Chug-A-Lug

Once Skater was stabilized and his blood and enzyme levels being monitored twice a week, the next order of business was to rule out any obstruction in the gut. We scheduled a series of barium x-rays and, as I would not simply leave Skater at the veterinary clinic all day, it meant that we had to drive back and forth every hour to do more films

Skater and I were at the clinic at 8:00 AM. I was told to pick him up at 9:00; they would get the barium in him and do the first films. So, I picked up my boy at 9:00 and we basically spent the day driving back and forth. At 3:00 I was told that it wasn't working, that there wasn't enough barium in him and we would have to redo the whole series. Excuse me??? WHY, I asked, was there not enough barium in my dog and WHY did it take until 3:00 for them to figure that out? I was told that Skater fought them tooth and nail, (literally), and that both they and the dog ended up wearing more than he swallowed. Okay, I thought, so what do we do now? I was sent to another local vet to pick up more barium and I told them that I would give it to Skater the next morning and we could start all over again. They were more than fine with my solution.

I have had barium x-rays and I will admit that the stuff simply tastes terrible. But I also knew my dog; if I asked, he would comply. The next morning, I mixed the solution, put it in a bowl and said, "Skatie, please drink it - yum yum." He drank up every last drop (except for the residue of white stuck to his chin like a gruff old man's beard stubble). When we got to the vet clinic at 8:00 and I told them he was ready, they asked in astonishment how I got all the barium into the dog. My answer was simple ... "I put it in a bowl and asked him to drink it. He didn't appreciate your fighting him and, if you'd asked, he would have done the same for you."

We spent the day, again, driving back and forth. The films were done. There was no obstruction.