V-Log. Pets are Our Lifelines
Bunni and Peeku with Juhi: 3 little old ladies together at home.
Why am I doing a V-Log about my dogs? Because my hair is sticking up every which way, and I haven’t showered in two days. So I am doing a piece about my dogs because my face isn’t camera ready today.
Bunni is 12 and found me first. Peeku (short for Peek-a-boo for her eyebrows) is 11 years old and compelled me to take her home a year later. They have been with me for over a decade. When people who don’t know me say I spoil my dogs, I have to remind them that they have come from traumatic pasts like mine, before finding me. Just because they can’t tell me what they want doesn’t mean I can’t provide what makes their tails wag and their faces light up. Then I quit seeing those people. If I believed in reincarnation I would say mine is the home they have chosen to spend this life.
I am the caretaker and companion they asked for.
I am not killing them with my love, nor spoiling them with food and cuddles, the vital life force of touch. I am treating them the way every being has the birthright to be treated. I admit to the privilege of having the ability to take care of them, even now when financial resources are slim, and others are struggling through this medical and economic crisis.
They get coconut oil in their food for their coats, they get cooked vegetables with their meat which makes them happy, and rice in their food which makes them Indian and Latina. There was only kibble to be had all the month of March, and they have used smaller meals to get in shape for the beach. But 2 days ago one of my neighbors scored a pound of ground turkey from a secret stash (okay, it was Gelsons) so they’re happy to be eating meaty treaty for a while. They get more treats from my kitchen like yogurt, cheese cubes, quesadilla crusts, and peanut butter than factory made I-don’t-know-what-the hell’s-in-it treats. They have a Greenie every night which is also their signal for bedtime. Their water bowls are always clean, filled with fresh water daily. The only people around them are the ones who value and care about me so they automatically get the overflow of that love. They only get to stay with people who have earned my trust.
When the younger one, Peeku, who we think is a mix of terrier, corgi and dachshund with her tiny legs and looooong back first came to me, I was warned on her first vet’s visit that she was likely to hurt her back or get arthritis as she got older. I filed that little piece of information away somewhere in the back of my brain. Mid-February, right around the time I got my eye diagnosis, Peeku suddenly started to limp, drag her hind legs, and stay in her bed. After a few days of my failed attempts at carrying her, even my gentlest touch would make her mewl pathetically. She was on pain meds for a while but what turned things around was her staying in bed and getting herb. There was no way for me to get her to the vet, who is closed until the corona crisis ends. Peeku has started coming out for meals now, and this week is barking at the front door when a delivery person approaches. She has begun to sit by my feet again, just like the good old days. I can finally touch her without her flinching, and have been giving her massage on her back and joints. No bones are broken, but it may have been a displaced hip from what I could feel. And today she asked to come up on the couch, which she used to be able to jump on like a dervish but cannot yet.
The older one (Bunni) has been diagnosed with glaucoma in one eye, at the beginning of February, matching my macular degeneration. {How she used to take on my physical symptoms when she first found me is a story for another time}. Now they are both getting CBD oil to take the edge off their conditions. Do I spoil my dogs? No. I love my dogs very much and treat them the way I would wish to be treated if I were in their place.
I am sane after a month alone thanks to my FaceTime and Zoom visit filled calendar, and taking care of myself and my dogs. Because if something happens to me, who will take care of them? So I’m staying right here for the time being: writing a little, bingeing a little tv, having cake substitutes. You take care of yourself and your fur babies, too. Send pictures in comments!!!
