Baptiste

I have three pets, did have four but one of my cats, Bobber, died earlier this year. It was very sad. I knew he was gone the day he didn’t come in to eat. It took days to get confirmation and I guess I held out a little hope he was just on a walk-about, but the worst came to light. He was only 4 years old so it wasn’t his time.

I have always had pets at various stages of my life – sometimes more than other times. I love a pet. I think they are an important part of a family. And I think there is nothing more rewarding than to feel the true unconditional love a pet can bring to your life.

One day I will write of my Buoy. Buoy is my soul mate. Buoy is my brown, boy Boykin Spaniel and I cannot imagine life without Buoy. Buoy has been through some tough times with me and it was his companionship that helped get me through. But this isn’t about Buoy.

And it isn’t about Tibby, Thibideaux, the fat cat, either. Tibby, while I love, is just annoying. Tibby is fat and loud and kneads and claws on you until you bleed. For the life of me I can’t understand why Tibby has stuck with us. We give that cat such a hard time.

No this is about Baptist, Teeny, my brown girl Boykin Spaniel. Teeny is a unique girl. I have no idea how old she is but suffice it to say she is old. She is gray , her nose is cracked, she can’t hear, she has cataracts, she walks crooked due to painful hips. She will trot to food if you mix wet with the dry but other than that she doesn’t move much – other than when she is digging. She digs and digs on the carpet like she is digging to China. It’s the funniest thing to watch as her ears flap up and down but it is pretty annoying when you are trying to sleep.

Teeny came to me via Spartanburg, SC. She had been abandoned, for the 2^nd time. Her name was Niki – I couldn’t handle the name so I changed it immediately. She didn’t seem to care as she didn’t respond to Niki. She was brought to me through Boykin Spaniel Rescue. I was a member and active in fostering dogs. She was to be my new foster. The minute we got her she took to Audrey and Audrey immediately took to her. As our time together grew so did our concern for her. Audrey wanted to keep her and given she had been given up twice I was reluctant to allow her to be adopted again given there must be something to prevent this dog from being wanted.

Given I had no records on her all I could go on was she was typical high energy – she loved to play ball. And she was my first dog that had a huge fear of storms. She would begin pacing and panting the minute the barometer would dip. I didn’t need a weatherman – I had Teeny. She would actually go in the yard, and dig under the fence and run away during a storm. Made no sense whatsoever. The dog was petrified of the storm but would run right out into it. Became nearly impossible to contain her and it came that I would have to kennel her if I thought there was a storm coming or once one was occurring. Poor thing. After much pleading from Audrey I decided to flunk a foster and keep her for my own. I already had a male, Boudreaux, and thought they would be nice playmates for one another.

That was 8 years ago this April that she came through my doors. Since then we have lost Boudreaux and Teeny no longer plays ball. We have had Bobber and lost Bobber. I have married and divorced and Buoy has been added to the mix. There has been a look of comings and goings and ups and downs but our Teeny girl has remained constant. She’s not the most personable dog but she is there, she is always there.

Today she is at the vet. She is not well I fear. Given I was told she could possibly be 7 when I got her (there was no way) that could make her 15 years old. Old age has defiantly set in. We often hold our breath when we don’t see her move immediately or she doesn’t wake up when we come barreling in the door. Her hips don’t always work very well these days and recently she has been wetting in the house (the animals have their own door to the outside). Maybe she just has an UTI and it will not be serious. I hope it is not serious.

What I know is I understand our pets age and I am fine with that. I am not fine with the decisions that have to be made for aging pets and I am not ready to make any regarding Teeny.