My girlfriend came home after a walk with the dog.

In those first few minutes, that weird, translucent shape on our dog wasn’t just an object; it was every nightmare we’d ever heard about parasites and hidden, burrowing infections. We circled him, inspected his fur, and silently braced for a vet visit, a diagnosis, a bill, and maybe even bad news. The physical sensation of panic—the cold sweat, the continue reading …