February 8, 2013

White Dog sneezed then hopped off of the bed and went outside. I could hear her sneezing repeatedly as she made her way across the yard. Little Oso climbed back in through the dog door and HIS sneeze almost knocked him over. I picked Puff up and she sneezed right on my glasses; turned away but she caught me a second time.

YoYoMa crawled out of his "mancave" next to Steve's side of the bed and did his morning ritual of doga stretches. He came around to where I sat and nuzzled me for cuddles...then sneezed all over my face.

Steve came in from the office. "What's going on? Every body is sneezing," he said as he broke into a coughing moment (the tail end of the cold HE has been fighting all week). In the hallway I could hear Nuka's typical reverse sneeze but this time it was followed by a deeper wheezing. It was for the lungy sound that she was going in to see Dr. Julia later in the day.

Poor Quinn, asleep in the doorway, tensed up and I knew that he, too, was going to sneeze. The poor boy was like a cartoon character shaken so badly by the force of the sneeze that his entire body rattled and shook. I heard his head hit the floor and was surprised that he managed to sleep through it.

When I talked to Dragon's dad, Gregg, he said that Dragon and his brothers and sister were also sneezing like crazy.

Dr. Julia gave Nuka a complete going over in the afternoon including and xray and blood panel. She DOES have some fluid build up and her heart is slightly enlarged. Now on an antibiotic and heart medication, Nuka should be fine. Dr. Julia is not awfully worried about the tiny amount of enlargement because of Nuka's age (12yo) but she does want to follow up next week to make sure the fluid is gone.

We asked her about the sneezing. Seems there is a canine cold going around town which is irritated by our high winds of the past couple of days blowing dust and pollens everywhere. She suggested that we just let the sneezing and drippy noses run their course unless a cough or wheezing or discharge starts to occur. Sounds like turkey soup for dinner, I thought thinking that Steve would also benefit. Laughingly, she looked at Steve's red nose and said, "keep them hydrated, make sure they get plenty of rest, and remind them to wash their paws frequently to help prevent spreading germs."

The funny part?...Nuka was asleep in my arms as we spoke...just following the doctor's orders.