A little bit happier

I took Lady to the vet today with some trepidation. She's had a hacking cough the last few days, and it got worse yesterday. In the evening, my wife Holly got us a veterinary appointment for later today, but her cough was worse this morning. So I called the vet and asked to come in early. They said OK.

You always worry about trips to the vet. A former vet said that Lady sounded like she had congestive heart failure, and that's been in the back of my mind since then.

At the vet's office, they asked if Lady still drinks and eats normally (she does) and if she's interested in life (she is). I told them she still loves to take walks and car rides; the problem is the hacking cough.

I was amazingly relieved after the vet checked her heart (slow but strong) and her lungs (clear). He said she has an infection and needs antibiotics and cough medicine.

Now, about nine hours later, she does her hacking cough now and then, but the frequency has dropped markedly. She's taking a peaceful nap (with a little snoring mixed in there), and I'm happy she's OK.

For now.

NOTE: Lady passed on Sept. 17, 2016, just three days after the above post was written; that was just two weeks short of her unofficial 16th birthday. We got her Oct. 1, 2002.

CONTACT: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing