You know - for years we have listened to Mom complaining about being "old" and how her knees or back hurt after a long walk - but now
WE understand. Getting old is no fun at all. I the Reilly dog have jippy feet (and I can't even wear my boots anymore ) and I have bad arthritis in my spine and back hips. The last time Mom took me for a 'real' walk I only got about a 1/4 mile and flopped on the ground and couldn't move. Thankfully by big human sister was with us and was able to carry me back to the car. Then on the weekend Mom and Dad took us to the beach - and before Dad could pick me up to carry me down the steps I tried to go down them myself and my back legs gave way and I tumbled down 4 steps. Needless to say I scared the bejeebers out of the folks but I was actually okay - just my dignity was a little hurt. Mom will now only take me places with no steps and a flat surface so she can put me in my wheelie cart (which I HATE) but it is better than nothing. I do enjoy my bike cart though - it is fun watching Dad huff and puff and do all the hard work :)
Now we also have had some scary news about my Dweeb brother the Denny. At his last yearly physical a few weeks ago - his blood tests showed his kidneys were not working properly and his liver function was a little high. They decided to repeat the test one month later to make sure it wasn't just a faulty reading - and sadly the numbers came back slightly worse. So yesterday the Dweeb went off to the vets and had his belly shaved so they could do an ultra sound of his kidneys and sadly they showed he has "significant" kidney disease. He hasn't been showing any symptoms of anything being wrong. We are still waiting for some more tests to come back to see what kind of disease - and hopefully it can be treated with medications and a special diet - that will as the vet optimistically said - "keep him going a few more years"
We are also happy to report that after 8 months of living with us - cousin Max and his Moms are moving out tomorrow - they have an apartment about 7 minutes away but the big galoop will still be coming to doggie day care when his Moms are both working so we will still see him. We are certainly NOT going to miss his tail though - both Denny and I squint and put our heads down any time he walks near us because we are so use to getting wacked in the face with that tail And poor Mom has long whip like bruises on her legs from his tail....... she says can understand now why people dock boxers tail although she doesn't like the idea as there is nothing better then seeing a happy tail wag - unless it is knocking the coffee cup of the coffee table for like the 100th time :) :)
