i know they are doing the best they can.

they are probably over worked and under staffed.

their work environment is crowded, loud and stinks like dog pee - so instead of ranting, getting over emotional, screaming at the top of my lungs and possibly hurting someone, i will simply state the facts.

ivan has cushings disease.  in april the vet said he could wait until symptoms worsened before having to go on meds.

symptoms: panting, excessive hunger, excessive thirst, excessive peeing, among other things.

by excessive, i mean he needed to pee a river every two hours – until it became every hour and 15 minutes – or less.

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monday:  ivan gets blood test at humane society. he is there from 8:30 am until 6:00 pm.

i am told results may be in on tuesday, if not, call on wednesday.  i am rationing ivan’s water and he is panting a lot.

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tuesday:  ivan peed in the lobby on his way to get out the front door as fast as he could.

wednesday:  after calling 3x and being put on hold for so long i had to hang up due to fear of going over my allotted  at&t  minutes for the month, i finally waited it out and around 5:00 pm i got through.  i left  a message for the doctor.  he did not return my call.  ivan peed in the elevator just  1.5  hours after he had last been out.

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thursday:  called 8 times during the day and got a busy signal each time.  ivan peed in the kitchen 1 hour after we had been out.  it is his very first  ”accident”  since i got him in 1999.  i am no longer giving him water, only ice cubes.  he goes to his water bowl every 15 minutes or so to check the water status.  ivan woke me at 4:00 am to take him out.

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friday:  i called at 9:30 am and the line was busy.  i decided to walk to the humane society and wait for the doctor in person.  after waiting over an hour, i had to rush back home to let ivan out.  i did not see the doctor but felt confident that the receptionist would not forget to tell him i had been there looking for meds.  ivan peed on the carpet in the hallway while waiting for the elevator.

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saturday:  i was put on hold 4x by the inept humane society receptionist and hung up each time after five minutes.  at 3:30 I called back and held for 19 minutes and 50 seconds before the receptionist answered.

receptionist:  ”thank you for holding, how may i help you?”

me:  ”this is my 18th time trying to get through to doctor rubenstein, who promised to have test results for me on wednesday, and i’ve just been on hold for 19 minutes and 50 seconds!”

receptionist:  ”that’s actually not bad, our average hold time is over 30 minutes!  and dr. rubinstein doesn’t work weekends.”

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it has been challenging to remain zen in the city . . .

Difficulties increase the nearer we approach the goal”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe