Friday, March 26, 2010

My Brave Spaniel

Our Buffy gave me quite a scare yesterday. She usually comes into the dining room when we are eating but when she didn't jump off of the couch to join us, I went into the living room to check on her. I said her name a few times and even touched her but she didn't respond. I thought that maybe she had died but Mom said that she was still breathing, thank goodness. Mom did manage to wake her and she came out to join us for lunch. We always give her a treat then.

I just worry everytime that we go out that when we come home she will no longer be alive. I'm so happy that she has hung in there for this long. It has already been 8 months since the doctor said that she is dying because of multiple organ problems. She's had many problems throughout her 12 years on this planet, but through it all she has been a very brave girl.

She had surgery to remove a cyst on her ear about 6 years ago. She broke her back leg once. She's had arthritis and allergies for many years. She had pancreatis last year which was very scary. She had to stay at the vet's office for 2 nights and was hooked up to an IV. I just pray that when her final day on this planet comes that she does not suffer and dies in her sleep. I'm praying that we'll have her with us for another few months or more.

I love her so much. She is like my best friend. I'm sure that some people might think that I'm a bit kooky for saying this and for having lots of nicknames for her. Sunshine spaniel, Muffin, Cupcake, Sugar Plum, Miss Piggy, Piglet, Pumpkin and more. Sometimes we joke around and pick on her because she has a super short stub. She has the cutest freckles on her snout.

Mom has made her lots of bandanas. She has her Easter one on now. She has a grooming appointment in 2 weeks and they give her bandanas as well. We don't dress her up or anything like that. She does have a coat that my Aunt Al got for her as a Christmas gift 9 years ago.

I keep thinking about how I should've been a better owner to her. We hardly took her on any walks. She is kind of lazy but we could've taken her on short ones. I only brushed her teeth when she was a puppy. I should've done so all along. Her teeth got pretty bad. The vet suggested that we have them done a few years ago but this is expensive. If I had just saved money instead of buying too much jewelry and clothes for myself I could have afforded this. I finally had it done last year. The vet tech said that heart problems can be caused by bad teeth so maybe this is part of why she has that problem. I mentioned the whole hating myself for not taking her off of the steroids in my Buffy blog. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself for all this.

Even though the arthritis in her back legs has gotten much worse, she still goes up the stairs on her own, although sometimes we carry her up there. I always worry that she might fall down the stairs though. She is such a grandma's girl and wants to be with her most of the time. I'm suprised that she is still downstairs with me now. We have been sitting together alot lately. We did this for an hour this morning. Her grandma wasn't even down here then. It felt nice that she wanted to be with me. Ginger was definitely my doggie when I was a kid. I still miss her and always will. Same goes for Mookie and someday Buffy too- hopefully not too soon.

2 comments:

rxnnz said...

I hope you don't mind me reading your blog about your Cocker. I've always loved the Cocker Spaniel and miss mine terribly.
I'm sure there is something we could have all done, not necessarily better but maybe diffent, however we can't blame ourselves because we give/gave them the most important thing of all and that is Love. That little dog can feel the love you have for her and will take that with her when she passes. I hoped my babies would pass peacefully in their sleep but unfortunately that didn't happen, we had to make the decision to end their suffering and knowing that it was just that, ending their suffering helped me through it. I held them tight and kissed there sweet heads over and over until they were gone.

Please love her, spend as much time cuddling and take lots of pictures.

LaraAnn said...

Thank you so much for the comforting words. I am giving her lots of love and belly rubs. Sorry that you had to see your dogs suffer like that. I had a Lhasa Apso mix that we had put to sleep and I was very emotional about that and I'd be even moreso with Buffy. Whenever I see cocker spaniel on TV or real life I can't help but get very happy which my brother can't understand. "It's just a dog." No it's not. Thanks for reading my blog.

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