Today Schuster had his own special veterinarian's appointment, for a shot he was not able to get when we had all four dogs and the cat there in September or October. Everyone thought we were going for a walk; everyone got excited; everyone was wrong.
Schuey, alone in the backseat, whined all the way there, but he stood patiently on the scales after we arrived, while the young lady and Mary weighed him. The little porker weighed 13 plus pounds; turns out that to get him slimed down to a proper healthy weight, 11 pounds, he is allowed to have only 371 calories per meal. And he so loves his supper, bouncing up and down and crying till I get it mixed and on the floor for him.
Now I have to add a giant MW Canine Skin Care Soft Gel capsule to his food because he has very dry skin. I did and apparently Schuster swallowed it without discovering it was there, or he discovered it an didn't care.
In addition to a belly rash and dry coat, the only other problem was an elevated temperature of 103.6. Stress can cause the temperature to rise, the vet said, and given that strangers were inserting the thermometer into the little guy's butt, as well as holding him, stress may have caused it. Or, he knew about the shot and raised his own temperature to put off the shot. Can't give a feverish dog a vaccination, after all. In any case the temperature went down, and Schuster got his shot.
One delightful modification during the visit was that I got to hold him for a while, something that really does not happen at home. All the way home he was also quiet in the backseat. I had to turn around once to make sure he was there and all right. And now it is 4 am and time for bed, Thanksgiving, you know, has begun.