The strange story of Janice and Ratso

Ratso is our dog. She is a two year old rat terrier, and for those of you that have met her, you know that she is a real live wire. If Ratso doesn't feel well, you can really tell, because Ratso pretty much ALWAYS feels well and loves to play.

When we returned from Scotland and Janice was truly suffering from back pains, I went to the place where we boarded Ratso and brought her home. Within about 2 hours of being home, we could tell that Ratso had suddenly grown very stiff and was having extreme difficulty in walking. I rushed her to the vet, who informed me that Ratso's back had gone out, and that it was caused by some kind of unusual stress. A few shots and some ultrasonic back treatments, and she was back to her old self.

Last week, as Janice was experiencing difficulty breathing, I noticed Ratso was acting pretty strange. I got up around 3 AM to give Janice a breathing treatment, and when I was done, I went to check on Ratso. I found her sprawled on the hardwood floor, breathing very erratically and looking really bad. We rushed her to the pet emergency hospital, where they informed us that she had a diaphragmatic hernia-basically she had torn a hole in her internal diaphragm, and all of her internal organs had shifted from her stomach cavity into her chest cavity, which was choking her. They also informed me that she had an elevated enzyme reading in her liver, which, if you recall, was the first indication Janice had that something was wrong.

Ratso underwent surgery and spent several days in the hospital. She is home now and recovering nicely, and is currently on 4 different medications. It's pretty much a three-ring infirmary around here right now.

Janice has always said that Ratso is MY dog, and that she is more psychically connected to me than to her. I think recent events might suggest she is mistaken about that one.