This morning, for several mornings in a row actually, I have heard the old kitchen clock downstairs bong three times indicating that it is 3:00 AM and I’m wondering why I am awake. One of the reasons I was awake is because of Scruffy, my little terrier. Well I guess he is most or all of the reasons I am having trouble sleeping and wide awake in the middle of the night.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Scruffy just wasn’t acting like himself. Let me catch you up a little if you are new to this blog. Scruffy is a rescue. We have had him about four and a half years. When we got him he was in pretty bad shape. He had a horrible skin infection and was almost totally blind from Cataracts. We took him to the vet and had him checked out. Other than the bad infection on his skin and the cataracts he was in pretty good shape. The vet estimated that he was about six years old although we have been told by our current vet that he is older. So that makes him at least ten years old, probably older. We took him home. I fell in love with him immediately and he loves me. He never lets me out of his sight. I am his person. After we brought him home we cleaned him up and had to bathe him about every other day with a medicated shampoo. After we had him a short time we had the cataracts removed. He has been living his best life with us, all the kitties, and until last month, Molly. He is sort of the big bro to all of them.

As I said a few weeks ago I noticed that Scruffy was just not himself. He seemed like he didn’t want to go on the walks with us every afternoon. I thought maybe he was missing Molly being with us, and that may have been a part of it. He acted like he had no energy. He has always been a fairly energetic little guy.

Last week he started this horrible coughing. It was especially bad at night or when he slept and stretched out. He always sleeps with me and usually on my bed. So of course every time he did this I would wake up. I also noticed that his stomach felt tight and maybe a little swollen. I got an appointment with the vet. I also did a video on my phone of him coughing so they could see exactly what it was like. It was terrible.

On Friday Mark took him to the vet. They ran a series of tests and told us that Scruffy is in heart failure. I was afraid that was what was going on. I hoped for anything else but I guess that fear was in the back of my mind. My sister had a dog several years ago and he went through the same thing. I remember staying with him one night when they were out of town and he did the terrible coughing just like Scruffy was doing.

They tell us that they think they have caught it early. His stomach was swollen a little from fluids and he is on Lasix for that along with a couple of other meds. So we were are hopeful that he will be okay for awhile.

But the last few days Scruffy will not eat anything. I am having to coax every bite that goes into his mouth. It is really hard to give him meds. Normally I would put the meds in a bite of food but now he won’t have anything. Even his favorite foods, he simply sniffs and walks away. He also has terrible diarrhea. I went by yesterday and picked up some medicine for the diarrhea. So far it hasn’t helped. We go for a follow up tomorrow. Maybe we will know more after that. All I know is that in the last two weeks he has really gone downhill. He is very lethargic and breaths heavy. It breaks my heart to see him this way and after losing Molly only a month ago I just don’t know how to go through it again.

Scruffy is mine. He loves Mark but wherever I am he is right there beside me. Right now he is lying beside my chair in the office. He follows me every move I make. Even if I am making the bed he follows me from side to side. When I am at home he never lets me out of his sight. When I go to the bathroom he sits outside the door waiting patiently for me. I used to think it was annoying but I will never think that again.

So as you can see I am terrified right now and can only pray for guidance on what to do. I am trying to be positive that we can get these meds going in the right direction and he will start feeling better.

I just wanted to share all of that with you. Hug those babies close they are special little gifts. And if you would whisper a little prayer for my Scruffy that he can stay with us for a bit longer.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!