The Medical Move

I finally did myself and Odie a favor.

I've yet to inform the one I'm letting go of, but let's just say I've been having problems communicating with Odie's vet, and have decided to go for other options. When I got Odie, I immediately contacted a relative to recommend a good veterinarian who would administer vaccinations and hoped to have a go-to person when I encounter health issues. It got pretty unsettling, however, when I observed that he did just that - administered shots. No cuddling, all business. He'd come here (he does house calls, mostly, I think), give the shots, have me settle the fees, and that's it.

There were times when I would panic (being quite the OC human I have become) and would contact him immediately after a vomiting episode or consecutive runny stools, or that one time when he peed while lying down. Frankly, it was hard to be satisfied with the answers I got, and there were times when his tone made me feel that I'm annoyingly paranoid. There was also a time when I asked about Heartgard and was told that we should do a heartworm test first to know if Odie needed Heartgard. Odie was just about to turn 5 months old then, and I read and asked around, and found out that the heartworm test will only produce reliable results when the puppy is over 6 months old. Oh no.

Last Friday, I noticed that Odie's rash on his lower belly multiplied. I already consulted Doc Mayem of Pendragon Veterinary Clinic when it was just one little pink bump, and she advised me to just make sure he gets completely dried after bathing, and that he doesn't sit or lie down on damp surfaces. Apparently, Beagles have sensitive skin. Boo! I wanted to go to Pendragon to consult but it's around a half hour away from home. I do like going there, but I admit that I couldn't regularly go there because logistics. I mostly go there with Bea, Moxie and/or Theo. It did occur to me to call Odie's soon-to-be-formally-former vet, except I didn't want to go through the stress.

Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves in Avenue Vets Animal Clinic in nearby Don Antonio. It was our first veterinary appointment with - surprise, surprise - Doc Marose! I contacted her prior to our visit to ask about the skin irritation and how it could be addressed. I wanted to schedule a house call for my convenience's sake but she mentioned that Odie might need a skin scrape test go having us go to the clinic would be the better option. 

The clinic is clean, and it didn't smell like dog at all! The people were nice, too! Odie gave the vet assistant a pretty hard time by being very hyper upon getting his weight checked, his temperature taken, and while I was showing the problem areas on his skin. Dog and vet assistant looked like they had fun while they were at it though. I guess it also helped that Doc Marose taught Odie almost all of the commands that he can follow, as handling Odie for a check-up also became a training session of sorts.

What happened to his skin? Contact dermatitis. It's a skin irritation that's triggered by contact with moist surfaces. It also appears when the fur and skin don't get completely dried up after bathing. We were given a tube of ointment to apply on affected areas, and an oil thing for him to ingest. When Doc finished writing the prescription, she handed it to me, and I seemed to have forgotten that I have a very SNEAKY puppy.

Chew ALL the paper!

He chewed a bit of his prescription! Good thing we were able to get it out immediately. It didn't come out as clean as I wanted it to be but there was happiness in knowing I could still read it!

Doc did some training exercises with Odie, and cuddled him when we said goodbye. I let Odie in his crate, started the car, and sighed a huge sigh of relief. I think I'm doing something right :D