birdy soon flies Home

We went to the vet yesterday. The Lady and OM had a long talk with her about me. The vet listened to my lungs and could tell that I am having to work very hard to move air, and suggested it was time. She told the Lady we could do it then or take a few days. The Lady decided to take a few days.

Here I am, sending you love. 

Last November my Lady wrote a novel titled The Reunion Song. Right before she met me. In the book, the Reunion Song is sung in a place named Home. People and all kinds of animals live there, and they sing this song to help all of us come Home. Someone there is always singing the song. The Lady sang the song to me and now I can hear them singing to help me fly Home. I want you to hear the song too. It goes like this:

‘We are singing the Reunion Song. The Song goes like this: Here we are, we’ve always been here. All are welcome. All are loved. Welcome Home. Welcome. You are loved.  This goes on. This never stops. We are singing now, the Reunion Song.’

Thank you, everyone who helped me. Thank you, my Lady for loving me and giving me my home. Thank you everyone for all your love. And thank you now for helping me fly Home. I will never forget you. I love you. Your Bird. 

Here I am, on my way Home. 

how it's going

This morning the Lady told me her dog ears weren't working as good as she wanted and couldn't hear if it was time to schedule my trip home yet, so we have an appointment with the vet this afternoon at 5pm to assess my flight status. 


Yesterday, despite being on my death bed, I managed to have a good dig in the dirt when the Lady wasn't looking.

Here's the hole I dug yesterday

while the Lady wasn't looking.

Today, so far, I've had a good day. For breakfast I had two tins of my favorite food - sardines. After breakfast, I spent time on the porch soaking up the sun. Later the Lady took me out into the yard and the orchard and let me meander through a long, yummy sniff. She even let me eat the cat poo lumps that she usually pulls me away from. 

Here I am soaking up the morning sun. 

I don't smell so good, the odor that wafts from my back end. But you might not either, if you'd been on my sardine diet. I don't care. I don't think the Lady minds too much either. 


Later, back in the house, I climbed up into her lap in the armchair. She cried and I licked her tears. She thinks I don't understand all these code words, that I don't know what's going on. But I know. 

Here I am with my big belly, 

soaking up my Lady from her red fleece.

As you can see, I'm not dead yet, but I'm not very comfortable. We'll see what the vet has to say.  No matter what, I'm happy to have had this sweet life.

just in case

I'll get right to the point. I'm not doing so well. At all. I think I've finally started on that flight path Home. So, just in case, I want to start saying goodbye now, while I can. I have some infections that won't clear up, because my immune system is pretty much offline now. My paws are a wreck. My vet has tried treating my paw infections for bacteria, fungus and yeast and they're not getting better.

I am tired and sleep a lot. Sometimes my Lady gives me a bully stick and I'm not interested.

And the most ironic thing is that I now look fat! After all that starving and dragging around my bag of bones, to end up so puffed up and bloated around the middle, I hardly know what to say. It happened in one week. My belly now looks like I eat five meals a day, with my bowl filled with peanut butter and bacon grease syrup. But I sometimes don't even finish my meal. It's like that.

My Lady has asked me to tell her when it's time to help me fly Home. I'm not there yet. But it feels like soon. I just want everyone to know so it's not a surprise.

I love you. Thank you for making the last part of life so beautiful. I have been the happiest of dogs, loving my Lady, having all the yummy food, sharing my story, and living in the heart of so much love.

I'll write again if I can. This is just in case.

Thank you.
I love you,
Your Bird

Here I am  with my yucky paws, 

my big belly, and my full heart,

sending you love. 

my blue jewel

I was sick a few days ago, for two days. I threw up three times in one day and looked like someone had vacuumed all the life out of me. The Lady was quite distraught. She thought that I was At The End. I thought there was another reason I didn't feel well.

She has a friend that she talks to all the time on her iPad. That thing that let's them sniff each other's muzzles. I think it's called Face Time, though I think Muzzle Time is a better name. Anyway, her friend was sick, and had a couple of days of throw-up and the icky poop. I think I caught that bad bug through the iPad. The Lady rolled her eyes and told me that's not how it works, but it's okay for us to disagree.

