Chapter 473 - Sick? Or Hungry?
Chapter 473 Sick? Or Hungry?
Luke wasn’t rough. He simply rolled with Dollar’s struggles and stopped it from writhing around, which was easy to do with his Quick Reflex and ample Dexterity.
Touching Dollar, he realized that its entire body was shaking, or more precisely, twitching.
The dog’s breathing and heart rate had also sped up. There was nothing but panic and pain in its eyes. It subconsciously looked at Selina, as if asking its young master for help.
Frowning, Luke picked the dog up with one hand and threw Selina on his back with the other. “Let’s get to the ranch. There’s a vet at my grandpa’s place.”
With that, he dashed to the ranch like the wind.
They reached the ranch in five minutes.
A farmhand gave them a strange look. “Huh, Luke and Selina? What… are you doing?”
Luke ran past him even as he spoke.
Luke’s voice rang out. “Bart, where’s Ferreira? Dollar’s sick.”
The farmhand replied quickly, “In the cowshed.”
“Thanks.” Luke’s voice floated back to Bart as he quickly disappeared.
Bart scratched his head. “Why the rush?” Paying it no mind, he continued with his work.
Rushing to the cowshed, Luke put Selina down and shouted, “Ferreira?”
A moment later, an old man replied from the cowshed, “Who is it?”
Luke: “…Grandpa, Selina’s Dollar seems to be in a lot of discomfort. I was hoping Ferreira could take a look.”
“Ferreira, forget that little female calf for a moment and come take a look,” the old man shouted loudly.
Two men soon came out of the cowshed.
The man in the lead had white hair and a face full of wrinkles.
His cheeks were rosy, which was typical of the people here. His face was thin and long, and his eyes weren’t big but were full of spirit. He asked, “Luke, what’s going on?”
Luke put Dollar on the ground and hugged the old man. “We took Dollar to play in the mountains, when he suddenly seemed unwell and started twitching. He looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”
The old man gave Luke a massive hug and said at the same time, “Ferreira, go take a look.”
The middle-aged man behind him made a sound of acknowledgment and was already walking over to crouch down and examine
Dollar.
The old man then turned around and punched Luke in the shoulder. “How long has it been since you last came to see me?” Luke said helplessly, “Grandpa, I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m going to have dinner here too. Nothing can beat the taste of your steaks.” The old man laughed and punched him again. “So you only came for the steaks?”
He then said to Selina on the side, “Alright, Selina, no need to be so nervous. Ferreira is an experienced vet.”
Examining Dollar on the ground, Ferreira rolled his eyes. “Drax, what I normally examine are livestock and horses. Dogs aren’t within the range of my expertise.”
Drax, Luke’s grandpa, immediately berated him. “Stop talking and get to work.”
Luke smiled wryly.
People on the ranch were just this forthright.
Selina was still standing here when Ferreira said that he didn’t specialize in treating dogs. But his grandpa was shrewd enough to instantly cut off Ferreira’s honest words.
Ferreira, however, raised his head. “Hey, are you guys mistaken? Dollar’s a little weak, but he isn’t that sick, right? His heart rate’s normal. Also, have you fed him anything? I think… he’s hungry.” Luke and Selina: “What?”
Luke couldn’t help going over to crouch down and examine Dollar again, only to find that all the abnormal symptoms were gone.
It was just like what Ferreira said.
Except for being a little weak, Dollar was absolutely fine.
Rubbing Dollar’s big head as it licked his hand, Luke was baffled.
He wasn’t an idiot who didn’t have any medical general knowledge; he had also learned field first aid.
While dogs were very different from human beings, he hadn’t been wrong in his basic diagnosis.
Something had been seriously wrong with Dollar just now.
But except for its growling stomach, Dollar was absolutely normal now.
Luke was puzzled, but he didn’t refute Ferreira’s words.
There was no need to quibble about this; Ferreira wasn’t wrong.
As for Dollar’s condition earlier, Luke could look into it himself.
“Alright, maybe we forgot to give Dollar breakfast,” he readily conceded. “Grandpa, looks like we need to give him something to eat first.”
Drax laughed and slung an arm around Luke’s shoulder. “Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a deluxe barbecue today.”
Luke had nothing to say.
What was a deluxe barbecue? It was… meat, lots of meat! And all kinds, from bacon to roasted meat and sausages.
And it was all served at the same time, which was absolute heaven for meat-eaters.
Calling Selina over, they all went to Drax’s place.
While he wasn’t a wealthy ranch owner, Drax’s house wasn’t small.
The spacious wooden house was built with its back to the mountain and got plenty of light. The wide patio alone was as big as a living room.
Luke followed Drax into the house and found some food for Dollar first.
The dog was old and couldn’t eat too much of food that wasn’t easy to digest. Luke could only give it some sheep’s milk first.
As Luke chatted with his grandpa inside the house, he minced up some beef and boiled it in water to turn it into something like a meat paste.
Using water to cool the paste down quickly, Luke then brought it outside.
On the patio, Dollar was already licking the food bowl.
Luke asked helplessly, “Did we really feed him too little at breakfast?”
Looking at Dollar, who was pretty energetic, Selina was also puzzled. “No, I asked my mom before. That’s the amount he usually eats, and he won’t take more than that.”
Luke wasn’t going to let himself worry too much about it. Pushing Dollar’s head to the side, he poured a third of the warm meat paste into the bowl.
Tail wagging frantically, Dollar gobbled up the food.
Luke and Selina looked at each other in bewilderment. It had been years since they saw Dollar so ravenous.
Golden retrievers were fast eaters and could finish a bowl of noodles in five seconds.
But as Dollar grew older, its appetite got smaller and it ate at a slower pace.
The way it was eating so vigorously right now, it was as if Dollar was suddenly eight years younger.
Dollar licked the bowl clean in less than two minutes, then raised its head to look impatiently at the meat paste that Luke was holding.
Luke handed the paste to Selina. “Let me check if he’s full first.” He then hugged Dollar and felt its belly.