Boomer's Trip to Vet

Yesterday we took Boomer to the vet to get the shots he needed. The place we went to is part of a national chain. Despite having a coupon to get the exam for free, it still cost us a little over $100 for two shots and the parasite test. Linda has all of our receipts from our past visits to our vet up home and this place was considerably more expensive than our old vet. They even charge a "hazardous waste disposal fee" to discard your dog's poop that you take in to them for the parasite test. Oh brother !

As I mentioned last time, Boomer's eye was swollen and partially closed. It looked much better yesterday when he went to the vet but I had the vet look at it anyway. She said his eye was fine but perhaps it had something to do with a tooth or his jaw and to keep an eye on it. If he continued to have swelling, it would require an x-ray to see what the problem was. The woman vet was nice but I wasn't real crazy about the technicians. They needed to take Boomer's temperature before giving him a vaccination and I told them that he'd never had his temp taken ever but they insisted it had to be done. He had the same reaction to them trying to insert that thermometer as he does to getting his nails trimmed....pandemonium ! Finally I told them to "skip it" as someone was gonna get hurt. The tech got kind of snippy and said she couldn't "skip it" as he can't have a vaccination if he has a fever. By the time the woman vet came in, he was all out of sorts and didn't want any one near him...no way..no how. She was able to get his temp, after much coaxing and soothing and bribing him with treats. She was worried he would be prancing around too much to inject him with the vaccinations so she called a woman in to help her. Luckily it was a different one than the one I dealt with earlier. For some reason they felt it necessary to give him the shots in his butt after all the hoopla of JUST chasing him around with a thermometer for that same part of his anatomy. Our other vet always would grab the loose skin on the top of his neck and inject him here without any problems from Boomer. Poor Boomer felt like he was being assaulted from all ends yesterday and he didn't like any of it. His annual check-ups have always been hassle free but these people don't seem to "have the canine touch". They certainly know how to jack up someone's bill for their visit though. When I first got in the room with him they asked if I wanted him to have a heartworm test. I asked her how much it was. "I'll have them work that up for you". In she came with a whole litany of possible tests that he could/should have and the associated charge. All said and done, if I'd had all of those tests done, it would have come to $380 !! Yep, they are real big on up selling....and to think it only cost us $102 (and the exam was free). Don't think we'll be going back to that place.

Boomer still has swelling today. Seems a bit lethargic but I imagine his butt might be sore and maybe he has some discomfort under his eye. He doesn't seem to have any pain when I press on it and we've looked at his teeth and gums and they are fine. Not sure what it could be but we'll keep an eye on him.

Trip To The Dog Park

While we were at the clubhouse Sunday, watching the NASCAR race, a lady came up and asked if I was "one of the Linda's". I said "Yes, I am". Apparently Linda had told someone that we were looking for a dog park and this woman wanted to give us info on a dog park she had found. The weather report said it was going to be a nice day today so Linda and I wanted to take Boomer to the dog park so he could run and get some exercise.

As we learned from one of the guys at the park, this park is pretty new. It was located near Spring Hill, in a suburban section of town. The rotary club had built it and there are several different sections, based on the size of the dogs. Boomer's weight categorizes him as a large dog but compared to the dogs in that area today, he was small. It must have been Great Dane Day at the park as there were four or five Great Danes there and Boomer was very small in comparison to them. He found one or two dogs to run with but the Danes stayed together in their own little group (thank goodness). As we were walking back through the park to a picnic table a boxer approached a man that was sitting there and jumped up on him. When we got closer to this gentleman, we saw that this dog had cut his forearm with his toe nails. It left a pretty long gash so Linda went to the truck and got our first aid kit and bandaged his arm up. It was a good thing we had some gauze and disinfectant wipes with us as this guys arm was bleeding and needed protection from germs and dirt in the area. He was thankful for her help.

When Boomer started hiding under the table from some of the dogs, we could tell he had enough and wanted to go home. It wasn't until we got home that we noticed his one eye seems swollen and isn't open as far as the other one. I've wiped it several times with a wet, warm washcloth but we'll see how it looks in the morning. We can't see any scratches or any problem with it but perhaps one of the dogs scratched him when they were roughhousing at the park. When we first arrived down here we had researched vets in the area as Boomer missed getting two of his shots, which we typically get done in Williamsport over the Christmas holiday. Since we didn't make it home for the holidays he didn't get to go to his regular vet for his annual checkup so we called this afternoon and made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon for him. That way he can get his shots and if his eye is still bothering him, we can get that looked at. We're hoping it's nothing serious....he's such a sweet guy. He doesn't act like he's in any discomfort but something isn't "right" with him....he's a little clingy and wants a lot of lap time. Tomorrow we'll get him fixed up and if he's OK we'll go back to the park after our appointment and let him run some more. Maybe this time we'll sneak him into the little dog side and let him run with the zippy Jack Russell's and the other ones that aren't as aggressive.