It is funny how I always make a mental note of the veterinarian clinics I see as we travel around Europe. Everywhere we stay, there is always a vet nearby. And every time I say to Chris, “There is a vet but we aren’t going to need it.” It is just a nice peace of mind – just in case. If you read our blog post about going to the vet in Vienna, you saw that you don’t need an appointment. You just walk in and when it is your turn, the vet will see you (the same is true for human doctors – you just walk in and wait to be seen – only specialists require appointments).
We were in Marseille, France and we bought a new type of dog food for James and some fun new treats. We were also in Aix-en-Provence where James drank out of a public fountain. I’m not sure if it was the treats or the food or the water – but something upset J’s tummy. A few of his bowel movements were normal firmness, but black and very, very smelly. I didn’t like this at all. So we threw out the food and I bought James some pumpkin and boiled it. I also boiled some chicken. This was maybe too late because he started to get diarrhea. Usually the pumpkin and chicken helps with diarrhea. But this time, it didn’t seem to help. I added some activated charcoal pills to see if maybe James had a little bug that needed drawn out. But that didn’t seem to help either.
Now that we are in Lyon, France, James’ diarrhea is pretty bad and it isn’t getting any better. It has been officially 4 full days of diarrhea and it should have been cleared up by now. By the late afternoon, James was needing to go to the bathroom every hour and it was very watery. It was time to see a vet.
Thankfully, there was a vet two blocks from our house in Lyon. We walked in and there was another dog ahead of us. Once he was finished, Dr. Badra called for James. He took J’s temperature and it was normal. He also asked if J was eating, drinking, playing. Oui, oui, oui. Did I mention there was a language barrier? Thank goodness for Google Translate and multi-lingual friends on speaker phone!
J was given an anti-diarrhea shot and Dr. Badra sent us home with what looks like milk of magnesia and anti-diarrhea pills. Oh and poor little J (little – HA! – he is up 5 pounds since we moved to Europe!) can’t eat for 24 hours. I didn’t think that would be a big deal. But as soon as we walked into our house James went right over to where his food bag is on the counter and sat down and stared at it. Sorry, bud. No food for you right now! Doctor’s orders. He said your gut needs to settle down and heal a bit first.
I am just so grateful how EASY it is to see a vet here. It is easy to walk in to any vet clinic in the US, too. But they are busy with appointments and sometimes it takes a while for them to see you. And most of the vets we have been to in the US have a pretty high emergency or non-appointment fee. Our visit today cost us €80. In DC it would have easily been $400.
Guess what? James is feeling better! He is playing with Chris and his duck toy!
