"Grandma" Peekaboo

Here is our old friend Peekaboo. She is at least 15 years old. We adopted her before Alyssa turned 2! So, of course, she and Alyssa are the best of friends.


While we are well aware of the fact that she is getting old. We had quite a scare on Sunday, January 4, 2009. The girls and I had gone to see the movie, Marley and Me. Now, I have read the book and was very familiar with the fact that it was about Marley's life. All of her life, if you know what I mean. And while it was after all, just a movie AND I knew the story, I was still unprepared for that sad and empty feeling I had when we left the theatre. Later that evening, about 11:30 pm, Alyssa rushed into our bedroom, very upset, and said that Peek's stomach was all "big." In the past few years, she has lost weight even though her appetite is pretty much the same. I got up to see and sure enough, her stomach was large and very tight. Peek was obviously in pain as she would not lay down (which is mostly all she does these days.) I called the vet but was told that a vet (whom I do not particularly care for, or trust) was on call and that she could be called in but it would cost $120 to $130 just to have her come in. We discussed our options and decided to try and make it until morning. Alyssa slept in the living room on the couch while Peek slept on her bed on the living room floor. Alyssa said that Peek finally went to sleep around 2:00 am. Her stomach had returned to its normal size and she was obviously more comfortable than the night before but I decided to take her in to the vet anyway. Jim was trying to stand her up and she was pretty weak and/or lethargic and did not want to stand up. So, all 3 of us took her into the vet. We were prepared to make her comfortable, no matter what it took. I did not want her to be in pain.


The Vet, Dr. Matt Dredge was awesome. He was very patient and gentle with her and us. He asked us a lot of questions and explained some options to us. He drew some blood and urine, neither of which showed anything out of the ordinary for a dog her age. He gave us some arthritis tablets to give her to see if that would help her getting up and down and told us to update him on her status. Fortunately, she is doing much better. The medication seems to have helped her old bones and we get to have her around for a while longer. It is unclear how much longer as her kidneys are in the early stages of renal failure but we will enjoy having her as long as we can. She has been a great pet and friend.