Usually, I would take Buffy out before I went to bed around 10:30 pm, and then in the morning, around when I was getting ready for work, at 6:30 or so, Buffy would get up and want to go out. Often it would be later. Then, about a month ago, Buffy started getting up early, needing to go out.
Around 3:30 or 4:00 am, I would wake to Buffy whining from Ollie and Ethan’s bedroom, where she liked to sleep. So I would open their door, and she would go downstairs, and I would let her out. Then, after she came back in, I would go back to bed for a couple of hours. Other times it would be closer to when I would get up, so it didn’t make sense to me to try to go to bed.
It was annoying, but I figured it was part of the deal with having an older dog. It was the least I could do to help out my puppy. Then we started noticing that Buffy was eating less food. So Diana took Buffy to the veterinarian. Two things were concerning: her weight and her heart.
Buffy is a small dog, under 20 lbs, so when she loses a couple of pounds, it’s a big deal, and this is exactly what happened. The other issue Buffy was that her heart was enlarged. So we got Buffy on heart medication, and I started doing all I could to make Buffy’s food more appealing.
I got some dog food seasoning products sprinkled on dog food to make it more appealing, and I started mixing in small pieces of meat or broth. It’s worked. Over the past couple of weeks, Buffy has started eating more consistently, and she’s been sleeping longer and not needing to go out until after I was up. Soon, we will have Buffy follow-up visit with the veterinarian and see how her weight and heart medication is doing.
There were nights that I slept light, not wanting to miss hearing Buffy’s whines, afraid that I wouldn’t hear her and get up and let her out. I worry more about her overall. There are extra things to think about. We must manage her medication, be more thoughtful about her food and check in with her.
Sometimes Buffy goes to bed with the boys before she has had her medicine, so I wake her up and carry her downstairs. I need to coat her pills with peanut butter so that she will eat them. I find this really gross because I used to be allergic to peanuts and have a strong aversion to the smell, but I power through. Buffy doesn’t hear as well as she used to, so after I make her a meal, I pick her up and put her in front of her food, especially with specially prepared meals she digs in.
Buffy continues to do so much for us, and I’m glad we can do things to make her feel better.
Buffy will always be our special puppy. I'm happy to show her love by taking care of her.
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