Hot and cold

 

 Charly loved snow as a puppy and middle-aged dog.  She frolicked, she rolled, she bounced, and she ate.  Snow was snapped at and lapped up as we walked and played in winter.  Cold – ingested as food or water posed no issue.  Neither did hot.  However, as an old dog, although Charly still likes to eat snow, her stomach doesn’t like to receive it.  It revolts.  And, Charly vomits.  For quite a while, I assumed that any vomiting was due to her being sick or having eaten something mysterious and toxic.  But eventually, the connection became obvious:  anything too cold or too hot will only stay down for a minute or two.  Then, it’s heaved up.  Even refrigerated food sometimes is too cold.  

Last night, frozen corn kernels escaped from a bag as I was cooking dinner.  I forgot about this phenomenon as Charly eagerly cleaned up little niblets that had skirted all over the tiles.  So convenient to have a dog, I thought…for a short time.  Then I heard the heaving.  And, I raced into the living room with paper towel to catch the vomit before it hit the floor…and before it was eaten a second time (and potentially expelled a second time).  After that, I knelt in melting vegetable frantically trying to retrieve the rest of the spilled kernels before Charly resumed her clean up…accepting the proscription of this new rule for my old dog.