A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said,

'Jesus knows you're here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.

When he heard nothing more , after a bit, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard
'Jesus is watching you.'

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice..

Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

'Yep', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that Jesus is watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

'Moses,' replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'
 

This past weekend I had a small emergency with my little dog Poloka.  It was a typical case of her eyes being bigger than her stomach.  She was happily chewing on her raw hide chew bone and she had gotten one on the knots off the end.  With one good swallow, a 2"X3" piece went straight down her throat - or so we thought.  Seems she almost got it caught in her throat, choking a bit (and scaring her mother half to death) she finally got it down but something wasn't right.

She came over to me, hanging her head, she looked at me like something was seriously wrong.  As a vet tech, my first thought was to get the chew out and that meant getting her to throw up.  I reached for the hydrogen peroxide and went outside to do my best.  The problem is, my dog HATES to throw-up!  I couldn't get her to vomit and she started looking worse and worse.  I brought her back inside, wrapped her in a nice warm blanket and sat at her side.  I was hoping that it would just pass and she would be just fine.

A few hours of babying her and some moaning and groaning on her part seemed to be helping as she finally rested and fell asleep.  I went to bed as well.  The next morning, she wouldn't move and I was beyond my comfort zone so I called the vet and took her in.  Funny thing, she seemed so much better when we got there!  I think all the excitement helped things pass along in her stomach.  After a thorough exam, I was given a few options - ultrasound, x-rays or wait it out with a few medications to be sure her stomach felt better.

I chose to give her some fluids and some medications but the thing I really appreciated was that I was given all the choices.  Many times I hear that veterinaries assume that people can't afford the best treatments so they don't even offer them.  I would like to be able to make that decision for myself.  This is why it is imperative for pet owner's to ask and talk to your veterinarian.  Let them know you want ALL the options for everything...even vaccines!  Don't assume that what you are being told is the whole story. 

Here is a story that I read that shows the extreme of what happens when not all options are offered or discussed.