Help us settle something...

So we had another round at the vet's yesterday. Mango had a few small issues that we needed to get checked out. One of them was that all-over body pain she'd been having a few months ago. Ocassionally she'll limp around the house, favoring one leg. Now tell me which leg she is favoring: the one that she is walking on, or the one that she is keeping up in the air. Zach and I can't agree on whether favoring means she's protecting the leg that hurts or using the leg that is still good. Help us settle the dispute.

Speaking of the vet...I don't know where to begin. I made the appointment on the phone and actually said the vet's name, signaling to the person on the other end that I was expecting to see Dr. *Testo*. I got there the next day and was going on and on about Dr. Testo. "No, the appointment is just for Miracle, but I brought Ginger too because Dr. Testo likes to see her. She always asks about her and tells me to bring her in." Someone could have told me. After waiting in the room for an hour, the door started to open and I got ready to greet Dr. Testo. But it was not her. It was some other vet. Yuck. Before she introduced herself I was halfway through 20 questions and none the more illuminated as to Dr. Testo's whereabouts.

When the replacement vet left the room (to take Mango in the back to have her anal glands drained) I snuck out to the reception counter and started in on the same questioning with the office manager, *Dave*. He couldn't tell me anything. These are people who treat use like family, shower our dogs with unconditional love, know us all by name. We really have a close relationship and to not be able to get any information was so unsettling. At one point Dave told me he couldn't legally say anything. Then, when I was checking out, I just had to cover all the bases and ask one more question. I wanted to know if I could leave a message for the Dr. I think I really pushed his buttons then. He told me, "There will be no contact whatsoever. You'll get the gist of how it's going to be around here. There will be no talking about her at all." I felt so uncomfortable...I apologized and backed out of the office with my tail between my legs for what I think will be the last time I set foot in there.

Zach is just as upset as me about this. We want to know where our vet has gone. We want to of course keep seeing her. But we want to know that she is ok. It seems like something really bad happened. And I didn't like the way people were talking about her (rather, not talking about her), as if she never existed or she is this malevolent force. I at least want her to know that we are crazy about her and her veterinary skills and we will always miss her. I don't know how to even be the mother to another species without her. I've been taking rabbits and dogs to her for almost 20 years! Seriously, I couldn't even describe what was wrong with Mango yesterday to the replacement vet. Dr. Testo just would have known. And to start over with someone else is unthinkable.