While the Cat is Choking...

When I return to the kitchen after giving Mickey her medication, I find two dog joint tablets instead of three.

Louie the Cat is gagging, pawing at his mouth.

And I think:

Really, you'd eat the eat the beef-flavored joint tablet?

But you're the finicky one, the one who doesn't steal food, doesn't beg.

You're the perfect one, the one the spouse likes.

Meanwhile, Louie continues to gag and paw at his mouth.

How do you give a cat the Heimlich maneuver?

I pick him up and grab his jaw. Moments before I put my finger in his mouth, the pill pops out.

He shakes his head, irritated at me.

"You're welcome," I say as he saunters away.

Tag, the Border collie, wags his tail, anxiously awaiting his soggy joint tablet.