Bailey
ccummings7@cox.net
In December, 2019 Patti and I had to have our dog Boomer put to sleep because he was old and his health was rapidly failing. I have written before how difficult it is to do that because you’re losing a member of your family.
We have had a dog (or dogs) all of our married life, which is 49 years, so for dog lovers like us it leaves a large void in your life if you don’t have one. Patti wanted to wait a year before we got another one but I felt differently and it only lasted a month before we found Bailey. We have neighbors who had a Maltipoo and it was a dog with a lot of personality and was very cute. I was on the internet every day looking for a rescue that we could adopt because that is the way we have found most of our furry friends.
One day I saw a Maltipoo that was available in a town named Pomona which is about 50 miles from where we live. The information from the animal shelter said he would be available for adoption on a Monday morning between 9 and 10 a.m. We got up at the crack of dawn to drive there and hopefully be the only people who wanted him. We arrived early at about 8:30 and a guy came in about 9:00 wanting the same dog. Then about 9:58 a woman and her daughter arrived to adopt him also.
Since there were 3 parties wanting the same dog, a worker at the shelter put 3 numbers in a hat and we each drew one. Because we were there first we drew first and I got number 3. The lady drew last and got number 1. Since she and her daughter came in at the last minute we thought they may not have even known about the 10:00 deadline. Anyway, they were very happy and we drove home very disappointed but I was more determined now to continue the search for a Maltipoo.
The next day I located Bailey who was available for adoption at the animal shelter right where we live in San Clemente. It was somewhat ironic that she was so close and had slipped by without me seeing anything about her on the internet. She looked so lonely when we first saw her lying on the concrete floor of a large cage. Patti immediately changed her mind and we took her home the same day. That was in January, 2020 so we have had her for almost 3 years.
She was about 5 years old when we adopted her and she has been full of energy that whole time. This week all of that spirit and playfulness unfortunately hit a roadblock. Patti took her for a walk on Sunday and when they returned Bailey ran up the stairs where I was as she always does. She jumped up on a chair and immediately let out a loud yelp. The remainder of the day she was very listless and didn’t want to move.
On Monday she seemed to return to normal but we felt we should take her to the Vet to be on the cautious side. The Vet quickly diagnosed her problem as being the kneecap on her rear left leg had popped out. Somehow it had gone back into place on its own which is why she was okay that day. However, the probability of it happening again was very high. At this point we have her on pain medication and are reducing her activity but closely monitoring any signs of discomfort. The likelihood is that she will need surgery at some point which is in the neighborhood of $3,600-$3,800. After the surgery the recovery period is approximately 4-6 weeks and because she will be restricted from walking she will need to be carried out to relieve herself. There is no way that we would consider an alternative so we will get through the expense and the inconvenience as we have for many other dogs.
If there is a moral to this story it is - I think I may need to adjust my way of thinking about always having a dog.
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