A True Under(TheWeather)Dog Story

I lay there sleeping soundly in bed last night, only to be startled awake by what I thought was Gus having a bad dream. Sometimes when dogs sleep they dream and whine and kick their legs (I assume they're running in their dream). Instead, the more awake I became, the more I realized that it sounded like he was wheezing or choking. Like an old man with a bad smoker's cough. I rushed out of bed and flipped on the light and tried to quickly get him out of the house so he could get sick outside. [You see where this is going, right?]

Three separate piles and his dinner made a reappearance in each one of them. As is customary when your loved one is sick like this, I checked it over to see what he could have eaten that made him so sick, but I didn't see anything. This continued for probably the next 20 minutes or so, and I did manage to get him outside a couple times before it stopped. Now, I usually don't get too worked up when the little guy gets sick like this, because usually there's a reason - which at some point makes its appearance - and then he quits. This time was different, I could tell. I almost felt like he had something caught in the back of his throat, as did the receptionist at the emergency clinic that I called at 3:33 a.m. this morning, who otherwise didn't sound all that worried. Believe it or not, this was actually a relief to me; her calmness made me calm and able to think straight.

So, in we went to the vet this morning at 7, and after ruling out Kennel Cough, a chest x-ray was done and it was determined that my little guy had some slight fluid on his lungs and a little cough; so my Trusty Friend aka The Vet/Gus's Aunt sent us home with doggy cough medicine and antibiotics. And I'm hoping it works, because he sounds like a grown man when he coughs right now! Poor little fella.