In memory of...

As some of you may know, my pic is actually of my Lucky dog. Hubby and I rescued him from a Florida shelter after Hurricane Charlie? (before Hurricane Katrina). 

[On a side note, let me tell you, that nothing makes hurricanes blur together so much as living in a trailer park in Florida. Especially during Charlie and Katrina and the others. And still nothing has surprised me as much as seeing the huge fish swimming down the side of our street in the storm water surge. And if you don't learn quick and efficient bug out techniques from living in the storm paths through that year, you'll never learn to be prepared.]

Bub was actually our second shelter baby. We had rescued Diamond from a Maryland shelter a couple years prior and weren't really looking for another dog as she was a handful by herself. [Diamond was a Chow/Samoyed mix. She had the look of a smaller Samoyed (still 50ish lbs) but had the black Chow tongue.] [[And we had parrots. How could I forget?!]]  Lucky came from a very large family and loved pretty much everyone he ever met and always tried to kiss babies. We assume he came from someone of Spanish or Mexican descent, mainly because of how he acted when he heard someone speak Spanish and nothing drew him to the kitchen faster than the smell of TexMex food and rice. 

Lucky and Daisy

Lucky aka Bubba

About 9 months ago, Bub fell as he was coming down the stairs. I was at work and Hubby frantically called me. Lucky wouldn't get up off the floor and could barely move his legs.  He ended up laying on the floor for a couple of hours and we were finally able to get him in the car and to the vets. He had severe arthritis in his hips, causing him pain and making him very unsteady especially on stairs. The doc said we would have to consider using Rimadyl or a similar item to lubricate his joints and cartilage and ease his pain. We started Bub on glucosamine/MSM supplements and doggie pain pills and he was doing much better - at least until this new year.

Along with most everyone else in US (and around the globe), we've been enjoying some horrible weather. Lots of pressure shifts, lots of large temperature shifts not only from day to day, but also during the same day. I wouldn't go so far as saying that Hubby and I were "rode hard and put up wet," but we've had some adventures during our lives and have a few marks to show for them. We certainly feel the snaps and changes and it makes us grumpy even on great days.  Bub was suffering as much, if not more, along with us. We changed and increased his meds, but he became snappy and belligerent; something we'd never seen before. He was still having mostly good days, and we discussed increasing his meds again.

Lucky's pain was worsening. Most evenings he would watch us walk upstairs to the bedroom. When we got to the top of the stairs, he would ever so carefully lower himself down, and end up falling asleep at the foot of the stairs while his head rested one step above.  On bad nights he would just remain on his bed downstairs and cry.

Lucky started refusing to take his pills, making each dosage a challenge. He became more aggressive, not allowing anyone near any of the food bowls and even started snapping at us. He wouldn't go down the stairs into the yard. Even when walking on a leash he wouldn't go much past our house. We were unable to pet more than his head without him crying or snapping. His last full day with us he spent on his pillow, whining, panting, in too much pain to move, eat or drink. 

We decided we were being selfish and cruel, and I made the call to our vet. Hubby and I spent the night with Lucky, sitting by his side and comforting him as much as he would allow. And on February 19th, Lucky went chasing off after Diamond. Now they play together as they wait for us to join them on the other side.