Barb sent me an important message that is worth repeating so we can all be reminded: Just because something bad happens — even though we do all the right things — doesn’t mean we stop doing all those right things.
We reduce — not eliminate — the likelihood of random bad shit by making smart choices. And so we should keep on stacking the deck in every way we can, even as we know that doesn’t guarantee a winner.
The only thing I will add to my stacked deck is this — I will do Prophylactic Gastropexy (stomach tacking) when my girls are spayed. This doesn’t eliminate the bloat risk but it does make stomach torsion unlikely, and torsion is the real scary killer; I am exploring whether Prophylactic Gastropexy has an impact on the splenic torsion risk.
I am in the Hyper-Vigilance Stage of things right now, and this is understandable. When I must leave the house, Claire goes with me in a crate so I can check on her. I also have the security camera trained on the other dogs so I can monitor them and make sure they are okay.
I do not try to talk myself out of feeling so traumatized and terrified — what happened was traumatizing and terrifying — how I feel is normal, typical, expected.
Yes, it helps that Claire is so clearly doing well but it so easily could have gone a different way, and knowing that chills me to my bones.
That said, I feel so very lucky 🍀
I was here.
She had only been outside (and out of my sight) for one hour — it happened SO FAST.
I knew what was happening.
I had access to skilled veterinary care.
Claire is super resilient (and in great shape).
She survived.
I am so grateful.
