You Can Lead a Dog to Water
But can you make him drink?
Over the years, I’ve taken my dogs to the veterinarian dozens of times for wellness dog checks, accidental poisonings, and other less fun things. When doggoes reach a certain age, they’re considered senior citizens. As we all know, the older someone gets, the more their body gloms onto health issues like a remora on a shark’s back.
Lover attained the ripe youthful age of thirteen. He achieved his level-up, so I brought him in to the vet for his reward of shots and getting felt up. He’s not particularly fond of what people do to him at the vet, but he does love cookies and pets. The potential bribe has always been enough to keep him on good behavior while there.
Due to Covid, no one enters the vet office except the people working there. I handed Lover off to a vet tech and waited for my phone call in my car. Fifteen minutes later, Lover’s doctor told me that he acted like a puppy, but she heard a heart murmur. I went through this before with another dog, so I asked for the tests and waited longer.
Lover’s results came back a few days later. Everything looked good, thankfully, but his creatine was elevated. Creatine shows kidney functionality. Lover’s levels were iffy. The vet told me she needed his urine.
