Wow... what a loooong day, and what an ordeal...
Took Mick to the new ER clinic that Dr. Correa recommended because she was out of town.
His bloodwork was out of whack... and he lost FIVE pounds since Tuesday.
WBC low 2.1
Mono low 0.09
NEU low 1.25
EOS low 0.05
The rest was in the low to normal range... I'm not even sure what the above numbers really mean... like I said - it was a LONG day.
Anyway... the clinic had one long hallway, and the "rooms" are separated by curtains only... you can hear all the patients crying, squeaking, howling, etc. - very disconcerting for an already anxious animal.
Mick received some IV fluids as well as a new anti-nausea med. They gave me an antibiotic to give at home.
He was a basket case!
He hyperventilated, had the dry heaves, and was terrified beyond reason... I finally decided to take him home (yep, against the advise of the attending vet...
) and I've been giving him 1/4 cup of water every hour, also got him to eat a little bit of rice mixed w/some wet dog food a couple of hours ago... so far, so good... it's staying down.
Beast was muzzled when we got there and while he was being worked on... however, I wasn't allowed to take off his muzzle while he was on the IV, even w/nobody present but myself (they said because of "liability reasons") and he just freaked out. I actually think he had a full-blown panic attack and after 2 1/2 hours of struggling to keep him calm I decided that enough was enough...
I'm NOT knocking the vet OR the policy... I DO understand that he is difficult and NEEDS to be muzzled... but it's hard to watch, and I think also a tad counterproductive - so, I signed him out and we went home.
The ER vet was very understanding, but did tell me that he wasn't in favor of my decision... we parted on good terms though, and I do like the clinic and the staff.
Thanks for the good thoughts... I REALLY appreciate all the support here, because today I felt like I was losing my mind.
I'm SO glad we have next week off... and, of course, once again I questioned my motives of putting him through all this crap.
He did pick me up a leaf when we left and I was in tears over it... I had no idea that it would be this hard... poor Beast is doing his best to keep ME happy... he is one of a kind.