Reason to hope

We are encouraged this morning. Echo is drinking water, keeping her meds down, and acting more like a dog with a reason to live. She had a big breakfast of lightly cooked venison and scrambled egg. She even went up the mountain and barked at a couple of turkey bow-hunters that were on her property illegally. They hustled off the mountain like they knew they weren't supposed to be there.

I decided to start feeding her the venison last night. I was making meatballs with a sauce made out of my garden tomatoes, and it occurred to me that the venison might be the leanest, least-contaminated-with-chemicals meat I had in the house, perfect for a sick dog. She does love the taste of deer meat.

She ate a little last night, but clearly showed a preference for the raw egg & milk batter with bread. But this morning, she really scarfed up the meat, mixed with a little of the dog food that the vet gave us to try.

A few more days and we'll know for sure. But right now, she's upstairs in the loft with me, sitting by the open window and watching her yard alertly. Her fever seems to be gone, and though she's still weak, she's acting more normally.