The Puppy with a Huge Heart

Odie is a dog with huge heart. Seriously. It's supposed to take up space through three ribs, and now, according to X-rays, her heart is around six ribs. Wow!

Odie the puppy - 2005

Our veterinarian had told me she had a heart murmur at an appointment last year, and Paul and I have noticed the old girl (13 this month) slowing down lately. She's very hard of hearing - no longer greeting us at the door when we come home. We've never taken her on long walks, but exercise is curtailed. Odie is a yard girl - she doesn't like to stray from where her next meal with come from.

We took Odie to Colorado over Christmas, where I noticed the toll the altitude took on her breathing, especially at night. I assumed that she'd be better when she came home, but that wasn't the case. Last weekend I listened to her gasping at night and feared she wouldn't make it until morning Sunday. We visited the emergency clinic where they diagnosed her heart issues.

The young doc put her on meds to help her heart pump more efficiently and to clear some fluid from her lungs. He kept calling her Little Pumpkin. I had booked an appointment to see her regular doc at Ashworth Road Vet Clinic, Dr. Merk, for Friday. Subsequent X-rays from that appointment showed the heart still enlarged, so she bumped up the diuretic and will see the doc again in a couple weeks.In the meantime, Odie seems more comfortable, not gasping and has even been playful.

This stage of a pet's life is so difficult. I want her with me. I don't want her to suffer. If nature doesn't take her, what is the perfect intersection of those two things?

Three times I've had to make the most difficult decision - with my beloved cat Bucko. He pretty much hated everyone but me in our family. And he didn't always like me. He'd lay on my belly while I read, then out of the blue, bite my chin and run!

Bucko

Then, the best white dog in the whole world (not to compete with Odie). Moki the Wonderdog - raised as the kids' bro. If Amy went down a slide, Moki would slide. When the fam went sledding, Moki ran along. We dealt with his diabetes for seven years - shots twice a day. He lived to be 13, seven years after diagnosis. Amy and Jud learned how to give the shots.

Fall Slide with Amy

Balloon Days dog show

Amy's cat Samantha, always just called Kitty, did not like the vet. She rarely saw them. In the end - at age 17 years, she was mostly blind. A stray early in life, she became more affectionate as she aged. I miss having a cat around.

Samantha liked my water best

For now, I'm enjoying each day with Odie, happy that she's my good girl. I have been so blessed with the animals in my life. They enrich life. I donate to the Animal Rescue League through One Gift at work. They do great work. I believe those who abuse and abandon animals are the lowest of low.

Hug your pets, think back on the "good boys and girls" you have been blessed with. Stay tuned - we'll be back at the vet in a couple weeks. I guess that new stove can wait.