One afternoon the door bell rang with no one at the door. A few minutes later “ding dong” once again, no one there. Mary Beth attentively watching at the door waiting to apprehend the trickster and saw Twig hanging around. She watched and waited for the door bell to ring and instead watched Twig bounce up and down by the front door. She watched as Twig bounced and each time jumping a little higher until finally raising her left front paw flailing it in the air, she rang the doorbell. We could only guess that she saw visitors come, ring the door bell and she watched as we opened the door and let them in. It worked for them, why not for her!
At her routine check this year, she weighed 7 lbs less than the previous year. At 23 lbs, she was healthy, considered fat at 33lbs, but to weigh 16 lbs is daunting. Twig is 16 years old, 112 human years, but retains the same mischievous spirit with her loss of hearing and limited vision. We looked on as our veterinarian expressed surprise to see her at yet, another yearly check, weight down but healthy. It was three years ago, she was diagnosed with pyometra, and the vet explained she would die without surgery. I’ll admit, six weeks she was profoundly ill. We washed her bed and towels multiple times a day trying to stay ahead of the draining infection while administering antibiotics and pain meds for comfort so to avoid surgery. This year, after her exam, the vet offered to give her a “one year rabies vaccine rather than the usual three year….Oops, I did not mean to say that” as she apologized.
We opted for the three year vaccine.
Even if unrealistic to assume Twig will live three additional years, I exude confidence in predicting she will certainly beat the odds….at least time enough for us to enjoy yet another Twig story
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