Rusty gets sick

Rusty had been acting strange for a few days, but on Sunday morning I awoke to find him sitting out in the yard and shaking feverishly. The slightest touch would illicit a yelp, so I knew something was wrong. I did a quick search for emergency pet clinics and found one on Katy freeway. So off we went to spend the morning fixing my dog.

Rusty stoned

Turns out he had three problems: First, his kidneys were not functioning properly. Second he was having the first signs of arthritis in his spine at his shoulder blades. Both of these are fairly common problems in older dogs. The third problem was his ‘cherry eye’ had become infected and bleeding. He kept rubbing his eye and making it worse, so hence the doggie collar – which he completely hated.

The drugs they gave Rusty seemed to do a great job! His shivering and whimpering (presumably from pain) went away within about 24 hours. I continued to give him medicine for about 2 weeks, and each time he would be stoned for hours. I think he kind of liked it.