Nursing

I’ve talked about it here before, but my little dog Gus is epileptic. Up until now, I was hesitant to use Pheno–a big part of that is it requires regular blood draws, and Gus fights them like you wouldn’t believe. We’re talking hand-to-paw combat with the vet techs. Imagine a thirteen-pound dog on a silver exam table, on two back legs, arms over his head, one leg raised in the crane kick position (a la The Karate Kid). Yeah. That’s how Gus fights them.

Gus chilling on my lap.

Buuuuut…he had two bad seizure episodes in January–a two-day event early on, and another event late in the month, with cluster seizures, that sent us to an emergency vet visit.

Which means that we’re now on Pheno.

It takes some time to adjust. Right now, Gus is thirsty and hungry and tired and is a little unsteady on his feet. We’ve all been calling him Drunk Uncle.

Right now, I’m not getting a ton of words down. I’m mostly just trying to be with this little guy as he gets acclimated. (And whispering to him, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you just behaved during your blood draw in a few weeks?”)

Really, though, aren’t those some of the most important moments in life? Just being around when the people or creatures in your life need a little comforting.