Beautiful Things
We all need beautiful things right now! And good news too? Yes, yes, and yes! Internal medicine veterinarian Dr. Bates did an ultrasound on Maggie and says: “No kidney disease!” Yes, her kidneys are older (she turns 12 in January), and I’ll do all I can to take care of them, but no “kidney diets” necessary. And look at the joy on my old girl’s face!
Jim and I took the dogs on an off-leash trail this weekend, and I managed to get each of the dogs mid leap.
Look at Mr. Skip tuck those front legs! Stadium jumping here we come. And, not to let her hog the spotlight, look at Maggie’s face!
At an overlook on the first day of November. (And on our wedding anniversary!) Are we lucky to live here, or what?
Two more beautiful things, just because. Sunrise at the farm:
Sunset outside of Genoa City, WI after a sheepdog trial. (More on that to come in the weeks to follow.) Look at that sky!
And last, here’s something I’ve been doing to help me get through the days if something is coming up that I’m worried about–flower stickers on each day up to the event. It’s brought me a disproportionate amount of joy.
The stickers come from this book, $12 from Barnes and Noble, by Castle Point Books.
Here’s to all of you, in this kind and compassionate village that we abide in, and to the USA, my country ’tis of thee, land that I love.
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About the Author
Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB Emeritus is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She encourages your participation, believing that your voice adds greatly to its value. She enjoys reading every comment, and adds her own responses when she can.
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Such excellent news – I am so happy for you! Maggie looks to be overflowing with life and joy, and I am sure your heart overflowed to see her run after weeks of worry. My Sophy is 16 next week, and ran zoomies this morning, so I know how it feels!
Frances: Sophy 16 and running zoomies?! Oh how wonderful!!! Love such good news!
OMG! I remember reading your post about when you first brought Maggie home as a young dog.
Thanks! You’ve helped talk me off the ledge today 😉
YAY Maggie. That is very good news.
Wonderful news about Maggie’s kidneys! You sure captured those leaps in mid-leap. Such happy faces.
Beautiful things here: the final two chocolate walnut zucchini breads of the season just came out of the over. Made from the last ginormous zuke of the year.
Rowan had her first snow hike of the season at 5,000 ft elevation (we live at 3,000 ft) – her face was as delighted as Maggie’s above.
So glad for you and Maggie!
Nothing worse than watching a beloved pup suffer with kidney disease and then failure. Gut wrenching. My beagle, Wallace, went through that. And my amazingly generous neighbor, the vet tech, came over every night to give him fluids. For months. I grieve for Wallace and am profoundly grateful for my neighbor.
Gorgeous photos.
The beautiful thing I have right now is the California fuchsia that’s in bloom.
No kidney disease! Smiling, leaping hounds! Anniversaries! Blooms! Sunrises and Sunsets! We needed these bright spots, thank you Trisha! My 13 yo did zoomies this chilly morning; not sure whose smile was bigger.
Keep on carrying on!
Great news and life-affirming pictures. Made my day in these anxious times.
Huge thanks to you and my fellow villagers for sharing all those beautiful things! I love reading about all the simple but oh, so meaningful things that bring us joy. It helps me stay grounded. My frail 16-year-old boy did zoomies the other evening, too! Maybe something to do with the phases of the moon? 😉
A wonderful post, thank you Trisha.
My happy activity for these days is planning and planting a winter hummingbird garden–we here in Western Washington have Anna’s Hummingbirds that overwinter–I don’t put out a feeder, but there are numerous plants that flower during the winter months, and I have started to put some in outside of my kitchen window. I started with Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’ and I’m going out to get some more today!
Helena, winter hummers? Oh, how wonderful! Your flowers sound gorgeous!
Great news! I am so happy for you. On Sunday, I brought home a new foster-to-adopt. She barks a lot and I am wondering what you suggest? I have another dog who already barks too much but is better since I adopted him a year ago. I did read your book but could use a refresher.
Molla, hard to know what to say without knowing a lot more. But I’d give it 3 weeks and see if she’ll calm down. She’s probably in shock and all dogs react differently. For now, I’d either ignore or distract. Good luck!
Smiles all around. Thanks for the lovely post.
Have a beautiful day, hug your pups- give that unconditional love:))
So happy to hear all is healthy on your end!
I lost my 15 y/0 50 lbs heart dog to a mix of kidney disease and cancer this summer. I miss him so much, but am comforted by the fact that we gave each other all we had-and still do.
After diagnosis (which was a chock as his senior checkup was perfect just a couple months before) with the care available these days and my turning into a doggie nurse, he lived another good year. It was hard at times I am not gonna lie, but also precious.
I thought I’d share here that kidney diet isn’t necessarily (anymore) the grimmest of news. There are now some vets who specialize in nutrition who can guide you through many commercial and homemade options based on your animal’s blood tests. Several of those vets are based in North Carolina and work remotely. Working with a dog nutritionist was key for us. It kept Atlas eating and fed and even discovering exciting new foods for as long as his thorough self could bargain good enough time on this earth with his aging organs.
If anyone reading this post is struggling with a beloved pet’s kidney disease diagnosis, I am based in the DC area and still have many dog kidney friendly food samples and other relevant supplies I’d be happy to share. Also, Chewy will let you buy food and reimburse you for what doesn’t work. (Taking care of a pet with kidney disease gets expensive as you just don’t know what they will like anymore, and it changes!). Financially speaking, I’ll also add that in our case, having pet insurance was a life saver.
