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| LIAM ON LANDING; HELP! I CANNOT GET UP OR DOWN |
Yoga Class- an active session. After class I somehow work in that today is Liam's birthday and bask in the offered birthday wishes. I feel muscle pain which affords hope of increased flexibility and less anxiety. My head is in a Namaste like place. I arrive home and Liam is roaming the lower floor. I notice his food is untouched.
Not unusual
He sometimes lets it sit all day. A quick wardrobe tweak and I leave for my coffee date. A glance back shows Liam wedged between the coffee table and couch.
Not unusual.
Coffee meet is satisfying; always is when good friends catch up. We topic out (after a long relaxed time) and wind up. I return home. Liam does not greet me. His arrival hello is not always immediate.
Not unusual.
After 5 minutes of not hearing his tags jingle, I go looking. Must be upstairs. I find him curled in a catlike ball, top of the bed, pillow under his head. Not his routine. He is a bottom of the bed dog. Seems more like a hiding place. He edges away from me as I try to touch him. I let him be, he is not a huggy dog. I feel a vague worry. I walk across the landing to my writing room. He follows in a bit and positions himself in the chair, head hidden.
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| LIAM HIDING IN HOUNDSTOOTH |
Unusual.
He always watches me as I sit at the PC, especially Thursdays when our blog is due. He is hiding. I sit at the PC, tighten up our blog story, arrange the pix, edit, cut...all this takes time, hours. Liam never moves or barks. The afternoon ebbs to evening and Paul arrives home. No Liam bark to announce Paul, no Liam leaping from the chair. Liam and I both stay put upstairs. I am working on the blog, Liam nesting.
Unusual.
LiamLicks is ready for Paul proofing. I make a few of his suggested changes and we publish on all the venues. Takes more time. Now it is about 8:30 and time to toast our literary success. The usual routine. Yes, we do this every Thursday upon publication as if we have a new best seller. The tradition...wine is poured. Liam sits between us. Cheers to another successful blog launch, Clink. We wait for the reviews to roll in.
I keep my devices out to view the responses and reply. If I am too wine happy I wait until Friday to answer. Our family of three watches Big Brother (summer) then Project Runway; Liam hoping for a Project Runway Swatch sighting. Swatch is the resident dog at the fabric store Mood.
That's the usual.
That's the routine.
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| NO DOGS ON BIG BROTHER BUT SWATCH IS ON PROJECT RUNWAY |
Unusual.
Liam is not joining; Paul says he must join the family. Calls him to come down. Liam sort of tumbles and misses a few steps. He seems groggy. Something is not right with the birthday boy. The night goes by and Liam stays in his chair, no barking, no sighs, not moving.
We both check during the night to see if he is breathing. Friday morning August 2, Liam in chair, Paul heads out to work. I head out to retiree activities. I return to find Liam resting.
Not routine.
Unusual.
I attempt to touch him and he gets up and moves towards the stairs. Liam wants to be alone. Oh no. I have heard when dogs are not well they isolate themselves. He cannot go up. His back legs seem locked. He drags himself up with his front legs. I watch. That's it! Enough. No barking, no eating, hiding from me! And I have documented 4 or more unusuals. Too many. Scary. I call our vet who takes us right away. Turns out the leaping, running, rolling Liam has damaged a disc. A shot and a prescription. The Doc is McDreamy. I am fascinated grateful and want to work there. I can assist this wonderful man. I find myself babbling about Liam and his habits hoping to sound like a good dog mother. A shot on the spot for Liam, pills for home. Within an hour Liam is himself. A few barks, a little food. Rimadyl. A miracle drug. Doctor McDreamy promises to call Saturday to see how Liam is doing. I find myself looking forward to this call. And most people know I hate phone calls. Not this time. Maybe he'll do FaceTime on iPad. No we did not set up for that. Doctor Mc does call early. I report all is fine, I thank often. I hear my obsequious tone in my responses.
Liam's 6th birthday, quite a marker in his life.
Today marks (the doctor's name is Mark) 3 weeks since the unusuals.
Liam is back to Starbucks latte licking, leaping and running. Still taking Rimadyl. It says canine on the bottle. Too bad. My back could use a little relief. Sure fixed Liam up.
Here is a little clip showing Liam enjoying some licks. An activity he eschewed while hurting.
Routine is back.
The Usual.
Woof, Woof
An update to our 7/18/13 blog story Wine in Paper...exciting... my wine store now has reusable wine carriers ...Can one blog story change the world? Yes!!!! see pic. BTW I know it might be a coincidence but then again, maybe not. Makes a good story and that is what we are about.
