Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

I’m updating this old blog post because of a recent incident with my dog. I woke in the wee hour of the morning to her standing beside my bed, panting as if she had run a marathon. I let her out, thinking that’s what she wanted. It wasn’t.

I went back to sleep and again she woke me, still panting. This told me she must have been in pain. I called my son because she’s really his dog, and he came to check on her.

By then, my concern escalated to fear of her having a heart problem. She ended up going to an emergency vet center, which is what her vet suggested. The vet at the emergency center suspected pain as well. In the past she had injured her knee–a torn ligament.

Earlier snowfall 2015. Nothing compared to the East Coast.

With the deep snow we’re experiencing, the vet said dogs with hip, knee, and spine problems are experiencing pain. She has a little path dug out for her in the backyard, but she still ventures out into the deeper part. She’ll be on a leash until the snow melts.

While at the vet center, they noticed tenderness in her abdomen. Lately, she’s had breathing issues, too, as in more rapid breaths being taken. This is noticeable while sleeping. They’ll do x-rays now and blood work. She came home with pain pills. As soon as the pain medication kicked in, the panting stopped and she rested peacefully.

This leads to the next section…

This is the original blog post I wrote in response to a Plinky Prompt. If you could get your fur-baby to understand one thing, what would it be?

I’m sure my dog knows this, but if I knew for certain she’d understand one thing, I’d tell her how much I love and depend on her. Our furry family members love us without limits. When we’re having a bad day we might not smooth our hand down their furry coat. They still love us.

They’ll wait patiently until we take the time, because I think they know we’ll feel better if we do run our hands along their cuddly fur. If we come in the door and don’t acknowledge them right away, they still love and wait. I truly want my fur-baby to know how much I love her back. I show her by the care I give and by the way I pat my bed for her to come up at night. Not to mention the hugs and tennis balls.

With her knee injury, she can’t jump on the bed any longer or chase tennis balls like she used to. She might know by the healthy snacks I give her, but if I could look her in the eyes and say, “I love you. I honestly love you, and I’ll always take care of you…” To have her understand completely—that would be what I’d want her to know.

How about you?

A related Post: If Your Furry Family Member Could Tell You