Atlas (an Eskie, American Foxhound, Chow Chow, and Lab rescue mix) and I lived, hiked, swam, via various modes of transportation, all over the world and the country. Friends are asking for the Atlas book…I will get to it soon so more to come for anyone curious! Atlas is responsible for about all the good friends we made along the way. He would have wanted me to take the time to write this post, in the case it would make someone’s day, or more. So don’t be shy and reach out if you’d like.
Marie, so generous of you! And yes yes about some alternatives out there for healthy diets–right now vets seem to disagree substantially about protein (from mine: just restrict from one, don’t do that from the other).
Fantastic news about Maggie! We have a 10 year old Cavalier King Charles, and her vet just told me that she still has NO HEART MURMUR!! Having had a Cavi yourself, I’m sure you know that by age ten, 100% have one! Our girl may be deaf as a post, but we can’t complain about her heart!!
Wow, that was a LOT of events in October! I have to have a day or 3 off in between outings. But sure makes a beautiful page!
Such great news about Maggie. Yay!
A medication warning for pet parents with older dogs who have arthritis:
Our 11-year old Sheltie has had at least a touch of arthritis ever since he was about 6. However, he normally runs around easily as long as he doesn’t “overdo” and he gets rest between zoomies. Then last week he suddenly started limping so badly he couldn’t climb upstairs.
Kammie’s been on Glucosomine (sp?) and CBD oil for years, but we’d run out of his regular small (& very pricey) prescription for a low-dose pain med. My husband found the recently unused prescription for Gabapenten that Kammie had gotten but not needed from the Vet/specialist who performed his dental cleaning/surgery. He gave Kammie one Gabapentene pill as a temporary substitute.
Later the same day Kammie could no longer stand up — all 4 legs kept collapsing. My husband had to carry Kammie upstairs (he is slightly larger than the standard full-size Sheltie) & he remained out of it all night. We were totally freaked out.
The next morning we contacted our regular Vet: It turned out the dosage was too high for his size and age. Fortunately, by the end of the next day it was out of his system.
Anne: Eeeps, scary story, thanks for the important reminder about being cautious about meds. (And just fyi, Maggie became a different dog after we put her on Librela for her arthritis pain.
Yay for the good news for Maggie! And thank you for all the beautiful things today. Most of us need a lot of anxiety modulation today!
Yay for the good kidney news (hopefully a harbinger of news to come). Great pictures of Maggie and Skip. I love how wide dog’s grins can get.
One source of beauty has been the flock of bluebirds that have been hanging out in our yard for the past few months. They came and went earlier this summer, but they seem to be liking the digs for now. They swoop and swirl and gather—six so far. We’re reluctant to put up bluebird houses because the bears destroyed the bird houses we had up (and had a quick snack in the process). I was lucky enough to find a very small bluebird feather on the ground. It is the most impossible blue color. Just spectacular.
Another source of beauty and therefor joy has been Daisy—the Parson Russell Terrier we adopted a few months ago. Man, that 3 days/3 weeks/3 months rhythm was right on. Just coming out of month three, she is showing her very funny, happy, playful self. She makes us laugh, and while we knew we had grown a bit grim during the past year and a half, we didn’t realize how much we missed laughter and the frivolity having an imp in the house brings. We have things to work on with her of course, but she is joy.
Beautiful post and pictures Trisha! Just what I needed to enjoy some calm today with all the craziness going on during Election Day!
So happy about Maggie!
Sophy is on Librela too – I think it is helping to keep her zooming at 16. I know there are concerns that it is still new, but my mantra for her is Quality over Quantity at this stage of her life.
Frances,that’s the same choice I made for Maggie. She was clearly in pain, quiet, far less playful, and then 24 hours after her first shot she was like a puppy. I’d make the same choice for me.
I’m so happy for you and Maggie. The news cheered me up today.
We put our 14.5 year old dog on Librela too. It’s newish in the US, I guess, but our vet told us it’s been used in Europe for a while. Like many of you have posted, we’ve also got zoomies happening in our yard again! Not enough to relieve my heartache over recent events, but it certainly does help to see our beloved boy happy again.
Yay Maggie, wonderful news!
The best beautiful thing around here would be Daizey, who has been with me two months. Discovering new things about her keeps life interesting. Last week’s highlights: she really, really loves pumpkin. And she really, really hates possums (announced at 5am with maniacal barking as she was trying to climb a 6 ft. fence to catch one).
Coming out of my cloud/hole/depth of ___________ for a minute to share this thing of beauty:
https://theisolationjournals.substack.com/p/saying-yes?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Scroll down to read the second essay too. It’s a beaut.
My neice and her husband decided to get a puppy for their family last year which really surprised me. She’s never had a dog and is definitely a cat person. Her husband has never had a dog and comes from a culture where dogs are kept outside and aren’t really pets…he actually has always had a fear of dogs. I congratulated my neice on their new family member and told her that she’s finally a “dog person.” I was corrected and told that she was just a “person with a dog.” And her husband that was afraid of dogs? I actually think he’s become a “dog person.”
After I posted on my FB page photos and videos of all the activities that my dogs had today…Sniffaris, new toys, puzzle toy enrichment…I realize how a little eccentric I must seem to some of my friends…even my RVT friends. And I’m totally ok with that.
I agree with your hypothesis for sure. Not all pets are easy and can cause more stress and anxiety. I have a Reactive dog…I have the time, patience, knowledge and support to work through it with her and help manage it. I feel like the average dog owner probably doesn’t unfortunately. It can be very stressful for me…I can only imagine how difficult it is for others that are not in the same situation as I am.