[Dailydrool] May with our Elsinore and young Charlie, part 2 of 3

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

Young Charlie fell ill this month, probably from something he picked  
up during one of his visits to doggie daycare. Ken noticed the week  
before last that Charlie seemed to be a bit quiet, but chalked it up  
to my being away. He calls Charlie a "mama's boy," and not in a nice  
way, either. When I got home, I noticed that Charlie had become self- 
segregating, subdued, and uninterested in his meals. He also was  
eating more grass than usual but not throwing it back up again. Then  
last Tuesday night he refused his bedtime biscuit. That's when I got  
worried.

I was able to get him into the vet's on Wednesday morning, and as I  
talked with the vet about Charlie's sudden acquisition of a quiet,  
well-behaved demeanor, I realized I couldn't remember the last time  
Charlie had asked me to chase him or play with his toys with him or  
even done something naughty. Charlie spent the entire vet visit lying  
at my feet, not investigating the examining room like he usually does.

The vet decided to start off conservatively by treating the symptoms,  
which he said indicated worms. He said the medicine would taste  
really nasty, and if Charlie wasn't feeling better in a week, then  
he'd need to have a bloodtest. Apparently the vet wasn't kidding  
about the foulness of the medicine. Charlie fought all five doses  
like a tiger, and because Ken's been out of town, I've gotten to  
wrangle this wild animal all by myself. The last two mornings I've  
surprised him in bed and been able to pin him down with my legs in a  
corner and get the medicine squirted down his throat that way.  
Fortunately we're all done with the medicine now. I was running the  
risk of losing Charlie getting nervous every time I got too close to  
him on his bed in the morning.

Near the end of the second day of being on the worm medication,  
Charlie got out of bed and came over to chew on a bone behind my desk  
chair. That was an encouraging sign. He also ate his dinner without  
as much coaxing that night. The next morning he ate his breakfast  
willingly. Even better, he did two naughty things before lunchtime. I  
never in my life thought I'd be happy to hear young Charlie doing  
something in the next room that he knew he shouldn't be doing. I was  
so happy he was finally being naughty again that I didn't even scold  
him, I just picked him up and hugged him.

Today he's completely back to normal. In fact, as I write this, he's  
back to sleeping next to me again, curled up in his bed that's on his  
half of "our" desk. His energy level and appetite are good, and I've  
caught him eyeing the package of toilet paper in the bathroom linen  
closet that doesn't have a door. Who'd have thought that worms could  
make a dog so sick? I'm very glad I took him to the vet as soon as I  
realized he wasn't feeling well, instead of taking a wait-and-see  
approach and allowing the worms to really get the upper hand.

As for our Elsinore, she seems to have escaped the worms (which the  
vet thinks Charlie picked up at the doggie daycare). She's having  
attitude problems instead. To be continued in part 3....

Elizabeth