Red gave us a true scare yesterday and last night. He had a fever close to 106 and had stopped eating. Last night he barely moved. The large dose of anti-biotics he got last night seemed to check in after sunrise this morning. After some hesitation, he ate what the vet calls a “Katz cocktail” of hamburger, rice, a small dose of kibble and special wet food for digestive health.

It’s too early to completely relax, but this is a good sign. The key thing for us to watch now is whether he continues to eat. No therapy work or sheep herding, he can go out to the pasture, but no running. I’m usually loose about these instructions, but he scared the hell out of me last night.

We took him over to Cambridge Valley Vet this morning, Maria came with me.

Dr. Fariello did another stellar job of pro-active and aggressive treatment that balances holistic and conventional care. Her acupuncture work is becoming more central to her practice, and I could see Red responded to it well. He barely moved all night and seemed warm and barely conscious to me.

I am so fortunate to have a vet like this, I’m not sure Red would be live without here. She is smart and open-minded and can be conventional, innovative and forward-looking at the same time. She’s not afraid to try something new, or use something old and tested.
And she is also respectful of me and my wishes and concerns. I always feel as if I’m a part of the process, even though I almost always defer to her judgement. She’s the vet, not me.

Dr. Fariello believes this severe fever is most likely a recurrence of the massive infection he experience a couple of months ago. Red tested positive for our tick-borne diseases, something she has never seen before in her practice. His immune system may have been weakened by this disease (including Lyme, Anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever)  and he may always  be susceptible to a recurrence.

She was clearly and visibly alarmed by his temperature and decided to act quickly and forcefully. With that kind of fever, a good call.

Red’s  immune system is compromised, it doesn’t take a tick bite to start it up again, the causes and interactions of these infections are still not really understood.

We will return to the vet on Thursday for another check-up and more acupuncture and Red will stay on the antibiotics for  a month. Hopefully he can return to work at the end of the week. I’ll stop by and let the Mansion residents know he will be back, they worry about him if he doesn’t show up regularly.

If he stops eating, we’ll do emergency blood work.

This was serious, a close call, I think. I am glad I took him right away to the vet on Monday, if the temperature had gone up any further he might not have made it. Dr. Fariello caution that this kind of fever can often recur, the test will be his appetite.

Red is a strong dog, and healthy, but he is also vulnerable to infection, and I will have to be mindful of that. I am very grateful this morning, I can’t adequately express what Red means to me (and so many others) and how  upset I was at the thought of losing him. All kinds of awful things were racing through my head.

He is the ultimate spirit dog to me.

Today, a day of celebration and gratitude. I believe he is re-bounding.

Red and I have a lot of good work to together, I feel that strongly. He is not ready to go, and thanks for the hundreds of good messages I received on his behalf. He makes me re-think the idea of the Lifetime Dog.  That is, the kind of dog you have once in a lifteime.

Once, I thought you could only have one,Then, I thought there might be many. Now I’m moving back to the original idea.

There is only one Red. He came for a reason, he will go when his work is done. Not yet. He supports so much of my life and work, as great dogs do. I will work hard to keep him strong and healthy. I appreciate how many people love him, I understand that he is not just my dog, he belongs to many other people – hospice patients, the Mansion residents, the refugees and soccer kids.

I will keep you all posted.