Then, The Lady made a discovery today that she thinks might account for my bad tummy. She found this boot of hers that I'd recently snacked on.

Here's the boot that I snacked on.

When she picked it up and was inspecting my handiwork, she heard a rattling around noise. She shook the boot, and guess what? I had left a small gift in the boot for her, like a present tucked inside a Christmas stocking. One of my teeth. A molar.

Here's the Christmas gift I left tucked inside the boot. 

Anyway, I'm all better now, and no one has to worry. I was just sick like normal people and dogs. Because a bad bug seeped through Muzzle Time on her iPad. It was not The End.

Also, she's taken to calling my blue eye my blue jewel. I can't feel the difference between my eyes, but I'm glad I have treasure in my body that I can give my Lady.

Here I am with my blue jewel.

gooshy and warm

I see my Lady told you all about my visit to the vet and how I'm doing. I read all your comments and feel all gooshy and warm inside your love. 


While the Lady was writing I was busy with important stuff. Like I dug a humungous hole at the edge of the garden. I placed it precisely to make it the best possible tripping opportunity for the gardener. I hope he appreciates the care I took. And even though I told the Lady I was going outside to dig a big hole, when she saw my muzzle and paws encrusted in dirt, and found my hole, she was shocked. I don't understand. I told her. 

Here I am after digging my hole. 

Notice how much dirt I was able to 

get on my nose, toes and speedboat.

Here's the really big hole I dug.

And the lumpus wound drops the vet gave me are working very fast. I'm finally out of the speedboat and wretched hard clear plastic cone of misery.

Here I am last night without my speedboat. 

If you look closely, you can see my 

Fetching Tags tag. It says, 

Scratch My Butt. Which is my favorite thing.

til the wheels fall off

It's Bird's Lady writing today. We went to the vet yesterday. I asked Bird if she wanted to write a blog post and she said, how about you write it today, I want to go outside and dig a big hole in the garden. So, I'm writing and she's digging.

The vet said the lumpus wasn't really a lymphoma lumpus. She thought it was a fungal infection, and gave me some drops for it. She felt that a surgical solution was not a good way to go with Bird. So, drops it is. After just two applications, the wound is starting to heal.

She palpated Bird and commented that the area around her diaphragm and lungs was stiffer, that the tumors feel like they've grown. Bird wheezes often now. When the time comes to let her go, it will probably be because she can't breathe.

She also has had a hard time defecating. But not because her stool is hard. The vet explained that the tumors have grown around her lumbar spine, making it hard for Bird to assume 'the position' so that she has to strain. She suggested I increase the amount of fish oil I put into her food.

So, I know this post is not written in the usual light, humorous manner. The vet thought Bird was definitely showing signs of weakness. I want to prepare everyone that loves her. She may be on the decline. I know I was in denial, almost as if she was a regular dog. And old girl, but not sick. So, here it is. Who knows how long she has. To me it feels like maybe two months. How do I know? I couldn't say. I could be totally wrong. But I don't want to just post one day out of the blue and tell you she's gone.

Thank you for all of your precious love, Anneke

Here we are, living and loving til the wheels fall off.

speedboat

The Lady went away on a business trip again to Colorado. That's why I haven't been able to let you know how I've been, because she always takes the computer when she travels. I asked The Lady to get me my own computer, but she just rolled her eyes and said, no. She said, if I wanted my own computer, I would have to get a job, like shoveling snow or mowing lawns. I rolled my eyes.


My OM stayed with me, and we had a good time. I've been kinda constipated so OM gave me lots of extra greens, and pumpkin and olive oil, which did the trick. Eating extra was not a chore. 


My leg lumpus wound is not better. It's worse, so we're going to see the Nice Lady Vet this Monday to get it taken care of. 


In the meantime, I've been living in various forms of e-collar. The one I wear most often looks like a life vest, like what I'd wear if I got to go on a speedboat. The Lady has taken to calling me Speedboat.


I know I don't look so great in this photo. I was in my post-breakfast-about to fall asleep mode. Plus it's raining out and the sound makes me drowsy. But I'm really okay, so no one needs to worry. 

Here I am ready to go for 

a zoom in the speedboat.