Lonely Dog

Almost two weeks ago, our sweet Milo found a sick bat on the back patio.  Thinking it had been placed there specifically for his own enjoyment, he played around with it.  Eventually, the bat died and Sam carefully placed it in a plastic bag using a stick.  And the next morning, Phil took it in to the county animal control center for testing.  Milo and the house were placed in quarantine for ten days, so no one except the people who live in this house could come here.  So it's been an unusual ten days.

Last evening, we finally received a call from the county  Evidently, there was not enough "brain matter" to know whether or not the bat had had rabies, so the quarantine continues for 30 days!  Yikes.  Poor puppy is getting mighty lonely.  No walks around the block.  No visits with my sister's dog.  No visits from Winston and Jack, son Seth's dogs.  No visit from any humans.  Milo's friend, one of our cats, Max, still shares and still plays; but there's an equally serious implication for him and his brother, Spike.  We've invested a fortune in frisbees and other flying things to keep Milo entertained and exercised in the back yard.  Good thing we have a lot of space back there. 

In the meantime we are required to observe the dog for any evidence of symptoms that would indicate rabies.  We are on the edge of our seats--at the mercy of the dog gods, hoping for the very best and worried about the very worst.