bella

Fisheye Bella

Blog Posted by kitt at 17:23 on 22 February 2012

Still breathing, still snoring, still kickin' it.

Go, Bella, go!

Sleeping!

Blog Posted by kitt at 19:40 on 21 February 2012

And now, it's both Bella and Annie where I'm sleeping. Great, just great. My pillow is going to smell like dog ass.

Of note, Annie has been hanging out with Bella more than before. She will snuggle Bella, sleep close, look for Bella when the older dog is off somewhere sleeping away from the pack. I don't know if Annie knows something's going on, or if she, too, is just getting old and seeking the comfort we all want.

In my spot

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 10:37 on 20 February 2012

Bella, sleeping in my spot!

Yes, it hurts to be this cute.

As mentioned

Blog Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 11:09 on 19 February 2012

As mentioned, a photo of Bella today.

She's still alive.

Alive and sniffing.

Still alive

Blog Posted by kitt at 18:03 on 18 February 2012

I feel at this point that I need to start posting daily pictures of Bella, mostly with the title "Still alive!" or maybe just the tag. She made it past the original month she was given by the vet after her early stage kidney failure condition was found. We believe it's mostly because she's been receiving fluids twice a week. The vet said without fluids, she has a month; with daily fluids she could have up to a year. Given that she's sixteen and a half, it's unclear if kidney failure is going to do her in or if something else will. She pretty much fears the vet now, shaking violently in the car once she realizes where we're going. It is now a balance between quality and quantity of life: no way am I going to torture the dog every day for a year just to keep her alive longer for my benefit. She struggles with walks, barely making it 20 minutes at a time; her back seems to hurt every time it's touched; she's deaf; she's blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other eye; she often misses items held next to her face; and she spends a large amount of time either sleeping or standing motionless staring at a wall. I try to make everything as much fun as I can for her, going for walks when she indicates she's ready to go, but, well, she's nearing the end of her life.

For now, however, she's still alive.

And kicking.

How to steal a fire engine

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 17:20 on 31 December 2011

The rule now with Bella is, when she's awake and wants to walk, we walk. We walk as far for as long as she wants. If she tires, I carry her home, but we walk as long as she wants to move. One of the benefits, I guess, of knowing you have fewer than six months to live: people will help make your remaining time as nice as possible.

So, when Bella wanted to walk, we started walking. About 45 minutes into our walk, Bella was still going strong, much to my surprise I will admit. We were heading down the final stretch, the street leading to our block, when I heard a number of sirens. Having just passed the local Old Folks Home, I figured they were coming for someone who was either in trouble, or had just passed, and was somewhat sad for that person.

The trucks came flying up the corner, and, after honking at the idiot who flew through the intersection without stopping for the sirens and barely cleared the oncoming fire truck by less than 20 feet, went straight.