My Little Girl Friend

Yesterday I got an email from Chicken Mama and oddly the talk about her "this" and my "that" were relatively close to heart.  She was working on something bittersweet and I was trying to catalog sad news.

I wasn't going to post this, but she told me I should and that it wouldn't be perceived all downer like.  So here goes...

Wednesday night, the FedEx man came to the door.  Like any other knock on the door, my little dogs go nuts.  I generally have to squeeze myself thru a space a mouse could use and step out.  That done, I hear all the usual ruckus going on behind the door.  You know, one dog trying to eat the other.

Step back inside and suddenly, Ami - my less than 3lbs and nearly 14 year old Yorkie, is limping.  She's been known to do this three-legged hop thing for many years.  So I wasn't too concerned at first.  But then I noticed that she wasn't snapping out of it like usual.  Her foot wouldn't go to the ground and it was actually crossing behind the other hind leg.

After watching her closely, I realized this was not her usual antics at all.  She got a little mopey and wouldn't let me investigate.  Ok, maybe she would sleep it off?

Thursday morning after a fitful night of sleep worrying that every move she or I made would aggravate her leg, we got up and still...the leg was the same.

I was able to get her to the Vet in the afternoon.  Naturally, Ami tried to bite the Vet.  Ok...that's normal and a good sign in my book.  That means there is feeling in the leg and she is trying to get this mean lady to knock it off!  Besides, she doesn't have lowers in the front, just uppers.  So it only counts as half a bite.  Right?

So the Vet took x-rays.  I was prepared to hear she had a sprain or ya know, something simple.  It's never good when the Vet says, "This isn't good."
 
Little Ami dislocated her hip.  The first thing I thought of was how every time you hear of a human breaking a hip, it almost always leads to the end.  And folks, if you've never seen a pint size x-ray with a bone some place it shouldn't be, and ya never had kids and your pets are your kids or ya have kids and your kids are your pets and your pets are still your kids, then ya know how heart breaking it is.

The options are:

 1)  Put her under and have them relocate (I suppose that's what its called) her hip and then sling the leg for several weeks.  There is no promise that it wont happen again.  To the tune of about $500.

2)  Medicate her with anti-inflammatory and pain killers and pray that she adjusts on three legs and can live out her remaining time peacefully.

3)  Put her down.   

As you probably can imagine, I am not ready for what's behind door number 3.  And neither is Ami.  She has been one tough little codger for some time now.  Last year, when she went thru her neurotic pacing and I thought I was going to lose her, it came down to the equivalent of Doggie Alzheimers.  Did you know there's a pill for that?  She's tough, she pulled thru!  And why wouldn't she?  She simply has to prove to me what I always knew when she was little and constantly up to no good ~ I used to tell her she would live to be 15 just to piss me off!  Yes, I regularly talk to my doggies.

Any time I have an animal issue, I always call my SIL Laura who has been a Vet Tech for over 20 years.  How she managed to decipher what I was telling her over the phone thru all the tears and blabble is beyond me.  She is obviously used to the heartache pet owners display when faced with difficult decisions.  And trust me, I have cried my eyes out all dang day/night.

I asked Laura what she would do if it were her dog.  We decided to try Option 2 and medicate her along with a healthy dose of Ice Cream on a regular basis.  According to Jane, this helps all dogs.

And I figure she deserves it.  She's been a really good friend.  Ami (pronounced Amy) is short for Amiga.  Which in Spanish is "girlfriend".   I will do whatever for my little girlfriend.  And I promise, I'll know "when".

In the meantime, I hope she pulls her stubborn little butt thru. 

Maybe with the Ice Cream and a little help from Pig Pen.  I'll take one of these in a Pint Size version, please.