Angel, Part II

Here's my Angel reading up on babies - she's never had to deal with this before, so she better study up while she can.

So to continue my Angel's story...

We got her home that night, and the poor baby would not leave my side for anything. We had no idea what she had been through, what her personality was, but boy, we soon found out. She's afraid of so many things. Ex was getting ready for bed, pulled off his belt, and Angel hid behind me with her tail between her legs. We soon found out she was afraid of guns (just the sight of a gun - Ex was a hunter, so there were plenty of them in house.) She was also afraid of the fly-swatter, newspaper, and thunder. And fireworks!! Oh, my goodness. She had a standing prescription for doggy Valium for July 4th, New Years, and any other time there were going to be little fireworks going off. I haven't been out for July 4th or New Years in 9 years. That's OK with me, because Angel needs me. Even with the drugs, I had to make sure I had pottied, got anything I would need to eat or drink for the night, then I had to give her the meds then "get in position". This meant sitting on the floor with blanket in hand. Angel would get in my lap (all 85 pounds of her), and then I would have to put the blanket over her and hold her with my arms around her, and talk to her while she trembled and shook all over. I felt so bad for her!! If I were to try to get up for any reason while she was drugged, she would try to follow me immediately, which meant she would wobble and fall, sometimes in painful looking positions! So I gave up ever trying to get up until the fireworks were over and the meds wore off. Those days are actually gone now, because she can't hear anything anymore.

Going back, the very first vet appointment she went to, I got bad news. Angel had heartworms, and it was already affecting her liver. She had to go on special meds to get her kidneys "in shape" just so she could tolerate the treatment. The treatment was explained to me as injections of arsenic. She would have to stay at the vets for two separate treatments, for two nights and three days each time. It was also explained to me that the treatment could also kill her. Needless to say- I went on Xanax. I work in Internal Medicine, and am very close to the docs I work with, so they recognized the "lack of me" in my eyes. I had no clue where I was half the time. I felt like I was watching myself from outside my body. I was on my way to a nervous breakdown, I was so scared for my Angel. I bet her previous owner dropped her off because they found out she had heartworms. That broke my heart. I visited the vet every morning and every afternoon, called at lunch time, the vet and his staff were awesome for putting up with me! But she made it through.

Now she is approximately 13. We don't know for sure, since she was a stray, 13 is the vets best guess. Bless her bones (and her heart), she can't squat anymore to potty, she sits all the way down instead, she can't even get in the bed with me anymore, hasn't been able to for about 4 years, when she has been used to sleeping with me for years. (That may have been why Ex is now the Ex, hehe, that girl is always looking out for me in mysterious ways!) Yep, me and my baby are going through alot of changes with her advanced age. She still follows me everywhere, I still can't do laundry or sweep without tripping over her, she still follows me into the closet and then can't back up (she never was able to back up - don't know why...) so I have to climb over her and go out ahead of her so she has enough room to turn around. But sometimes, if she is asleep, she won't hear me get up and go somewhere else in the house. Then she wakes up and realizes I am not where she thought I was, and boy she panics! Those are the only times she moves quickly anymore - when she is trying to find me.

I tell you one thing - she can still hear my teardrops from a mile away, and I will be in Eastern State when she goes to Heaven. She is my very best friend.

Now I have to stop because I am definitely boo-hooing.