An eventful morning

Had an eventful morning this morning...


Last night, Ralphie threw up a few times -- which isn't usual, but neither is it shockingly un-usual for dogs. Also a little less peppy than usual. Checked him over for ticks, but didn't find any, so thought perhaps he was just a bit under the weather. Although I did think it was kinda strange that he couldn't be bothered to bark his head off at the paper shredder.

This morning, he was even less peppy; hind legs were a bit wonky; breathing was a bit wheezy, and panted even though the weather wasn't particularly warm and he hadn't exerted himself. The Lady looked him over for ticks, but didn't find any. Mum also came over and looked, but didn't see any. But, we thought we should take him in to the vet, to have him checked out.

We were out on the veranda, where the light was better, and about the time we were thinking of taking him to the vet, he threw up on the floor. And while we were standing around, contemplating cleaning it up, The Bub threw up all over, twice in quick succession: down her front, in my hand, on my shoulder, down my sleeve, on my pants leg (I was sitting down for the second one). Then she started crying. Poor kid!

So, everyone (me, Mum, The Lady, Tall Guy) pitched in and cleaned up one or the other form of vomit and/or clothing.

(Nothing wrong with The Bub, as it turned out -- just had a hair tickling the back of her throat, and babies have a very good gag reflex -- a safety thing, I suppose.)


So, we took Ralphie in to the vet. We didn't have an appointment, so we had to wait a little bit. But when the vet saw him, within about three minutes she had found the tick: fairly centered, across the shoulders just below the collar. Waaaay swollen; yech!!! (For you non-dog owners, ticks release an enzyme to keep the blood flowing as they slurp it; kinda like mosquitoes. But it's toxic to dogs.)


They have to keep him in overnight, maybe 2-3 days. He's right between Stage 1 and Stage 2, so with proper care he's still recoverable; plus he's young (2 yrs. old) and sturdy, so he has a 95% chance of recovery. Still, The Lady was sad about having to be separated from the doggie: At the end of the examination, he walked over to the examination room door, expecting to leave with the rest of us... :(

But, on the way out, a guy was bringing in a very gentle German shepherd whose back legs were barely functional -- she kept trying to walk, but flopping over. The guy said she was 15 years old, and her legs were going. From the statements and questions made by the receptionist ("We don't have a room available at the moment"; "Were you planning on staying?"), and from the way he was crying but trying not to, I'm pretty sure he was there to have the dog put down. And she seemed like a very sweet, gentle dog.

So, that put things into perspective!


Anyhow, because of all of this I didn't get in to work until around noon.

Which is why I'm taking a quick break to blog at 7:30-ish p.m. -- I'm here at work, making up the hours.


--GG