Legalectric

Last week, well really for the last two months, Kenya has had a very rough time, and so have I.  She’s been with me for almost 8 years now, always with in the car, going to meetings, snoozing under my desk, eating carrots and apples, even barking at Matt Entenza’s father-in-law…  She’s going on 13, very old for a shep, and about two years ago, she was diagnosed with early stage renal failure.  I thought she was a goner, but she’s been taking Azodyl, a pee pill so she’s not, well, peeing, no way will I put her in diapers, and for the last year, she’s been unable to get upstairs.  Two months ago it got really bad and she pretty much couldn’t walk anymore, and we used a sling to get her in and out of the house, and carried her up the stairs.  Alan really loves the ol’ doggy and carts her around everywhere.  But a German Shepherd is not easy to cart around!

The last two weeks, she’s been barking all the time, and obviously not a happy pup, and I was miserable, “feeling her pain” and I couldn’t get anything done between her barking and needing attention constantly, here a carrot, then a drink, then go outside, and then a DQ for the dog, next thing you know, the day is gone.  She was so bad off that she started walking on the wrong sides of her toes.  I called the vet, and was prepared to have her put down, I couldn’t stand to watch her dragging herself around and flopping like a fish.  Alan didn’t want to let her go, and we checked to see if there was anything we could do.  The vet said she’s got back problems, and we decided to try this one last thing, and put her on prednisone — in just two days (he said we’d know if it helped in 72 hours) she is obviously better, and when she’s better, I’m better (try working with a miserable dog at your feet…).  She even purposefully corrected her gait, and put “the dirty side down” when going out yesterday.  All day yesterday she got up to drink and got up to go out all by herself, none of that barking to let us know she needed help.  LOOK MA, NO HANDS!  Like WOW!

Today we did the other part, we took her to the chiropractor.  Really…

Moe Bodyworks

We drove up to the cities, armed with her favorites — bananas and donuts — and Alan carried her in to meet Dr. Moses Sarah Smith, D.C. She went right to it and adjusted her, and knowing what I know from my destroyed back, poor Ken… her neck was off, and some mid back, but in the lumbar, she was a mess, and a hip was weird too, and even one of her shoulders.  You could hear the cracks.  The poor dear…  It hurt her a bit, but she didn’t get all snarly.  I swear she looks perkier.  We stopped on the way back for a bit of a picnic at Lock & Dam #2, Ken was such a happy dog laying in the grass admiring the big ball bird diverters on the shield wires on that line across the river…  she’s smiling again.  And when Ken’s smiling, I can kick Xcel ass!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Long live Kenya!