OK guys, I am ever so sad and shocked. My lovely border collie, Jake, aged 11, has been losing weight and getting thin ever since we took him to Switzerland and Tuscany in our motorhome last summer. We had checked him out some months ago, but he was then still within the normal weight limits. Now, hes all skin and bones,his ribs are visible, his ruff is hanging loose, he looks like a starving dog, though we have recently switched to soft dog food exclusively. We thought it was upset over the labradoodle puppy we got over Easter. I had been told that a puppy would extend an old dogs life by a year, because of all the extra frolicking. Well, Jake despised Merry to begin with, and went off alone to sulk for hours, though now he tolerates her. He and I had perfect communion; we felt like one being, though we are of two different species, and we were together almost 24/7. I think a puppy coming who I loved and who also loved me was highly upsetting to him. Anyway, the vet immediately felt a large lump in Jakes abdomen, and after an ultrasound said that he has a large growth in his abdomen and two tumours in his liver. There is no point operating, they say, once it spreads to the liver. He has just 5 months to live, they think, maybe a year. I feel so sad that the puppy we got hoping to extend his life, may not have improved it. He got less attention. So anyway, we are going to give him a good 5 months. The vet thinks he might not be in pain. And if I think he is in pain and his quality of life is diminished, we will say goodbye. Oh why do we have pets? Because I love animals so much. However, we live in the country, in fox territory, and foxes have mauled my ducks, killed my hens, given my rabbits myxomatosis, and eaten the ones we trained to play in the garden and come in at night. Heartbreak! C.S. Lewis, that old wordster got it right, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” Oh Jakey!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:57:05 +0000
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