I took Red to the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Clinic for a sit-down with Dr. Suzanne Fariello to follow-up on last week’s issues with Red: gulping water outside and at the groomer’s and a sudden relatively sharp weight gain. Dr. Fariello and Red are right, Red has more girlfriends than I could ever have imagined. It was a good meeting, another boon of where I live, Dr. Fariello spent nearly an hour with us going over Red’s history, his symptoms, his tests and screens, and checking out his body, posture and heart.

It is her feeling that Red is fine, we both think the water issues – which seem to have gone away – were a behavioral tic, Red like most border collies, has many – or a side affect of the extreme cold which may have affected him as he worked in sub-zero weather. Dr. Fariello felt the weight grain was a function of Red’s having been treated for hookworms a few months ago, there is often a weight gain after de-worming. Also, she said he is getting older, he is nearly eight years old and his metabolism might be changing, she suggested mixing up the high-protein Fromm Food with some of Fromm’s lower calorie mixes. Fromm is her favorite food, as it is mine.

Otherwise, she said Red is very healthy. His urinary tract is clean, he does not have diabetes or Cushing’s disease, his thyroid and kidney functions are healthy, she said even with his increased weight, he is by no means overweight, just a bit heftier than he usually is. We agreed to put this aside for now, I was grateful for the time and care Suzanne took – vets in cities and suburbs rarely can offer that much time and care, I appreciate the practice.

I have changed Red’s food and moved his water bowl around – he is drinking inside more, but not gulping so much – and adjust his food. He has lost a half-pound since last Wednesday. As the weather warms up a bit, we can get back to work, the ice has melted, we can do some daily herding again. We’ll see what happens.

Thanks for the generous concern about Red,the advice didn’t bug me too much, I can’t honestly say I pay attention to online diagnoses but I do see the concern behind some of them. I like vets, and I trust them. They have always offered the truest diagnoses for my animals. I enjoyed seeing Red and Dr. Fariello connect with each other, Red is a good and sweet soul, he even loves being examined. I put up an album on Facebook.