Day 3: McDonalds is BAD

McDonald's is bad and after this trip I'm going to write them a mean letter. They are bad.

Day 2's night began restless. After tucking everyone into the queen bed in the back of the RV, Ricky, the schnauzer started getting very ill. I was up and down every hour. The good news about an RV is that there are usually plenty of places to sleep. The 'kitchen table' as it were is a great bed as well. I converted it into a bed and got up and down with him all night.

I gave Ricky my chicken from my McDonald's Salad on Day 2. I did not know how unhealthy it was for him. I hoped his sickness would clear up by the afternoon.

We packed up the RV again because we needed groceries and wanted to see the sights of Myrtle Beach before setting up camp permanently for the rest of the trip. The local grocery store was really clean and nice. The fresh fruit looked so appetizing and we had lots of options.

A tour around the beach was fun. Everything seems shut down this time of year because it is 'so cold'. Locals were bundled in jackets, gloves and hats. We were in heaven. We ran on the beach with the dogs and took pictures.

Arriving back at camp, we started setting up, did some laundry and had dinner. Ricky however wasn't improving. In fact, he was getting worse. We were starting to get scared.
Thanks to technology, we were able to call a local vet, who referred us to the Animal Hospital that is open on Sunday nights. Rob packed up the RV really quickly and we set off for the 40 minute drive to the animal hospital. When I spoke to the lady on the phone, she seemed to think it was the Mc Donald's chicken.

I was so glad to get there. Ricky was so sad and sick, which was in stark contrast to Super Cookie with her iron stomach (she had some of the chicken too and is surprisingly fine. This is also the dog who survived mouse poison and a dog attack, but those are other stories).

The vet finally came in and looked over everything. No one seemed overly worried, considering that we had mentioned the change in his diet; eg. Evil McDonalds.

They had us give the OK on fluids, meds, blood work and X-rays. They took him to get the IV and we sat to wait.

This is the curious part, but I guess this is the only and easiest way they work. They don't have the blood testing facilities on site, so it is the client's responsibility to drive the blood to the local human hospital. Luckily, we would receive the results in a matter of hours. So much for another adventure.

As we drove to the human hospital to drop off the blood, we debated about whether or not to drive back to the site or stay nearby. You see, the hospital closes at 8am and we needed to pick Ricky back up, regardless of if he needed more tests or fluids. We would have to take him to a day vet and continue treatment.

The lady at the counter mentioned that it wasn't the nicest of areas where we were. We couldn't tell because it was 10 at night and we didn't know the area. We decided on heading back to site. The results were to be ready in an hour so we could call the vet then and find out how everything was.

Rob is now an old pro at hooking up and parking. I took a shower on site (more on those amazing showers they provide here later) and tried to make the time pass.

12:30 we got good news. All is well. The x-rays showed everything clear and the blood work only showed dehydration. We fell into restless sleep and set the alarm for 6am to drive back and pick him up.

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I hesitated writing all of this to everyone because I was blaming myself for Ricky's sickness. However, now that we know he is ok and will be ok, I thought continuing to tell the tale would pass along vital information to everyone. I grew up on McDonald's food. You see the signs everywhere and see the commericals. I just thought it was ok food. I never thought it would make my dog so sick and I'm really angry about that. They don't have to cook that unhealthy in this day and age. McDonalds is BAD.

I'll continue tonight with Day 4. Ricky is fine and so are we, now.