For those of you have followed this blog, you know that my dog Cookie is my fourth child. At Christmas time she became very ill and the tests and blood chemistry gave us very bad news. My dear, dear vet stopped the Cushings disease drugs and sent her home with 1-3 months to live.
I began cooking special crock pot chicken and beef dishes to entice her to begin eating again--and she began to slowly improve. I knew it was definitely a day at a time. Then slowly she became more energetic and her bowels and bladder stabilized.
Yesterday I finally took her back to the vet for more tests and when Dr. Steve called last night, he reported that a lot of her chemistry was within normal range, she had gained a few pounds, and the mass in her liver has actually significantly reduced. "Whatever you are doing, keep doing it," he said. I need to report back in in a few weeks as there are kidney and adrenal implications, but for now I would think she was five years younger than her 13 1/2 years. She has even started jumping up on the bed again which she hasn't done for at least a year--and she is ravenously hungry. I feed her twice a day and if a piece or fruit or a vegetable drops from the kitchen sink, she even gobbles that.
I'm realistic given what we know scientifically, but I'm also very grateful for the time we have been given together for a while longer. In fact, for this first time in months, my friend who stays with Cookie when I've traveled in the past, will come and stay with her for a few days in a few weeks so I can visit my sister in Las Vegas.
Cookie is sitting with my Vermont Teddy Bear momma and son that my youngest son gave me for Mother's Day more than 10 years ago. I am so sentimental.
