Friday, May 28, 2021

I'm A Unicorn!

 Well! It has been quite a week.

For quite a while now, Momma hasn't been keeping up with my blog - and that's actually wonderful. My life has been filled with trips to Bones Dog Bakery (where Momma can get a people version of a puppacino), shopping trips, walks, playing, baths (YUCK!), sometimes visits with friends (people friends, not other dogs), more walks, naps, treats, frozen Kongs, yummy dinners - life! Things have been pretty ordinary. After the way the first few years of my life went, ordinary was just perfect for me. I like my routine. I like the predictability. I like the safety and comfort. I love feeling loved.

But most of that isn't really fun to talk about or read about. It's like trying to write a Christmas letter (don't ever do that!) when you've had a really ordinary year. "Waited at the top of the basement stairs to be sure Momma was still alive after doing laundry. A dangerous job! Basements are evil! Why does she go down there willingly??" We could have written that every week. 

This week was different. I've been to the vet twice within a week, and the first time the vet tech brought me back out to Momma and said the doctor called me a Unicorn!! She said I was a unicorn because for my size, age and breed, I was the perfect weight, had a nice pink tongue and gums, bright eyes, a shiny coat and a sweet temperament!  (Good thing I'm modest!)  That happened after getting back from boarding with my Aunt Holly and Uncle Craig. I started coughing really hard. The vet thought it was a bacterial or viral thing that I caught at boarding. They gave me medicine that included a steroid to reduce inflammation and a cough suppressant. It made the cough go away instantly, and I felt a lot better. I finished the cough suppressant but still had more antibiotics to go through. The next morning I suddenly woke up coughing harder than ever! I couldn't stop. I couldn't catch my breath. It looked like I was panting - but that was my breathing. Momma got really worried and took me right back to the vet. This time they took an X-ray and figured out that my heart murmur wasn't just a murmur. I have an enlarged heart, and congestive heart failure. 

Momma's been crying a lot.

I have a lot of new medicine, Momma says, but the only thing I've been getting is yummy sardine balls and little peanut butter knots. This is pretty cool!

Momma says I'm not supposed to go up and down stairs or play much. Today I just felt like sleeping all day. After all that napping, I guess the sardines and peanut butter worked their magic and I started to feel better! Momma says she's going to carry me up and down the stairs when she can, but lots of times I beat her to it! She says she'd rather have a happy dog for a shorter time than a sad dog just waiting to die. Geez! She sure gets morbid!

So we finally had something to write about. We're writing about a big change in our lives. A new phase. Maybe I'll get to go on a new adventure someday. I wonder what kind of adventures Unicorns have?

 



Saturday, May 22, 2021

National Rescue Dog Day

 

Miss Nicki wishes you a happy National Rescue Dog day!! 

The past few weeks have been pretty tough on our girl. Last month we found out she has developed a heart murmur, which can be exacerbated by stress. Two weeks ago, the project to redo our front and back porches, which was originally supposed to have been started last year, finally began. Strange people hammering, sawing, and making a ruckus all over our house! Then a happy disruption of her routine; her favorite Girl and Girl's Husband came to visit for a few days! But even though that was happy - it was still A LOT! And construction continued! Then, while Girl and Husband were visiting, momma and daddy's dear friend passed away, so they had to go to Florida for several days. Nicki got to visit her Auntie Holly, but it was more disruption! Now, with everyone back home, there's also construction going on at the school right behind us. When they drop the empty dumpsters it sounds like an explosion! Today, besides 80+ degree temps and porch and school construction, people came to replace the power poles right in front of our house!! It's more than a little pup with a funky heart can take! Nicki has been coughing hard and feeling tired. We wanted to pupdate our friends about Miss Nicki's situation - but also take a moment to wish you all a HAPPY RESCUE DOG day! Because Nicki the Rescue Pup, in spite of these ruff days, is still happy! XO