Picture of the Day - Cat Companionship

This morning I awoke to my little dog Tequila acting needy and upset. Upon she and I both emerging from bed it was immediately clear she was mostly paralyzed and flopping around rather than walking. I feared she had suffered a stroke in the night. I did wonder if my taking a huge tick out of her neck last night had in some way contributed but realized correlation does not automatically equate to causation. However, these two unusual occurrences so close together in time made me wonder if I had freed a clot in her neck when I extracted the tick which had then traveled to her brain. I grieved for her on the way to Atascadero Pet Hospital expecting and accepting that our run together would come to an end this day. I also found great peace in trusting God to work this out and get me and the dog through whatever would come our way today. Dr. Burke soon discovered she had five more ticks buried in her neck UNDER her collar where I could not see them. The focus then turned to the possibility she was suffering from Tick Paralysis and by day's end it was clear that was the case as she is back to normal tonight, thank God! The above image I captured this morning shortly before leaving with Tequila to go to the vet's office. My cat Rocki laid down next to Tequila seemingly to comfort her despite the fact the dog does not care much for the cat although Rocki adores Tequila and I believe sensed her stress and despair she was in when this image was captured. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).