Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Hot, hot, hot

Ohhh, we are roasting here. I guess most of the country is, though. The air conditioner was almost nonfunctional in my end of the building today. I took my laptop and tried to work in a conference room up front where it was marginally cooler. By four o'clock nearly everyone else had already left, and I decided I was finished, too. So I went to work out--and it was hot in there, too!
It was good to get home to a cool house, a cold shower, and a happy dog. I am so glad I can keep this old dog comfortable.

And speaking of Amie, I took her for a checkup the other day and found that she now has a heart murmur. The vet told me two years ago that her heart was slightly enlarged, so I guess this means her heart disease is inexorably progressing. He says that if she starts coughing at night we will start her on Lasix. But isn't there anything I can do to help keep her from getting to that point? We already watch her sodium intake, and look for any changes in her habits. She seems to sleep a little more than she used to, but she is just as thrilled to go for a walk as she has ever been.

How I hate to consider that my sweet girl will be gone someday. I think many of you already know how a person can love an animal this much.


I think she loves me too.

10 comments:

DogBlogger said...

And those who don't love an animal this much will never understand the likes of us, will they? ;-)

I'm pretty sure she loves you, too. It's what dogs do.

She's beautiful.

p.s. - Internet still down at home, but I saw Amie's comment from this coffeehouse with free wi-fi. Lost a tooth in the Scientist's leg -- that's hard-core!

Lori said...

What a sweet doggie she is!! Though I've never had dogs, just cats, they are full fledged family members, our pets are. Hope it cools down for you soon (and for us too here in droughtland) and hope and pray Amie's health holds strong.

Jody Harrington said...

Precious pictures! Gretel had a heart murmur for several years. It caused her to cough some, but otherwise didn't seem to affect her quality of life and wasn't the reason for her demise. So here's hoping that it will be the same for your pretty girl!

Anonymous said...

Yes, we understand...I've been accused of caring more about our dog than the rest of the family :)

I hope her health improves soon. Do you have a good naturopathic vet in your area? I don't have any experience with this, but supplementation with L-taurine and selenium may help. Here's some general information.

LadyBurg said...

She actually looks like a baby girl in the first picture. What a cutie!

zorra said...

Everyone, thanks for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. She may be a little old lady, but she is very sweet and can be as playful as a puppy.

Kievas, thanks for that website. I have already been reading up on L-taurine and carnitine, but will look into selenium too. We do have some naturopathic vets in the area, and I have thought about consulting them.

Rev SS said...

Another pet lover, getting here late, and joining everyone in wishing Amie and you many more years together. She is beautiful!

Unknown said...

Oh, such a sweetie! Of course she loves you!!

zorra said...

Yes, she is beautiful. And yesterday morning this beautiful, precious creature managed to snitch the wrapper from a package of Jimmy Dean sausage out of the garbage and inhale it before we realized where she was and what she was doing...We have been highly observant of her digestive habits today...so far so good, and she seems to feel just fine....Dogs!!!

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Awww...animal lover here too. We had one collie mixed breed that we all loved like she was a person. She died YEARS ago, and we still speak of her with love from time to time. There are dogs, and there are Dogs.