Beaumont, Texas Brings Bad News...

Our next stop was Beaumont, Texas for what was to be a two day rest. We had stopped in Beaumont in November 2014 while traveling east and decided to return to the same RV park...Hidden Lake RV Park. It is near the highway, has level, paved sites, grass to walk the dog, friendly owners, cable and they accept Passport America.

Since Hurricane Patricia was increasing in strength and bearing down on the west coast of Mexico and torrential rains were already flooding Texas and likely to get worse, we decided that staying put and waiting out the rains was the best course of action, so two days became five.

Maggie had not been eating well for several days and on Sunday was lethargic and showed signs of pain. I researched local vets, found one I thought would be good and Jack called first thing Monday morning. Fortunately they were able to see her right away.

The vet found signs of arthritis in Maggie's back and hips, which I expected since she's fifteen years old, and said the pain could be causing her lethargy and decreased appetite...but she wanted to check Maggie's blood work to see if there was anything else. The results were not good. Our two day stay, turned into five, turned into a nine day stay.

Maggie has ESRD - End Stage Renal Disease - kidney failure.  For us medical types, her BUN was 91 (normal 7-27) and her Creatinine was 12.1 (normal 0.5-1.5) and her phosphorous was through the roof. If she were a human we'd be looking at dialysis, instead she spent 4 days at the veterinary clinic getting IV fluids and meds. It brought her values down to about half of what they were; though still quite high that's as good as they will get. ESRD is terminal and her time is limited. Untreated she might not have lasted more than a few weeks, with treatment she may have months left. She is on a kidney diet and an appetite stimulant and has pain pills for the arthritis. The treatment, clinic stay, special diet etc. was very expensive but seemed like the right choice.

Choosing a vet while on the road can be hit or miss. My research and subsequent choice hit the mark. She was given great care by the staff at Delaware Animal Clinic.

We're continuing our travels and, for now, she's comfortable and enjoys her walks and laying in front of the fireplace.