Doctor's appointments

One of the challenging items of living in an RV fulltime and traveling is doctor appointments. We have tried to consolidate doctors in places that we visit regularly, but that doesn't always work out.

In addition, Miss Kitty's vet in the Dallas area has recently retired, so we needed to find a new vet. We decided to try using vets at Banfield, the pet hospitals that are found inside of some PetSmart stores. We had read information from other fulltime RVers that an advantage that they have is that the records are stored online and each Banfield can access history from previous vet visits.

So, we got Miss Kitty started with Banfield when we were in Illinois... it wasn't a perfect situation (I don't have as much confidence with them as I had with Dr Bill in Coppell), but the convenience of having her records available to different doctors as we travel made it feel like a good choice. They also have a one-year "wellness" plan that provides the ability for multiple visits to be covered under the one cost. When we were in Illinois, they indicated that she had a bacteria infection in her ears, and gave us drops to administer to correct that. We were amazed that she almost immediately stopped the scratching that she seems to do constantly (many times a day) -- the scratching is not always at her ears, but always around her head - ears, chin, neck, nose. However, a few days after finishing the regimen of drops, she was back to scratching.

We decided to see if we could get her re-checked and to see if the bacteria infection was still there, or if a maintenance dose of drops would be possible. We made an appointment for a PetSmart location near Wildwood, Florida for December 26.

We had a "drop off" appointment to drop her off at 8am (see her name at the end of the 4th line?)...

-- since it took us about 40 minutes to drive to the PetSmart, we asked if it was possible for us to find out about when she would be done as we would plan to stay in the area of the store. They said that they would check and the vet was able to see her and talk with us right away.

The good news was that she doesn't have the bad bacteria in her ears anymore... the vet thinks that she may have some allergies that are causing the itching, or just that she is a little prone to over-grooming. He suggested that an antihistamine might provide relief, so we're trying that. As sweet a kitty as she is, she is *very* difficult to give pills to... but we're trying! The pills seem to be very bitter, because when I tried to administer them in water via a syringe, she frothed at the mouth... so we are trying to just get the pills way to the back of her tongue and down the throat. We'll see how this works out!

The really nice thing is that her records are available to any Banfield that we visit... if only human doctors worked the same way across the country!

A few days before Christmas, Carl had a tooth that suddenly became very sensitive to heat (hot drinks, soup, hot foods -- all caused it to be very painful). He was able to see a local dentist within a day or two -- the doctor thought that he saw a hairline crack and thought that the nerve might just be inflamed and it may calm down in a day or two. Within a day or two after that, another tooth suddenly became very painful -- Carl was able to get back in to see the same dentist on the Thursday before Christmas - x-rays showed that there was a filling very near the nerve - the dentist recommended a root canal and they were able to schedule it for 12/27 (Tuesday after Christmas). Carl was a bit nervous (this was his first root canal)...

... but he survived (this is the after picture).

He still needs to get the tooth prepared for a crown and have a crown fitted -- since we are at the end of the calendar year, the dentist scheduled these appointments for after the first of the year, so the new dental plan will apply and more of the cost will be covered.

After the procedure was completed, we decided to celebrate with a visit to Culver's. The local Culver's had Turtle as the Flavor of the Day (one of our favorite Flavors of the Day!), and Carl's kids had given us a gift card to Culver's as part of our Christmas presents -- so we enjoyed ice cream to celebrate the end of tooth pain for Carl!

It is amazing how much pain in a tooth can affect your whole body! We're so thankful that Carl was able to find a dentist who could see him and who could address the issue, even during the holidays!