The vet called me around 12:30 today to tell me Fidget was ready to come
home. They said he was really perky, and *eating*! They said we could
come by either around 2:30 or between 4:30 and 6, because that's when
the vet would be able to talk to us. I called David, who had an
appointment with a dermatologist in Bethesda today, and we agreed we'd
get there during the latter time period. The vet is in Springfield and
we're in downtown DC, so we *had* to leave town no later than 4:00, and
that was pushing it (locals will know why--the dreaded mixing bowl).
David ended up picking me up at work at 3:30 and we headed right out.

Got there too early to pick him up, so we went into the Outback that is
two doors down from the clinic and grabbed a quick dinner, then went
back to get Fidget. The doctor repeated everything he'd told me over
the phone yesterday, and said they've put Fidget back on prednisone,
since that seemed to be helping. They had given him an enema, among
other things.

Everyone there already knew and liked Fidget. (No surprise there!)
They brought him out and he was *so* glad to see us. David settled the
bill while we waited for the doctor to talk to him.

$1800.

We had left a $300 deposit on Sunday, so we "only" had to cough up $1500
today. Yikes! It's worth every penny to have Fidget back, but yikes!
again. I'm kind of surprised the Amex card didn't burst into flames
when they swiped it.

While we were talking to the doctor, a *huge* storm moved into the area,
so that by the time we left it was raining so hard we could barely see
the car. We went and got into the car anyway, and the first thing
Fidget did was scarf up a piece of turkey jerky we'd tried to get him to
eat on Sunday. We had to sit there for a while to wait for the storm to
blow over enough to even get on the highway, and when we finally did get
on the highway, traffic was moving very slowly. For while we were being
hailed on, and David got all nervous ("hail means tornadoes!" "not
always," I replied) but eventually the storm moved off from on top of
us, and we made it home without further incident.

When we got home, Fidget didn't want any dinner :-( and wasn't even
interested in the leftover chicken and hamburger from the Outback. This
is somewhat alarming, but they probably fed him this afternoon and he
doesn't want any more. I hope. They're getting a call back if he
doesn't eat tomorrow.

Tomorrow night we're going to pick up Toby's cremains; it'll be two
weeks. We're already feeling emotional about this.

It took our last dog five years to go through $13,000 in vet bills.
Fidget and Toby have managed that in six months. Anybody want to buy a
kidney?
--
Kevin Michael Vail | Dogbert: That's circular reasoning.
| Dilbert: I prefer to think of it as no loose ends.
http://www.vaildc.net/kevin/