Thankful, day 15

11/15/11

Today, I am thankful for the life of my parents' dog, Emma. She is a sweet (to humans, not other animals) Border Collie who is just about 9 years old. About 2 months ago, unbeknownst to anyone, Emma had a terrible encounter with rat poison while my parents were out of town. I found her acting sick (completely out of character) and having trouble walking at about 1 pm on a Sunday. After speaking with my mom and the emergency vet clinic, we determined she probably "just got into something" and it would be fine to wait until morning to take her in. By 4 pm she was unable to stand, walk, sit, and she was having a seizure on my parents' lawn.

Clint and I took her to the emergency clinic in Medford, one hour away, and were devastated when they told us they might not be able to save her. She was in the end-stages of poisoning that had probably happened 7 days prior. A few days and a hefty vet bill later, Emma pulled through and was sent home. It has been 7 weeks since she all this happened and she is just now getting back to her normal, playful self.

My parents are out of town again, and I am taking care of Emma for the next 8 days. Every time I am at their house, I watch her like a hawk to see if she has any strange symptoms or if she's just tired, which happens often these days. And this morning, as I played frisbee and fed her breakfast, I was reminded of just how sad I would be if she wasn't around.