Nigel’s Post-Xmas Slump
We got back from visiting my parents last night; the visit was a lot of fun, and I shall probably have more to say about it later if I don’t get unaccountably lazy. There were presents, there was food, there was knitting, there was a marathon of “Arrested Development” on DVD.
The important thing at the moment, though, is that Nigel seems out of sorts. While we were at my parents’ house, he seemed fine: interested in what was going on, active, and generally pretty happy to have three people to watch rather than just one boring one. He did tend to neglect his kibble a bit, but I chalked that up to the presence of a lot of really exciting food that he found more interesting and that he might, if he lay down on the floor as flat as he possibly could get and rolled his eyes up at you meaningfully, potentially get to taste. Once all the other human food was put away, he did eventually go to his kibble bowl. That’s pretty standard for him: new and exotic food, particularly if strong-smelling, takes precedence over everyday food. (He did get scraps of pumpkin waffles and crackers and other goodies, but nothing too much — no bigger than a fingernail from each of us — and nothing that was potentially dangerous to dogs, such as onions.) The only odd thing was that he started rubbing the right side of his face with his paw, but I couldn’t find any obvious problems such as wonky teeth or inflamed gums.
Last night, however, he looked decidedly unhappy. At first I thought it was just a standard, “Oh, back to the flat, how boring, and I’m still cranky from being cooped up in the car for hours,” reaction, but then he started sitting by the door looking really miserable. Apparently he was having intestinal cramps and diarrhea — not quite colitis, as far as I could tell, but enough to make him shake, and be reluctant to move. (During one trip outside, he actually stopped halfway down the front steps and just sat there looking unhappy for a while.) He was drinking water, at least. The vet-recommended half-dose of Immodium AD seemed to help with that, but it freaked me out that he refused to eat it when wrapped in peanut butter — I had to stick it down his throat, which did not please him — and also refused the runny white rice porridge that usually settles his stomach and keeps him hydrated when he’s sick. Neither of those things has ever happened before.
This morning, there’s been no diarrhea and no shaking, but he’s lethargic and I haven’t seen him drink any water. No interest in food, which is seriously freaky when it happens to a beagle. He doesn’t seem to be in pain, but just apparently feels generally crappy.
We’ve got an appointment at the vet’s in a little over an hour. Maybe I’m panicking over a passing bug, but I don’t want to take any chances with him.
