It seems evident that he had taken up something last Saturday that abraded his throat at the very least. We theorize that it must have been a tempting bit of spruce needles that had been encased in ice. They have been 'eating' woody detritus falling from our trees, and doing the same with snow and with bits of ice. This time Jackie bit off more than he would chew, in a manner of speaking. He had tried desperately to eject whatever it was that had caught in his throat with retching paroxysms, that gradually became less fierce, but continued throughout the day.
Our emergency trip with him that late afternoon to the veterinary hospital ended with a physical exam that revealed nothing amiss and the advice that his throat was likely quite sore as a result of his mishap and he might be thinking still he had to eject something. Three days later we took him to the veterinarian nearby for another assessment because he was still coughing and we didn't like the sounds coming from his chest cavity. That ended with a prescription for antibiotics in case he had an infection as a result of the injury.
And then it became evident that he might very well have an infection but he also had a cold. His nose was runny and his breathing laboured, and first thing in the morning he was extremely rheumy. On 'good' weather days we took them out for ravine walks. Yesterday's weather saw a return to winter with night-time temperatures last night and the night before dipping to minus-20-degrees.
But now, finally, Jackie seems on the mend, more his old self, and we're rejoicing. Tellingly, his appetite never failed him throughout his little ordeal with illness.
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