[Dailydrool] Twinkie's Almost Bloat or Why I Don't Like the Local Vet Clinic!!

[froggie]

Twinkie gave me quite the scare an hour ago!  She came in from the yard (where she'd been grazing, no doubt) shaking, hugely fat and taut, with white gums and a contracted blueish tongue.  I shoved a Phazyme soft gel down her throat and rushed her to the local vet clinic (the one I dislike, but they're closest.)  No one even acknowledged my presence (depsite the other patrons standing at the counter oohing and aahing over the cute fat basset) for the first 5 minutes.  When someone finally looks at me and I explain (near tears, of course) that I think my dog is bloating, we were quickly put in a room...and ignored for TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES!  There are at least 4 vets at this place, and I heard the receptionist talking to two of them by name, but no one made this a priority.  I could have driven to our usual vet (18 miles away in the next county) in that amount of time!

Anyway, Twinkie finally put her front feet up on my lap and passed a huge amount of gas, after which her tongue was no longer blue and she had good capillary refill in her cheeks again.  She did this again before we finally saw the dr.  He did an x-ray, although he felt confident it wasn't really bloat, and the abdomen looked really good (just full of gas.)  (It thankfully did not show any obstructions as Twinkie is known to eat foreign objects...)

So, the rescue is $136 poorer and Miss Twinkie is happily back on the couch--and I am wondering what to do the next time this happens to ANY of my dogs.  If they have all of the classic bloat signs, do I bother taking them to the closest place where we'll not be taken seriously or do I drive on over to my rural vets where we'll be treated like royalty, despite the time it takes to get there?

*sigh*

Susan and the Hoptown  Bassets + 8
Nellie, Murphy, Jeremiah,  Walter, Rusty Paws (ATB),Sammy (ATB), Barney Boy (ATB) &  Bert(ATB), Bianca(ATB), Sapper and the fosters
Bluegrass Basset Rescue, Inc
A Basset is an Asset!
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