For the past couple of weeks, while being distracted by Hurricane Harvey — all our Houston & Gulf Coast relatives are fine, thank the Lord, and with hardly any property damage — I also had our little dog‘s sudden decline in health to deal with.

Poor Tipper hadn’t been eating much, and had lost 30 percent of her body weight since March. She couldn’t pee, except by accident, and her back legs didn’t seem to work quite right.

Just in the last two days, her back legs stiffened. When she tried to get up from her doggie bed, I’d have to pick up her rear end and put her feet under her. Then she’d go try to pee in the grass, and I’d find her sitting on her tail, back end collapsed. Meanwhile, she was eating only about two bites of food per day, even though I was giving her the good stuff — finely chopped wet food, which is like the chocolate of the dog world.

No dog should have to live like that. So I took her to the vet yesterday and came home alone. My heart is too heavy for my usual shenanigans. But I’m thankful she was calm and seemed content as she slipped away.

Good dog, Tipper.

Thanks for reading,
Jan

Tipper in her prime