Poor pooch

It's been a stressful week for the Hitch man... and for me! We were scheduled to leave around 8:30 am on Saturday to go to Olympia and race, but Hitcher was still having severe stomach issues, so we made a trip to the vet around 9. A fecal test didn't show anything, so we decided to go ahead and go on with our trip; unfortunately, we got to Olympia too late for Ted to do his race, and barely in time for me to register for mine. With no warm-up, my legs weren't ready when the ladies starting pushing the pace off the line.

We bought some Pepto Bismol for the pooch, and fixed him a bland meal of rice and boiled beef... yummy. When he was still having problems on Sunday morning, I was starting to get worried. My concern only increased when the afternoon had arrived and he had refused to drink anything all day, so I bailed on my race and we headed to a vet clinic (thanks to Suz and Eric for the recommendation). Ted did get to race yesterday and had a really good crit, so that was good.

The vet in Lynwood did some bloodwork, did another fecal exam, put him on more antibiotics and an anti-parasitic, and gave him a bunch of subcutaneous fluids. He walked around with a giant fluid-filled hump on his back for a few hours! The poor guy wasn't too happy, but he had a great time playing fetch with Ted's niece and nephew for a little while before we headed home. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home, which was around 1 am, so we slept in a bit this morning.

Our local vet clinic had called this morning to do a follow-up, so I filled them in on everything from the weekend, along with the fact that Hitch hadn't pooped in over 24 hours. That made them a little concerned, so he went back to the vet here again this afternoon. He got more subcutaneous fluids, another fecal exam, and lots of pokes and prods. The vet here says she doesn't want to get into any expensive diagnostics at this point, but if he's not significantly better by Thursday, he'll be getting more work-ups done. I think he's on the up-and-up. I sure hope he is because the past few days have been horrible for me!

On another pet note... Shamus turns 14 tomorrow, so he'll be getting some catnip and extra belly rubs tomorrow. He also got a dog-free afternoon today, which Ted says is the best gift you could give him.

The plan is to race in Boise this weekend (as long as Hitcher is doing okay), where it's supposed to be over 100 degrees. Yikes! I haven't been to Boise since 1998, so it'll be fun if we can make the trip.