Sick Day

A few weeks ago I woke up to find Morey panting heavily beside me in bed. It wasn't hot enough for him to be panting that much so I knew something was wrong. I asked him if he needed to go out and he jumped right up -usually a sign of impending poop problems. I quickly got up and took him out, expecting him to go right away. Instead, he went through his usual morning routine, which included a very normal looking poop. I was almost disappointed because that would have made sense as to why he was panting heavily-now I had to wonder what else might be the cause.

Morey still wanted to play ball and eagerly ate his breakfast but he was still panting heavily and I could tell he didn't feel good. He was also moving strangely- almost like he was arching his back the whole time. He also kept his head down really low and wouldn't raise it up. I gently touched him all over to see if I could find a sore spot but he didn't react to my touch as if it were hurting him.

It's so hard to have a hurting or sick animal because they can't tell you what is wrong. I could tell Morey was uncomfortable but didn't know why or what I could do about it. Of course, my mind started to go to the most extreme circumstances and I made myself stop thinking about all the worst case scenarios that could be afflicting my poor Morey.  I decided to stay home from church and continue to observe him so I could decide if I needed to take him to the vet. He kept panting and I could tell he was uncomfortable but still got up eagerly and wanted to play ball when I let him out so I figured he must not feel too bad.

He seemed to get a little better as the day went on so I decided to keep waiting and see how he was the next day. On Monday he looked a lot better although when he first got up from sitting or laying down he still looked like he was arching his back. I limited his exercise and by the next day he was back to normal. I am wondering if he had pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve that might have been hurting him when he moved in certain ways. Whatever it was, I am very thankful he recovered quickly and is now back to his normal self!