MUNGO EATS Latin America

Well folks, I was hoping to be writing to you about the Uros Islands, the famous floating reed island of Lake Titicaca, which I was supposed to visit today, but my plans ended up  changing, on account of a certain hound!

The first night that we stayed in Puno, we stayed in a hostel.  It was okay, it was late, and it accepted our dog, so we stayed.  We started looking for another place to hang our hat for a few days, the following morning.  Our guide book gave us the name of a popular hostel, so we went in search of it.  For some reason though, no one answered the door to this hostel.  Luckily(?) there was another hostel next door, so we inquired there, got two rooms and moved in.  We were in the rooms for less than 5 minutes when the owner stormed in and asked us what the heck we were doing in his place with a dog?? (even though we told the receptionist we had a dog when we were enquiring about the rooms).  So the hunt was on again.  We passed a hotel, that looked pretty nice and thought we would try it for the heck of it, fully expecting a rejection.  It was a heck of a lot nicer than the hostel we were kicked out of, for it seemed about the same price.  They were fine with Mungo, and even gave us 2 special rooms, with a patio separating them, for Mungo to enjoy.  As we were parking our car in the garage, the young frontdesk clerk informed us that the rooms were $70.00/night each (not 70 soles, as we had assumed), so we were really paying 3 times as much as the yucky hostel that kicked us out.  Oh well, it was a beautiful hotel, they were willing to give Mungo a patio, we were parked and the trailer was unhitched, we were staying. 

All went well until we returned from supper.  When we leave Mungo in a hotel room, we leave him in his kennel, so that he is calmer and is less likely to wreck anything.  The kids let him out of his kennel and he decided to pee on the floor.  YIKES!!  Okay, it was a laminate floor and we cleaned it thoroughly and all was fine.  I wasn’t really sure why he peed.  It was a little late, but really, Mungo has a bladder of steel, he has held his urine for 15 hours before, and not even been in a rush to pee. (I don’t make him do this regularly, but he has).  It was after 9 pm, the time of his usual “last of the night pee”, so we just went to bed.  Our bed, by the way, was a HUGE king sized thing, with a super comfy mattress, and a nice down duvet…LUXURY!  It was so big, there was even room for a large hound on  it!  Well, imagine my horror when I awoke 2 HOURS later, with the down duvet TOTALLY SOAKED with dog urine.    NOOOOO!!!!  Can’t hide that, can’t clean that up on my own, have to confess to that sin.  So I strip the bed, throw Mungo in his kennel, and get dressed so that I can trek down to the van and find some antibiotics to give him, assuming that he has a bladder infection.

We had booked tickets to visit the Uros and other surrounding islands, and we were supposed to be ready to go at 7am.  We were to return at 5 pm.  This meant that Mungo would have to hold his pee for at least 10-11 hours.  That is not going to happen with a bladder infection.  I didn’t sleep a wink all night.  I knew that I would not be visiting the islands, but also I was dreading having to speak to someone in the morning about my very naughty dog!!!!  In Spanish!!

Morning (5:30 am), came very, very early.  We got Mungo out for a pee,and he really didn’t seem terribly distressed, but I also discovered that he had peed in his crate overnight.  Great!  I gave him another dose of antibiotics and then waited for a manger to come into work, so that I could give her the bad news.  That was a fun chat!!  Actually, she was very nice and calm about it and said she would find out if the quilt could be cleaned or had to be replaced.  My plan was to take Mungo out every 2 hours or so, and hopefully avoid any further accidents, while we waited for the antibiotics to work their “magic”.  The problem was, as we were walking about, Mungo seemed to get worse, not better.  He started urinating more and more frequently, and seemed more and more uncomfortable.  GREAT!  The antibiotics did not seem to be doing the trick.  I decided to try to track down a vet and see if we could do a few basic tests (a urinalysis would be nice).  However, it would seem that was out of the question.  Apparently, no one is willing to pay for that type of testing in Puno, Peru, so it does not exist.  This is something that I could do myself, without the help of a lab, if I was at home.  The vet didn’t even own a microscope!!  Okay, so we switched to plan B.  If the drugs were not really helping and he was getting worse, might as well add a second drug or switch from one drug to the next.  Good plan!  So I buy a second drug, and as I am paying for it, Mungo decided to yack in the vet store (really it wasn’t an office).  It was a little warm out, he had been walking in the sun, maybe he was a little overheated?  I don’t know, I take my pills and head out the door. 

I only went a little ways before I decided to give him the second drug.  There!  Start working your “magic” second drug.  It was not to be though.  Shortly after giving him the second drug, he yacked it up as well.  GREAT!  Now there is no drug in his system AND he is starting to pee blood!!!   Stupid dog!!!  so back to the vets we go.  The first vet, did not really foster a lot of confidence, so I stopped at the next clinic up the road, three or four doors down.  This guy acts a little more like a real vet.  He actually takes a history, and “kind of” examines Mungo, although he never did get close to his head (despite my reassurances that he does not bite).  He decided to give Mungo an injection of wonder drug number two, that he can’t yack up.  Good plan!  He has to go borrow some syringes from his neighbour though, ran out of his own it seems.  By the way, Mungo throws up 3 more times in his office.  We also decide to give him an antiinflammatory injection and one to address the barfing (which I now attribute to a reaction with drug number one).  I administer drug number two and three because the vet is worried that Mungo will bite him.  Now I have a barfing dog, that can’t walk more than 3 steps without squatting to pee (yes, my boy dog squats!).  I ask the vet if Mungo can stay overnight in the “clinic”, but I am told, that there are no cages, and if he was to keep Mungo overnight, he would have to keep him at his house, which he is reluctant to do, because he might bite his children!!  HE DOESN’T BITE!  By the way, three injections an exam, and a consultation set me back about $15 US.  You couldn’t even buy a bag of treats from a clinic in Calgary for that!

Now I am not sure what to do.  I can’t really go back to the hotel.  Mungo would never even make it through the lobby without squatting.  My only option is to go hang out in the van, wait for the drugs to kick in and hope he gets better.  It was a long walk to the van with Mr. Squatty Yacky pants, let me tell you. 

But, I think he is feeling better.  He has only urinated one in the past 3 hours, has not thrown up once, so the drugs must be helping.  I called him a stupid dog, but really I feel terribly bad for him.  I have had a bladder infection and it is just plain painful!!  Then add to the problem a reaction to antibiotics…Poor guy!!  It was so frustrating to know what I would do if I was back home, and to have so little control of things on the road.  Everyday, I am more and more grateful for what I have left behind!!!