Oh, What Is the Matter With Poor Tika-tik?

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POOR PUGGY-WUG

Oh, what is the matter with poor Puggy-wug

Pet him and kiss him and give him a hug.

Run and fetch him a suitable drug,

Wrap him up tenderly all in a rug,

That is the way to cure Puggy-wug. 

- Winston Churchill, about his daughter's ill Pug

I'm a little concerned about Tika.

She was fine all day Friday. All day Saturday. All day Sunday.

This morning, she didn't want to get up. We went to bed at 9 last night and she wouldn't come downstairs until 10:30 when I offered breakfast.  Didn't want to ferociously shake her doggie blanket while I dressed. Tucked tail (what there is of it) and went further into the house when I invited her out to the yard. Doing an awful lot of the sort of cough-gag smack smack smack with mouth and tongue like she's trying to clear an uncomfortable taste from her mouth. She's been doing that off and on for a while now, but a lot more today.

She did come out to the yard in the middle of the day while I was having a fun loud game of fetch and agility with Boost, looking halfway perky, and chased the toy about half of her normal speed a couple of times, but didn't actually pick it up or want to play with it. Then went back into the house.

No whining this time, no obvious soreness. She's just been lying there all day except when food has been involved, when she gladly gets up to participate, then goes right back to lying there doing nothing.

I do know that she has a bit of a heart murmur. Last visit, doctor said to let him know if she started doing any coughing. I told him about that cough-gag thing and he seemed unconcerned, but now I wonder.  And, of course, after my experience with Remington's cancer, I wonder about something like that, too.

Maybe time for another vet visit (but she becomes so stressed unless she's on tranqs, either way not a good way to judge her condition) and maybe an ultrasound of her innards.  It's just--jeez--$640 in vet bills and meds in the last 2 months already. Sure, that pales compared to what I spent fighting remington's cancer, but still.

I've been petting her and kissing her and giving her a hug (all of which she seems to like quite well, thank you), and she's been getting a suitable drug (I hope so, anyway--rimadyl through the weekend), and it's too warm to wrap her up tenderly all in a rug.

Doesn't feel hot to me; gums look fine.

Hmm, well, there was just a loud noise in the distance and she charged out into the yard and is now making warning whorfing sounds.  ...Oh, back inside and on her bed.

Will see how she's feeling in the morning and how I'm feeling about how she's feeling. But it still remains--I'm a little concerned about poor Tika-tik.