Pets and Animals: July 2005 Archives

Why am I blogging at 12:30 Saturday morning, you ask? Just got in from the emergency vet. Thing, one of our (my) two dachshunds, gave us a bit of a scare. Threw up and didn't eat this morning. Stool a little loose. Didn't even eat a dog treat. When I got home, he was running a fever and didn't want to move. This is definitely not Thing, for whom Newton's laws have been modified (A Thing at rest normally does not remain at rest). Gave him the leftover rice, which normally is excellent for calming stomach, except he didn't touch it, even after I put him down right by it. As anyone who's ever had a dog knows, they are normally four-legged self-propelled apetites. Heart rate fast, breathing fast, a couple degrees of fever. More worrisome because he's recently developed a heart murmur. Ramona finally told me to take him to the emergency vet. I took him and spent five hours waiting for our turn, then test results. First hypothesis at this point is still he managed to eat something he shouldn't have. Really hope that's what it is because second hypothesis is cancer. Not totally out of the blue because he's almost thirteen and we had a mass removed from his back last month. Spent several hours holding him and petting him while waiting for vets and techs to do this and that. He was very quiet, calm, subdued - especially for Thing. Decided it was best to leave him there for the night, and finally came home. Really hoping he's OK. I will be a wreck when I lose this dog, guaranteed. He got me through a very rough time in my life. Mellon (the female) helped, but he did the lion's share, just by being Thing. He's a major part of the reason why I wasn't too far gone in cynicism when I met my wife, and why I have a family now. Just having the two of them to come home to, and watching his antics, has always been enough to cheer anybody up. How anybody can abuse, abandon, or ignore their dogs amazes me - and is a sure sign of someone who is not worth anyone's friendship. Sure hope he's alright.