We had a lot of guest dogs around for Christmas. They were all good dogs that I like very much and I enjoyed playing with them every now and then (not too often, as I’m quite lazy). We went on a couple of hikes too, which is always great! And my tail was doing better too: no more itch and the hair was growing back.
The Monday after Christmas husband decided it was time to go up in the mountains again. He was all ready to go and so were the other dogs. But I was not feeling like myself. I’m not a morning person anyway, but this morning I just didn’t want to get up at all. I was hot and shivering and I couldn’t care about the dogs dancing around me. Of course I took the kibble husband offered me, but I wasn’t super enthusiastic about that either.
So Susan took my temperature (I didn’t even care about the thingie in my bum!) and got really scared as I had a very high fever of 40,7. She immediately called the SPCA and put me in the bike basket to take me there. The vet ran some tests on me and took my temperature again. The results of my blood tests were off and my temperature was even higher now: 41 degrees. The vet suspected tick fever, but the test for that would take a couple of days. She suggested taking me to the Wanchai clinic where I would stay for a night while they would bring my fever down and monitor me.
So off to the ferry we went. By then I didn’t care about anything anymore. Although out of habit I did snatch a hamburger bun I found, but it did take me longer than usual to gobble it down. I don’t remember much of the ferry and taxi rides. I just wanted to be close to Susan, but then I would get so hot that the cool floor seemed more comfortable. And I slept.
At the hospital Susan must have left me, although I don’t remember her going. I lost my sense of time, but at one point I started to feel better. The wonderful hospital people decided to ‘test my appetite’. Boy, that was great. They kept feeding me! I’ve never had so much food in my life. I didn’t want to leave! When Susan and husband came to pick me up the next day, I was happy and lively. I had a pretty pink bandage on my leg and a round belly. I did a huge poo in the vets office, hahaha! Over the next couple of hours I did about four more poos. Besides that I was 100% myself again.
After a couple of days the blood test results came back negative for tick fever… So we don’t know what was wrong with me. If it happens again, I might have to go for something the humans call a ‘scan’. Maybe then I can go back to that place where they like to ‘test my appetite’…
