Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Visit To The Vet

Gizmo went to the vet today (part of why he got his bath today also. Figured I might as well have him mad at me all at once).

He was very, very well-behaved. Didn't scream or squawk or bite or growl the whole time. He was obviously stressed and didn't enjoy it, but he didn't put up a fight either. He even got shots, had blood drawn, the works. Everything checked out OK, and he got sent home with a clean bill of health. He's in fantastic shape. (The vet even asked me if I'd give him a copy of the recipe for Gizmo's noms; I was really flattered.)

Oh, my suspicion that Gizmo was still growing has been officially confirmed. He's nice and lean and well proportioned, but today during his visit he weighed in at nearly 15 lbs (last visit he was more in the neighborhood of 12). I'm not too surprised, though; his dad was a pretty big fox too.



Unfortunately, there was a down note too. Gizmo seems to have lost quite a bit of his socialization due to the county-enforced isolation. It's been 6 months since he had contact with anyone but me and my mother, and the effects of this isolation on his happy-go-lucky, love-everyone personality are very clear. The one Vet Tech (at least, I think that's what his job title is) used to be one of Gizmo's favorite people. He always greeted him like a happy puppy.

This time around, though, Gizmo sent off just about every fear-signal in the book. Laid his ears back, arched his back, hunkered down to get small, curled his tail, avoided eye contact, whimpered, the works. Nothing aggressive, but lots and lots of fearful and avoidance behavior. It broke my heart to see him act like that around someone he used to love.

8 comments:

  1. "County-enforced isolation"? What happened?

    *slips Gizmo a treat*

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  2. Okay, long story short, someone in the neighborhood complained, so I'm not allowed to walk Gizmo anymore or let him have contact with anyone aside from me, my mother, and the vet.

    Gizmo didn't do anything wrong, nobody was bitten or scratched, or anything like that. The complaint was just that he existed.

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  3. What about your dad and brother? They live in the same house as the rest of you. Aren't they allowed near him?

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  4. Officially, yes. But they don't tend to go near him anyway.

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  5. Please tell me you can fight this somehow. That's horrible.

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  6. I've done all the fighting I can do. The good news is, I won: I'm allowed to keep Gizmo.

    If I'd lost the fight, they would have required me to give him someone else who lives outside the county.

    So, the good news is, we still have Gizmo and he's healthy and happy. The bad news is, he has to stay isolated from all human contact aside from my household and the vet.

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  7. What if you show proof that Gizmo is a very loving being, even if he doesn't know the person much? I think this is absolute bull; they cannot just limit your and his freedoms just like that. If no one was EVER hurt, then you should have the liberty to walk him just like a dog.

    If there are no records shown that you or Gizmo did something wrong, you should still have the right.

    My dad thinks it should be taken to court; I don't think it is that big of a deal, but it's a thought. I mean, I live in Lima, Ohio.

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  8. That is about the dumbest thing I have ever read... why would someone COMPLAIN about the existence of an animal? It's not like a fox looks THAT different from some breeds of dog.

    Some people need to grow some major balls, and suck it up that there are kinds of animals that actuallly ARE different from the stereotypical cat or goldfish.


    Could you hold some sort of a petition, or put up a complaint of your own about people discriminating against Gizmo and yourself?

    - Ashlee

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