Back to square one

This morning Jamie was lethargic, refused food and had massive bouts of diarrhea.

We went back to the vet, who was as baffled and frustrated as I am. 

Jamie had an ultrasound, which was NORMAL.

Just like his bloodwork - NORMAL.

And the X-ray series - NORMAL.

And his temperature, heart rate, etc. - NORMAL

But he only eats about half the time. He alternates between vomiting bile and blood. His stools are all over the place. Literally.

He will have an endoscopy on Thursday. This is about the end of the line as far as diagnostics go because the next option is exploratory surgery and for me, that's just not an option on a dog who will soon turn 12. So keep your fingers crossed the biopsies something definitive because at this point, we don't have a freaking clue what's going on.

Tomorrow I get to start giving Jamie the same "prep juice" people take before colonoscopies so his gut is cleaned out. He gets three doses: one at noon, one at 6 p.m. and one at midnight. Guess who'll be sleeping on the kitchen floor tomorrow night so I can let him outside when he needs to go? I drug out my air mattress and sleeping bag already. And you just thought camping season was over.

Since I've spent the last week and a half washing diarrhea out of his butt fur almost daily, I finally wised up and got out the scissors tonight.

If you ever needed proof that I should NOT own a dog whose grooming requires precise scissoring, Jamie's butt should convince you. His britches are gone. So is part of his tail fluff. Poor guy. I'd take a picture but I think he's humiliated enough. Getting through the prep will be bad enough without having to keep washing his butt.

Tammy and Marsha always joked about putting him in a lion clip. Well, I've got it started.