Day 1,963: Health Is Number 1

Today reminded me that our health is really all we have. It’s number 1. Nothing else matters.

Poor Coco. She’s under the weather.

A couple days ago, she threw up her breakfast, and then had some stool issues later that morning…but then she was fine. Until last night.

Last night, she woke up three separate times to throw up and or have diarrhea. And there was (what looked like) blood in her stool. It was enough of a concern for us to take her to the emergency vet down the street.

They took her vitals there, and they were normal. Thankfully.

We took her home, but she had to get up two more times during the course of the night to go outside and do her business, and then early in the morning, she threw up again. Not good.

Liz took her into our usual vet once that happened. Doc said that GI stuff like is common as dogs start to get older. Just typing that sentence makes me tear up a little bit. This is really the first sign that Coco is actually aging.

We don’t know how old she is. She’s a rescue.

They estimated her age to be somewhere between 7 and 9 years when we adopted her. That was five years ago. Shih Tzus have pretty good life expectancy, so she’s still got some miles on those paws…but it was a very sobering day for me today.

I love Coco. She’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever known. I’m not ready for her to be old.

And just to be super clear: right now it’s just her getting old that I’m processing. She’s not dying. This will pass, whatever it is. But, I do feel like I am crossing some kind of threshold.

The good news is that she got some meds and was sent home with some special tummy-food. It’s seemed to work so far. She slept through the day because she was so exhausted, but she was up and ready at 4pm for food and then for a nice walk after that.

She seems normal, except for one trip tonight to go outside and go number 2. That’s irregular. So…it’s a waiting game now. We’ll give her meds and hopefully they calm her GI tract down.

Honestly, I’m optimistic. There aren’t any other symptoms. She’s hungry. She has energy. Heart is good. Cognition is normal. Other than the diarrhea and throwing up, she’s been normal. We just need to get those two things under control, and she should be good to go.

Coco the tank. She just keeps rolling.

I don’t know if we can ever actually cherish our young, working, healthy bodies as much as we really should…but I will try. They’re a blessing, working bodies.

I have to go hug my dog. Think good thoughts for her, just in case.

The photo tonight is of Coco in her number 1: her box. She loves her box. Well, okay box is probably a close second to food/treats. But, it’s a close second.