Red continues to struggle with a fever and loss of appetite as we go into the second week of his illness. He was diagnosed Thursday with four separate tick-borne infections, and so far, antibiotics have not brought his stubborn fever down. He also is eating very little and very sporadically.

Ultrasound examinations found no evidence of tumors or growths or cancer.

Red seems more alert and active than before, but Dr. Fariello is still worried about the fever and wants to see it come down.  Me too.

He also can’t eat like this for too much longer without doing himself some harm, especially as he fights off a severe infection. Fevers help the body immune system defend itself, but it is also  unhealthy if they continue for too long, and Red’s is close to two weeks old.

So we’ll see what happens over the weekend. We have another meeting Monday to plan other options if the fever doesn’t break and some appetite returns. I’m pleased that he has improved otherwise, he moves more fluidly and energetically and seems more aware. We did get a hot dog from a nearby stand into him at lunch today.

One way or another, this is going to be a long haul, no easy fixes or miraculous rebounds on the horizon. This is only his second day on doxycycline, and if it’s going to work, that ought to be clear by Saturday or Sunday. If the fever doesn’t break soon, we will explore some other possibilities.

So it was an up and down day. I’m disappointed his fever didn’t come down, and I’m going to try some different nutritional options tomorrow. We’ll keep at it, I wanted to offer an update for those many people rooting for him. I am weary this week, I can only imagine how he feels.

For the first time  ever, Red tried to hide behind me when we went into the vet clinic this afternoon. He never tried to hide there before.