It's been a while since I blogged. Truth be told...I find blogging tedious. Not because I don't enjoy the writing...it's posting it correctly, deciphering the lingo - that's tedious to me. It totally turns me off to blogging but I do miss it, so here I am.
Most recently Punkin, our little fox terrier, has been very ill. It's been difficult watching her suffer. But like any suffering, it makes you reflect. My reflection took me back to the days when we first were blessed with our tiny companions. Most friends know this story but just to refresh everyone's memory, this is how it began:
It all started with a conversation I had with my neighbor across the street. Sandra D, our chow chow, was getting old and I commented to my neighbor that I'd like to possibly adopt two puppies when the time comes since I noticed Sandra D was alone with no one to play with. In actuality, I think Sandy preferred it that way; she had us all to herself.
It was just a conversation, but on my brother's birthday, May 3, 2009, while celebrating his birthday at our home, my neighbor shows up with two little black Boston Terrier/Chihuahua mix puppies, now known as Le Suge Avery, (Sugar) and Gracie Lou Freebush (Gracie Lou). Ralph and I decided to give it a try...they were so cute. Sugar looked like a miniature lab and Gracie Lou looked like a little graceful gazelle. The only ones that weren't thrilled were my mom and Sandra D.
It wasn't long (less than two months) that our neighbor tells us about their friend who had two puppies that he couldn't find a home for. Could I take one, he asked. They were Jack Russel/Fox terrier hybrids. Call me crazy but I love Jack Russel dogs. It wouldn't hurt to go look, I thought.
Well, our look see did hurt. They were only six weeks old. The tinier puppy looked just like the dad, a fox terrier and the other one looked like the mom, a Jack Russel. Here's the thing...the owner would dump a can of dog food in a bowl and it was a free for all between the two tiny puppies and their parents. Guess who would win...and guess who was getting beat up? Ralph thought we could take the smaller puppy. I looked at Ralph and asked him if he could find it in his heart to take the two...I couldn't leave the Jack Russel behind, she already had a big gash on her neck.
Well, if you know Ralph, you know he couldn't leave one behind. Welcome, Punkin and Peggy Sue! So next thing we now have five dogs. Yes, it was a mad house but at the time Diana and Adri were still home and we couldn't have potty trained nor crate trained them without their help.
No one will understand, except another pet lover, what this amazing animals do for our soul. They wrap around your heart like a warm blanket and kick start your heart with every lick and wag of their tail.
In the beginning of 2010, we'd walk Sugar and Gracie Lou down the 2nd street trail. Since Punkin and Peggy Sue were too tiny, I'd carry them in a big green gingham baby bag. We'd walk 3-4 miles a day. Before you knew it, I was losing weight, something I'd been unsuccessful at for a while. What a surprise!
A few months into 2010, both my daughters, Diana and Adri, move out. Adri took Gracie Lou with her and is now my daughter's beloved companion.
Life progressed and over the next two years, they have been our constants. On April Fool's day, 2012, one day after the hail storm of the century, our beloved Sandra D passed on and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We miss her dearly.
In October, 2012, Punkin fell ill and we found out it was an unusual parasite. Sugar and Peggy Sue were unaffected. It took three months for Punkin to recover. Unfortunately, this parasite caused cells to develop a mass of some type and about six weeks ago, Punkin began getting sick, vomiting daily. The vet gave her every test imaginable, confirmed the mass but we'd have to take her to a specialist animal hospital in San Antonio for further testing. He told us more than likely the mass was malignant. Sadly, economically we're unable to handle the cost.
She was so sick, we had scheduled to put her down on May 1st but couldn't do it. For ten days we made every effort to make her as comfortable as possible. We kept praying hoping for the best but still no improvement. By May 10th, we scheduled her again. This time her original vet, Dr. Roge', saw her. We asked what else could we do. We didn't want to put her down. All I know, is God must have been guiding this young veterinarian because the medications she chose and the care she gave has made a big difference in Punkin's quality of life. The mass is not gone bu she's doing so much better. God answered our prayers. I'm still pray for a miracle for the mass to disappear.
I'm going to do a little back tracking. Ralph and I were in a hit and run accident back in August, 2011. It injured my feet and back and we went through extensive therapy for about eight months. In those long eight months, I gained all the weight and then some that I had lost when we initially began walking. Unable to regain my physical strength in my feet our walks had discontinued. With the help of an oscillating exercise machine, I've recovered a lot of my mobility but hadn't gone back to our walking.
In January, 2012, I almost lost my life from a reaction to medication I was taking for what I thought was the flu...it scared me so much, it prompted me to make many changes. One of them was getting back to walking our pets so I pushed myself to walk despite my injury. Now, as long as I walk on a level surface, I can walk daily and our puppies need to be walked. I went from 15 minutes on the treadmill to 1 hour daily and we walk our dogs every morning on the Bicentennial trail. I've lost over 50 lbs. and feel so much better.
While it has been a combination of many things that have brought me to where I am today, looking back I realize our decision to save the two sets of puppies have been a Godsend. I am so blessed to be able to walk them everyday and a blessing to care for them. We may have thought we saved them...but I know they saved me.
Later...a picture of who I think are Peggy Sue's and Punkin's parents...found it on the wall of our pets animal care clinic...wait and see!!!
