Thankfully, Mrs Poppy Peanut is still with us…

~ Posted 10 August 2017 ~
 
Mrs Poppy Peanut was an abused and neglected outside-dog when my daughter rescued her about 9 years ago from a family who didn't care much about their pets.  She has always been a very nervous dog, but when we are with her, she feels safe, happy and relaxed.  She absolutely loves my daughter and we still believe that Poppy thinks she is her puppy, because she was sleeping in my daughters bed with her when she went into labour and gave birth to her first puppy, so this time of fearing that Poppy might have needed to be put down must have been particularly hard on my daughter.  When she visits, Poppy is besotted with her and absolutely loves her. She leans against her and follows her around with her tail vibrating constantly with excitement.  So, thankfully, Mrs Poppy is still with us.
 
I must say I cried a few tears myself over the weekend… it’s hard to face saying goodbye to a loved pet.   My daughter visited for a possible last time, to see Poppy before we took her to the vet on Monday, 7th August.  I felt so sad watching them together, but had to hide my own feelings for my daughter’s sake.  As usual, Poppy was all over her with her overflow of unconditional love for her.  It’s so sweet to see. 
 
On Monday, my youngest son and I took Poppy to the Animal Anti Cruelty League to see the main vet there.  For some reason, I was pretty much at peace, believing in my heart that Poppy wouldn’t need to be put down.  Over the weekend, I had fed Poppy the way I had been instructed and she was able to keep her food down and was her happy self by Monday.  On Sunday night, I gave her food on the floor and she brought it up immediately after eating it, which I think was proof enough that she does have the lazy oesophagus now with a pocket that stops the food from reaching her stomach.  So, I reasoned that it would be easy enough to liquidize her food and to feed her in the correct way from now on with her neck extended upwards to help her food bypass the pocket, to reach her tummy, but I needed to speak to the vet about it to make sure that it would not be a problem for Poppy to keep her alive.  I would not have wanted her to suffer in any way.
 
The vet surgeon checked her out and decided against a hernia operation.  He also told me how best to feed her… to raise her water and food bowl up off of the ground (I’ve put them on bricks), so that when she eats or drinks, her neck is automatically extended upwards.  This seems to be working well.  He wants us to go back in two weeks for a checkup (or sooner if there’s an emergency) and thankfully we were not charged for her checkup on Monday. 
 
My son has been quite ill with flu also, but is much better now and has gone back to work today.  This week we worked on all the paperwork for him to get onto a medical aid, which his little sister will be paying for, bless her.  I will feel so much happier when he can at last receive good medical care. 
 
I needed this week to catch up on updating my work, but that hasn’t worked so far, with my sick dog and son needing attention and all that we needed to do this week.  Yesterday was Woman’s day and I had a garden helper come which was wonderful!  Between us, we prepared my yard for Spring vegetable planting.  I literally felt as though I had ME-time playing in the mud and I LOVED it!  My sister’s helper also came unexpectedly (she hadn’t been in a while) and so even my house was left organised and lovely by the end of the day leaving me feeling totally relaxed and content for the first time in ages… I needed a day off from all the struggles of just trying to keep up and never quite getting there and all the stress that has gone with that.  What a blessing yesterday was… I am so grateful!
 
Today… it’s back to doing my best to catch up again.  With my son back at work, I think I will get a lot done… only problem, is that I’ve been awake since 02h30… too much on my mind again… only 5 hours sleep which is just not enough for me to make it through the day.  I might need a nap around midday or earlier! 
 
As far as the gout/arthritis goes… slight generalized aches and pains only… but over the last 5 or so days, I’ve had pain in my left heel that feels very much like a spur… quite sore to walk on!  I was x-ray diagnosed with spurs on my heels many years ago, but eventually they seemed to disappear for years (is that possible… I just don’t have time to research it right now)… I just hope this pain will go away soon, because it’s really hurting to walk on it so I’m back with a limp again…
 
Well… I’m not going to let it stop me from moving forward with my life… too much still to do… I don’t have time for this pain-nonsense!
 
Thanks for sharing with me again… enjoy the rest of your week…
 
~ Panayiota