Poofy

Once there was a small black and white dog, beloved of all… extra beloved, in fact. She originally belonged to the youngest child, a darling smiling blonde girl-child—since grown up and moved ‘way up north where she’s going to university. The dog, Poofy, has had umpteen litters of pups (don’t ask me what’s happened to them) and seems to be pg again. She’s also developed a cough… like a goose. She sounds like a honking goose. Since consultation with a vet pal in Australia, she’s been on 20mg of prednisolone a day- nothing fancy but no dog on this property has ever gotten daily steroids before! The cough is some better- she only honks about half as often…and now sometimes sounds like a child’s squeak-toy being stepped on! So- Poofy gets a spoonful of butter or lard or some such goody J every day with her magic meds hidden inside. And Poofy has led the kind of life that leads her to quickly swallow- without ever questioning what she’s swallowing- in one gulp AFAP (as fast as possible), wagging her tail and quickly looking up for more. She’s not young anymore- has grey hair possibly the start of a cataract. She gets excited and starts to hack and squeak and carry on… so part of the daily routine is to sit with her and comfort her. Help her calm down and breathe you know.

It’s a tough life, I’ll tell you.