Dr. Suzanne Fariello of the Cambridge Valley Veterinary Service  was worried all weekend about Red’s fever, she thought it should have broken by Friday. She was planning other steps and new medications to fight the rampaging infections that raised his temperature and made him too sick to eat.

When she listened to his heartbeat and then found out that his temperature was normal, she dropped to her knees and gave him a big hug. She conceded that she thought he was gravely ill last week and wasn’t certain he would recover. Me, too.

Red’s temperature is 101.1, normal for a dog.

It felt great to get this clean bill of health, this had gone on a long time. I was beginning to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

Vets get especially worried then they can’t bring down the fever of a dog or cat and the animal stops eating. The fever just runs amok and the body begins to deteriorate. That’s what was happening to Red.

Suzanne is amazing to watch in a crisis, she is a kind of cross between Mother Teresa and Sherlock Homes, she is doing acupuncture one minute, poring through Lab results the next.

She used the tests to rule out one thing or another, and moved steadily forward. But Red’s symptoms were not typical of tick-borne diseases, she was concerned something else was happening, none of it good.

It seems Red was nearly overwhelmed by his four different infections and his body was struggling to fend them off, and losing the fight.

Antibiotics and an innovative diet of  meatballs, meatloaf, gravy and chicken broth seemed to turn the tide on Sunday. It is wonderful to see Red turn back into his alert and energetic self. Kimberly, a healer of animals and people in many forms, told me Sunday that it was my job to be the protector of Red’s energy over the next month or so, until he regains his “chi,” the life force of living beings.

Dr. Fariello, who is also an advocate and practitioner of alternative medicine as well as traditional veterinary care, agreed, saying Red’s work should be sharply curtailed for a week or so at least, and then monitored closely. She agreed that Red’s chi was battered and needs time to recover. He can do some work, she said, but less than half of what is usual.

This will be a difficult emotional and physical challenge for me, Red is at the center of so much of the work that I do, and many people depend on him. I can’t quite imagine our not working for a full month, ut I am  determined to do what is best for him and to protect his energy while he recovers. I am beginning to understand “chi” in my own life as well. Chi is what differentiates us from corpses, I think.

Dr. Fariello, a Cornell trained scientist, surprised me a bit when she gave me a piece of paper listing chi foods – chicken, beef, rabbit, tripe, mackerel, corn, oats, brown rice, pumpkin, winter squash, sweet potato, cherry, date, fig, chestnut and peanut.

So another journey for me, another learning curve, another lesson about patience, listening and selflessness. Red brings nothing but good things to life. (No rabbit or tripe, I think.)

I am immensely relieved that Red does not have a fever for the first time in nearly two weeks,  he must we weak and drained. I feel like a 100-lb weight has been lifted off of my heart.

Like the Guardians Of The Galaxy, I will be Red’s Energy Protector. He can come out and stare at the sheep, but no running. He can visit the Mansion, but no long and intense one-on-ones.

Less than half of everything. And lots of beef and pumpkin. Red is fine.

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Just so you know, and with all due respect, I don’t wish to waste your time, I do not (and can’t)  read or follow all of the medical advice sent me over the Internet from people I do not know. I understand this is well motivated and meant to be helpful, but it is not, truthfully,  and I consider the dispensing to medical advice and computer diagnoses to be unethical, I never do it.  We have an excellent, highly-trained, Cornell certified veterinarian who studied for eight years to be an animal doctor, and she has a wonderful staff, and that is where I choose to get my medical advice for Red.

And just in passing, she just saved his life.

I am grateful for the love and support and good wishes so many of you sent me about Red. They mattered and sustained me and gave me great comfort. Thanks.

Also, this experience has greatly focused me on the idea of talking to animals and listening to them. It was very important to me this week, and I just wrote a book about it called “Talking To Animals,” it came out the day Red got sick.  I believe talking to Red and listening to him was essential in helping recover from a near-fatal series of tick-borne infections.

I’m trying to figure the timing of all this out. If you wish to order the book and support me, my work with Red,  and  wonderful independent bookstore, please consider getting the book from Battenkill Books, my hometown bookstore.

Connie has defied all the publishing odds there are by running a successful and much-loved bookstore in a small upstate New York town. She is a miracle worker and deserves support, she has already sold more than 800 copies of my book.

Battenkill takes credit cards and Paypal, and ships anywhere. You can call them at 518 677 2515, or order the books on their website. I will sign and personalize each copy  and you will also receive a free tote-bag with a beautiful sketch of a dog over the words “Sit. Read. Stay.”  The bookstore people are wonderful and knowledgeable and remind us that human beings are an essential part of the writing world. Thanks for thinking about it, you can order the book here.