They aren't related. Well, there is a great-great grandfather in common. But they hadn't met until the trip to California. He was big and husky for a Cocker Spaniel. She was tiny and spry.
They all stopped at our house for a backyard break. Fourteen cocker spaniel puppies running loose. Most ran for the water bowl. She ran to my feet. Then to Mel's feet.
But we already had a dog. There was Mohawk.
So she went off to Lancaster with the 12 other puppies. Still hoping for a home.
I left for Lancaster the next morning. She ate her way out of the box on the way back to Bakersfield.
I let her out in the backyard with some food. She started to eat. Mohawk came wandering up.
Who knew that such a little thing could make such a big noise. Without moving. From deep in her throat.
Yup. We knew who was boss in that group!
That was 15 years ago.
Then yesterday happened.
We woke up at 5am to find her walking in circles (to the right), her eyes wild, her face twitching, and her back legs giving out. We knew she was having a stroke. And we knew that old dogs don't recover from strokes.
So I took her into the vet as soon as they opened. Only her regular vet would do in this case.
I cried all the way there. We had all said our goodbyes. We were as ready as we could get.
In walks the vet, takes one look at her, has me put her on the floor to watch her walk and says,
"Geriatric vestibular syndrom. She will be fine in about 4 to 6 weeks."
I didn't know I could cry that hard, again.
She still walks like a drunken sailor and always to the right. Her head is tilted to the right and her eyes are still a bit glazed. But she is going to be fine.
If you have ever had a dog......well, you don't need me to explain it to you.
Awww... there are a couple of kitties in the cat blogosphere with vestibular syndrome; I think in their case it's congenital and permanent but they live with it just fine. They're just a wee bit tilty all the time...
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