ginger, maybe just because she's the mom, maybe because she's a contemplative soul. She's the reason we brought the girls home. I saw their pictures that first day on the computer and I knew from the first second that our home would be their safe-haven. Mango ('Miracle' then) was the only puppy born of the litter that Ginger miscarried just before arriving at the shelter. The worst thing that could ever happen to me is that Jacob would be taken away from me. I don't want any mother to ever have to be permantly separated from her offspring. And I didn't want that for Ginger.

So where have I been? I've been spending more time with the dogs, mostly Ginger. I've been in the basement with the bunnies giving them the attention they've been missing. I've been playing with my new digital camera, and putting pictures on flickr. I now have a hand-me-down scanner, which is an iceberg I've hardly even begun to tap the surface of. I've been quite out of touch with most people, and a little more in touch with some people. I think about my little blog all the time I'm away from it, and it seems to always be the thing I am working toward when crossing things off my to-do list, but the list never ends. So the things I want to write about keep piling up and then after a few days they seem to not matter anymore, and that makes me sad.

Oh, and I've been successfully avoiding the stomach bug that everyone I come in contact with seems to have. There are few things that I hate more than throwing up and I will do pretty much anything to avoid it. Jacob threw up two times last night though...and now I'm starting to feel queasy myself. Please let it all be in my imagination.