Day 89: The Joy of The Familiar

One of my two favorite sights in the world these days is of Zoe looking both calm, in that Zen way she has, and eager to walk.  Here she is in the car just before the Sunday afternoon walk with her friend, Cooper.  Entirely serene, eyes bright, alert and ready.

My other favorite sight is of her running to her food bowl, pressing her head against my leg when I eat in the hope that something might fall from my plate in her general direction, or of her sitting with her nose pointed toward the treat pocket on a walk.

We stroll through the back yard while we wait for Cooper's person's call.  She finds an old bone and goes to work on it, showing off that she has it by grunting and trying to flip it up, toward her snout, as in some kind of cute dog circus trick.

On the drive, she is on the look-out for a surprise.  She can tell by the way I have the phone ready that something is happening, that we are about to do this amazing thing--that she has done hundreds of times before.

And then it's the meet-and-greet in the parking lot, and the big sniff-down.

Hello, Cooper.

Hello, Zoe.

Then the dogs go to work on each of us for treats.  It takes energy to run for an hour through snowy fields, doesn't it?

Who could resist this springer spaniel's soulful eyes?

Yum!

Cooper's person, Pat, says, "Zoe walks and runs the same way she always has."

She begs with the same vigor too.

Today was the end of the first week of Zoe's new course of treatment: she had her Monday, Wednesday and Friday doses of Palladia, which is a relatively new drug for dogs and can cause great gastrointestinal distress.   Many dogs vomit, lose their appetites, have uncontrollable diarrhea, and some even have internal bleeding.

So far we have seen no signs of any of these side effects.

The other drug she has to take on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays arrived just in time for yesterday's first dose.  Cyclophosphamide's side effects are similar to Palladia's, but added to that are urinary tract problems like cystitis.  So we have to make sure she drinks a lot of water and that we take her outside a lot.

Zoe is completely fine so far.  And I feel like the luckiest person alive.

Namaste, gentle reader.  Have a great Monday!