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tired Momma
Ollie was neutered today. He is not pleased. For one, he's probably never had an e-collar on, so he is quite fussy and vocal about that. The vet asked how old he was, and we said we didn't know, but that the rescue estimated his age around 1½ to 2 years. She asked if we wanted them to have a look at his teeth and make an estimate, so we agreed that was probably a good idea. She thinks he is closer to 16 months, which isn't too far off from what we thought. They did a complete blood screen before the surgery, and not knowing anything about him (and having no vet records since he'd never been before) I was worried they'd find something bad. They didn't.. he is very healthy and the surgery went well. They used gas anesthetic, rather than the standard intravenous because he is a brachyocephalic (short-nosed) breed, and they can have difficulty waking up from anesthesia. The gas is also metabolized by the lungs (rather than the liver) so it is safer, and patients are 'under' for a shorter period of time. It cost quite a bit more than a regular neuter, but it is important to me to do whatever is necessary for his comfort and safety.

My parents are very excited to meet him. My Dad was a bit worried about us getting another Griffon, as Gizmo has been a little complicated on the health front, but we've (finally) gotten all of that sorted out.. turns out he had a lot of food and other allergies, and once we made some dietary changes (and I changed the perfume I'd been wearing off and on for the past few years) all of his digestive and sinus issues have cleared up, so it was never that he was unhealthy, just sensitive. The guy at the Solid Gold booth at the dog show was actually more helpful than the vets we've seen as far as determining what the likely causes were, and it appears he was right, as there have not been further issues since we followed his advice.

I am very happy to have two healthy boys =)