Release the HOUND!

All week, we were pretty sure Daisy was done. We took her to the vets on Wednesday, and were confident she had Cushing's Disease. On Thursday, they ran the tests and confirmed that it was, indeed, Cushing's Disease. There are two kinds, one pretty much making it a done deal, and the other, we believed, was a pretty expensive and involved treatment regimen. In talking with the vet, he asked to run another test to determine what kind she had, and we agreed. On Friday they ran the tests and asked us to come in at 6.30, when the results would be back.

Daisy is really Mrs. Fish's dog, and of course my daughter loves her because she's a kid and kids love dogs. It's part of God's design for their DNA. So I'm trying to make sure they're okay, and realizing that we're pretty much going to put Daisy to sleep. I'm not doing well with this at all.

We get to the vet and they give us the bill for Daisy. Mrs. Fish is a little miffed, but I recall writing a check after Josie died and I much prefer the up-front method. Just me. They take us back to the office, and after what seems an eternity, the vet comes in. He explains that Daisy has Cushing's, but she can get medication that will probably alleviate her symptoms. My wife and I were bracing for an $11 pill given daily--simple math makes the decision as to what to do easy at that point. But, the vet explains that she will only need 1/4 of the pill....3 times a week. There is quite a difference between $240 a month and $33 a month.

It sank in with Mrs. Fish and Little Fish what the vet was saying. There is a good chance she will return to ful functioning. She'll probably get her mind back. The first thing to change is that she'll stop peeing in the house. We could have our doggie back, in as little as a week or two.

My wife cried. My daughter cried. I explained to Little Fish that I guess God just wasn't ready to use Daisy in Heaven, and she just cried some more and said it was good. She said it was her first time crying happy tears. I hadn't thought about it, but she's right.

Daisy is home now, sleeping on her little bed.