Vet visit X 3

I am running out of time before leaving next week (my deadline is the NW Corgi Afternoon Saturday and not wanting to drive through Seattle on Friday or hit the ferry line on Friday afternoon.) So I have to leave no later than Wednesday. One week. So I broke my usual rule and combined vet visits for Candy, Jack, and Merlin.

Merlin was in his crate in the garage so I just had to load Candy and Jack in the car, try to convince Janine we would NOT be gone for three days this time, and then lift Merlin with crate into the back. We drove the 20 minutes to the vet's office and time to unload. I meant to take the stroller but didn't, probably a mistake, so I had to put Merlin in his cart to go in. He refused to walk so I towed him behind the other two dogs to the dirt potty area, where he went on his own.

Then inside, where I unloaded Merlin from the cart since he wanted to lie down in it. Everyone got weights, and off to an exam room, where Candy immediately hid under the chairs (at least the part he could get under it.) Jack got his temp taken, then Merlin, who was sitting in a chair barking, and I warned the tech he would probably poop. Sure enough, she pulled the thermometer out and Merlin started to do a big poop, so I hollered for her to get something to catch it (keep it off the chair.) She did, just in time, although by then Jack was prowling shark-like under the chair hoping to help with cleanup.

Then Candy got his rabies shot (since he bites) and his back nails cut before my vet arrived. Now we had to try to discuss one dog at a time. Merlin needed a KBr level and a liver enzyme test so the question was did he need a full blood panel. As white count was up last time and BUN low, we decided yes, so Rich tried to draw blood. He claims to be as good at it as his best tech but it took him a few tries before he got Merlin to donate.

Then Jack had to give blood, to see if his liver is okay, and we discussed lowering his dose of phenobarb and adding in KBr, which I will be doing.

Then additional requests: written scripts for Zonisamide and lorazepam to send off to Costco's online pharmacy (the cheapest for the zonisamide.) 15 mg size phenobarb for Jack so that once he is at half his current dose I don't have to try to break pills in half. Tramadol and Robaxin just in case for either one. Pickup Janine's prescription for Prednisone and Jack's rectal Valium, and three doses each of Interceptor for heartworm prevention due to our unusually wet spring and actual mosquitos.

Most of this time Merlin has been barking, by the way, so now at least Rich is quite willing to write all the prescriptions I need for anything to get him to sleep!

Finally a muzzle on Candy, two techs, and clipping the front nails while Candy snarled viciously at them for daring to touch his working feet.

Pay the bill (just about what I predicted, just over $500 thanks to three expensive blood tests.) Get a rabies cert for Candy and one for Jack since it shows his neutered status and I want to get him an AKC number and an APDT number, and we are finally off. Stop to have Merlin pee again, load everyone in, and home just over two hours after leaving.

I had my vet check Jack's back, he is a bit worried about lack of muscle and I've been worried that he often lies down when he is waiting for something, but I hope good exercise in Washington gets him back into better shape without any issues. Neither Jack nor Janine have great backs (ironically Merlin has the great back- the best my vet has ever seen on a corgi) so I'm always a little worried one or the other will go down. Janine has been fine since her muscles built back up, though.

Oh, then I got home, got to the front door, and Candy was in such a hurry to go in that when his wheel caught on the door frame he just left the cart behind- except his feet were stuck in the stirrups! Another Kodak moment that I missed.

We will really miss our current vet when I retire to Washington, but I am excited to see one of the two South Whidbey practices has been sold to a new veterinarian, a new guy, fairly recently out of school. Kind of like Rich when I first went there.