Mister Pufferbelly

I took my Dad's 7 year old white Shih Tzu, named Puffy,  to the vet today for some routine shots.  In the past year, the little guy has developed wheat allergies, high blood pressure, cataracts and a severe double heart murmur.  This goes along with his congenital hip deformity. He can't hold down food very well lately - for what reason, we still don't know - so I cook his food.  Each week, I boil up 1 lb ground chicken breast and 2 scrubbed but unpeeled chopped up sweet potatoes.  This is his food for the week.  I supplement it with vitamins and a few treats. 

Since the heart murmur diagnosis, his reign of the underbelly of the supper table has been repealed.  He no longer licks bowls, gets fed under the table, "shares" Oreos with Dad or any of the other awful things he was getting away with.  He is a MUCH nicer dog to have around during meals.  He sleeps through them now. It's funny how hearing the vet use words like "extending the useful life of his heart" makes a difference when all the obnoxiousness of the dog whining didn't get through. He is beginning to lose the family nickname of "Rat Bastard".  We are getting his weight to a better level.  We walk at least a mile every day.  He is happy, active and goofy and most people who meet him think he is a puppy.  You would never know he has such severe health issues.

Today's checkup was not all that great.  His heart is the same, which is a good thing.  The same is definitely better than worse.  We think we found his heart murmur and high blood pressure early enough to avoid a lot of more severe heart damage.  The problem is his sight.  He is now blind in one eye and the cataract in the other eye is progressing pretty rapidly.  Before long, he will be totally blind.  Luckily, dogs are very resilient.  He has lost the sight in one eye this year and you would never know.  He doesn't act like he notices.  Perhaps the sight diminishes gradually enough that it seems natural to him.  I don't know.

I just know that it doesn't feel natural to me.  It makes me sad.  It has been a downright just sucky week.  Actually, it has been a pretty sucky year.  Too much death, too many bad things going on in our lives.  But I am also grateful.  Dad's health, while bad, is no worse.  His heart, while very weak, is no worse and maybe a touch better.  His mind and speech are deteriorating fairly quickly, but he is still "him" and I am so blessed to still have him here at nearly 88 years old.  And I am even more blessed to have the honor of caring for him at the end of his life just as I did my mother.  Just as they did for me at the beginning of mine.

And I count little Pufferbelly, aka Poofaloop, as a blessing as well.  He is sweet and cuddly.  He used to bark and whine when Mom got out of bed without assistance.  He does the same thing if Dad is not feeling well.  He sits on Dad's lap and they quiet each others' anxieties.  He's a good little guy and worth the extra thought.  My biggest hope is that he outlives Dad.  To that end, I will cook his food, give him his pills, take him for walks and do everything I can to "extend the useful life of his heart".  He has such a big heart for such a little body.