kiwords

Pepe` is not well. He’s been lethargic and coughing since yesterday, so the boys and I took him to the vet’s today. His owners are off camping somewhere, so we couldn’t get ahold of them. So I rallied the troops and we were away to the vet. I reported the symptoms like this, “Well, I don’t know his medical history or how old he is, but he’s been making this gagging/coughing noise and he’s way too calm. Like someone turned his dimmer switch waaaayyy down.” So she listened to his heart and lungs and took some x-rays. Ready for this? It’s his heart. He has a murmur, and he’s in congestive heart failure. There’s fluid all around his heart and collecting in his lungs. The vet explained gently, “He’s not getting much oxygen. That’s why his…um…dimmer switch has been turned down.” She said it can happen like this, heart problems surface all of a sudden. Just bad luck that it happened on my shift.
But I’m fretting about Jodi, his “mom.” What a terrible thing to come home to. Pepe` might be just fine. He’s on heart medication now, and he’s already doing much better. I’m sure Jodi and Pepe`s vet can figure it out from here. Oh, but what a hard thing to come home to.
But I’ve done what I could, I keep reminding myself. Time to let myself off the hook. See, that’s a problem of mine. Like last night. I could tell Pepe` wasn’t feeling well, and had decided to take him to the vet’s first thing in the morning. But he kept having these coughing fits, and I was worried. So I took him upstairs and let him sleep on my bed. That way, whenever he had a coughing fit I could wake up and helplessly stroke his back. I could have left him sleeping peacefully on the couch, but no. I had to be there. Because Lord knows, if there’s a problem it’s my business.
So today I’m exhausted. And Claire (our beautiful stupid cat) is miffed at me, because she caught a DOG, of all things, sleeping in her spot on my bed. Sheesh.
Hey, but Pepe`s doing better. Counts for something, right?