Another dog tale

While panicking over the poop coming… or not coming… out of my cockatoo’s butt, I noticed a background sound of Nayla coughing. She sounded like a kid with whooping cough. Except it never bothered her respiration and never seemed to interfere with her food intake (not unusual in this house – your death has to be pretty imminent before the appetite goes). I let it go a day or two and then felt the onset of mother guilt. Since CB’s butt was now considered clear and healed, I felt bad that I hadn’t paid more attention to the three day cough Nayla seemed to be enduring. And again, never affecting  her breathing or eating. Just periodically this barking cough like she was trying to bring something up from her throat… but then, Nayla would NEVER eat anything outside in the yard that she shouldn’t be eating. Right.

So I finally called the vet yesterday when the cough was still sounding pretty deadly. Made an appointment for 4:20 today. And then waited all day to hear Nayla cough. Not once. She did not make that sound once. Not even under her breath. Not while she was outside chasing something only she could see. Not while she was jumping up on her hind legs to beg treats. So I figured whatever she was trying to get out had finally come out. I called the vet and canceled the appointment.

I then went to the bird room to sweep. Nayla came running in from outside where she’d been greeting all the dogs going by the yard. She ran in, sat down, looked up at me and coughed. And all I could think was, “You have got to be friggin’ kidding me.”

She is now going to have to do a lot more coughing and a lot less running and barking before she gets a lot of sympathy from me again.

Motherhood – the second oldest profession.