By Arthur Vidro
ON CONSUMERISM
Our dog Queenie nearly died in May 2013.
But a determined veterinarian – Dr. Daniel Kelly – saved her life.
Queenie, a Yorkshire Terrier, was five and a half years old then. She had been brought to a different vet for her first dentistry. Many teeth were extracted.
Queenie emerged from the dental vet with third-degree burns (caused by negligence) all over her torso and abdomen. Lots of skin and fur had died. The scent of burned skin and fur would accompany Queenie for days.
Queenie was super-weak and had lost all interest in life.
The day after the dentistry we brought her to a clinic we’d heard about in Lebanon called Saves, which offered 24-hour veterinary care for small animals.
The veterinarian in charge of Saves was its then owner, Daniel Kelly.
Dr. Kelly acted swiftly and aggressively. He removed the dead or damaged surface skin and surface fur. But the burn damage went considerably deeper than the surface. Over the next three to four months he performed several more surgeries on Queenie’s wounds. He gave her plenty of painkillers. At times he would graft fur from her undamaged legs onto her torso. He prescribed a special diet to help regenerate fur growth.
I don’t pretend to know everything he did. But without his dedication, little Queenie would have died in 2013. Instead, Queenie lived on, and recovered fully.
On our first trip to Saves, Queenie was so traumatized from her burn ordeal that she resisted being placed on the doctor’s counter. For the first time in her life, she had come to associate a doctor’s office with pain and suffering. Instead of being her happy self, Queenie quaked in fear, and looked for a means to escape.
She was too weak to bolt, but she resisted.
But at subsequent visits, Queenie was super-happy to arrive at Saves and see Dr. Kelly again, for she somehow realized that in this place of medicine (as opposed to the dental specialist), she was made to feel better.
She came to adore and trust Dr. Kelly. And to trust all veterinarians again. (We never took her back to the place that burned her. Such trauma we didn’t need.)
Over time, Dr. Kelly left Saves and gave his full attention to his own veterinary practice, the Stonecliff Animal Hospital, also in Lebanon.
In August 2016 at Stonecliff, Dr. Kelly performed fairly major surgery to repair Queenie’s left rear kneecap.
And in April 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, when employees would come outside to pick up and deliver one’s pet, Dr. Kelly diagnosed Queenie’s extracapsular cruciate (ligament) injury and surgically repaired it – an injury not unlike the torn ACLs that derail professional football players for a season.
Queenie nearly made it through the summer of 2023. She was roughly fifteen and three-quarters and struggling to breathe (probable fluid buildup in her lungs) when we made the difficult decision to have her put down.
In her prime, little Queenie was nine or so pounds. She began 2023 at seven and a half pounds. On her final day, the vet weighed her in at five and three-quarter pounds. She had lost 97% of her energy and 40% of her weight.
She was suffering from old age, from which there is no cure.
Dr. Kelly was performing surgery elsewhere in the Stonecliff building when Queenie was put down, so there was no chance for a proper farewell.
Hence this column, to salute Dr. Kelly and his team of helpers. For those ten extra years of life, little Queenie thanks you, Dr. Kelly. You are her hero.
Right now she’s trying to lick you from heaven.
Great consumer service deserves recognition.
I can think of no greater service we’ve ever received, anywhere.
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