Another Update

Willow is going to be okay. She had a couple of rotten teeth in the back that had polyps growing over them, so they took out the polyps and the two back teeth and gave her fluids, pain meds, and antibiotics. Now we syringe-feed her for five days, and she should be back to normal. I can't even begin to express how relieved I am. I was certain we were going to lose her, and I was not at all prepared for that.

I always thought that this decision would be more difficult. And it has been, in the past. We've had pets at the vet before, and we've lost pets there before, but this felt like the easiest decision in the world. Someone we love was in trouble, and we had the ability to save them, so we did. Well, we took her to someone (Dr. Negrea at Beacon Pet Hospital) who knew how to help her and was so good at it. I'm not sure another vet on the island would have figured out what was actually wrong with her or been able to treat it. He did it all in a day, and wow, what a great job.

As you can see, Willow isn't feeling very spry right now, but she's also recovering and on a fair bit of pain medication for such a little girl. We did her first syringe feeding tonight, and it went about as well as it could have, which is to say that she hated it, but she also didn't fight us too hard. She might not have had the energy, but hopefully she'll get used to the whole program and learn to work with us. COULD HAPPEN.

A few things were going on today that were really challenging, but man, I'm feeling better now than I was this morning. Bruce is on the stereo singing Thunder Road, and my girl Willow is gonna live, when I was pretty certain she wasn't gonna make it.

It underscores the importance of our relationships with animals. When I agreed to take care of these degus, I made a commitment to take care of them. That means I have to do the hard stuff, too. If you want the good parts, you gotta do the hard parts. Even in the end. Especially in the end. That said, Willow is a young degu (one year old, and they can live six to eight years), and having her in my life has already enriched it in so many ways, so when it comes time to step up, I'm happy to do it.

I've always dreaded that conversation that inevitably will come up when you have pets: how much do you spend before you let go? In this case, the answer was "whatever it takes," and there was no conversation at all. Sandra and I just understood each other perfectly, and we were going to do what it took to save her. And we did. And I'm very proud of us.

One last thing about today. I saw a rottweiler at the vet's office with her tail and ears intact, and that made me happy. It was a hard, but good day.