06 Sep Veterinarian on Lake Maggiore
Our personal experience report
As soon as we arrived at Lake Maggiore, we needed a vet straight away.
Our Russian Black Terrier Colja was already ailing in Germany: An inflammation of the skin with painful, weeping eczema had driven us to the vet, who gave us antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory honey ointment – as he had done several times before. We have not yet found the cause of the inflammation, probably an insect bite with an allergic reaction or – like last summer – a bite from an asps viper (yes, they are here and they are poisonous!). As we had everything under control and the symptoms were clearly subsiding, we decided to continue our trip to Lake Maggiore as planned.
Two days after our dog arrived, he was obviously in a lot of pain. He was weak and whining quietly, which we were not used to from our robust dog. The eczema on his skin had subsided, but had not yet healed. Was that the reason? Or a new tick bite somewhere in the black fur? We were at a loss.
Finally, I searched the internet for “Tierarzt Laveno Mombello” – yes, I actually started the search in German and with a specific location (the search “Tierarzt in der Nähe” (vet nearby) yielded other, less suitable results). Using Google Translate, I came up with the right sentences: “My dog is ill, when is the earliest you have an appointment available for us?” The call to the veterinary clinic in Cittiglio was not even answered. The second number only went to an answering machine. I was lucky with the third number: Dr. Dario Bellorini (tel. +39-0332 626396, Via C. Battisti 9, 21014 Laveno-Mombello) was on the line himself. And luckily he even spoke a little English. Yes, I could come in immediately, the practice wasn’t particularly full.
Excuse me? This is supposed to be the entrance to a vet’s surgery? I carefully pushed down the door handle. A small waiting room with a few empty chairs and a closed door behind which voices could be heard. Okay, there didn’t seem to be a reception desk here. We sat down dutifully in the otherwise empty waiting room until the door opened, two elderly ladies with a small dog came out and the doctor invited us in. The treatment room was a bit dated and the computer looked as if it still had a floppy disk drive hidden somewhere.
With the help of Google Translate, we tried to explain Colja’s history of skin problems and tell the Dottore about the obvious pain. We had the medication prescribed in Germany with us. He took a close look at everything, examined Colja, took her temperature and drew blood, which our 54-kilo lump fortunately put up with without any problems. Yes, the temperature was high and the Dottore wasn’t really happy with the skin eczema either.
At the end he gave us another antibiotic and painkillers with the recommendation to come back the next day when the results of the blood test were available.
After a night of sleep – our little Colja was screaming in pain – we went to see Dr. Bellorini again the very next morning. This time I had my friend and Italian teacher Brigitte with me as an interpreter in case things got more complicated.
I reported the obvious pain. Yes, the blood test showed inflammation, but it wasn’t clear where it could be. I suggested that the problems might be in the abdominal area. Dr. Bellorini unveiled a somewhat outdated ultrasound machine and set to work. Every now and then he mumbled something before finally coming up with the diagnosis: prostate inflammation. You have to come up with that first! Now it was easy to prescribe a suitable, specific antibiotic and something for the incredibly painful swelling of the prostate. Puuuhhh, done. Our Colja actually felt much better after just a few hours and after a week the spook was over.
We paid around 120 euros for the examination and blood test – similar to what we would have paid in Germany. Only the medication, which you can get in a normal pharmacy here, was significantly more expensive.
I can really recommend Dr. Bellorini. He is a friendly, emphatic, experienced vet who simply does his job without any fuss. In the meantime, I have also heard from other Germans that they were very satisfied with Dr. Bellorini.
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