Thursday, June 29, 2006

Pre-Vacation Jitters

We're leaving on Saturday for a six-day trip to Quebec with Mary's Texan parents who will be in Montreal for a convention. We honestly never expected Sparkey to be around in July, especially taking into consideration the poor prognosis he received when hospitalized on Easter Sunday with acute renal failure.

Nonetheless, we're going away, leaving the dogs in the care of a very trusted dog-sitter with whom the dogs are quite comfortable. My brother---who is already comfy with the IV process---will actually pass through town on Saturday and do his avuncular duty for one night. A friend who is also a nurse will assist said dog-sitter in becoming comfortable with the nightly IV treatment and will be on-call as needed. Two other nurse friends will also be available.

In terms of a potential for Sparkey's death while we're away, we understand that animals and people will sometimes wait to die until their loved ones are not around, and it would not be a great surprise if Sparkey also chose such a manner of exit. However, my intuition says that he will be around for the summer and perhaps leave us in the autumn as the leaves turn the color of his orange coat. Who knows? At any rate, if he should meet his maker while we're out of town, his body will be taken by the vet and stored in anticipation of our return.

Neighbors keep remarking how good the old guy looks, despite the skinny skinny waist, bony hips, and scraping back paws with ataxic gait. As one neighbor said yesterday, he still has a bounce to his step and a flop to his ears.

Here's to more bounce and flop!

---Keith

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