Old Petie (An Update on My Furry Child)

I didn’t mean to leave people hanging last week with the news of Petie and his poor health. After Jeremy picked him up Thursday evening, he was told that we wouldn’t get the results for a few days (apparently they needed time to analyze the ultrasound).

His cough seems to have subsided (yippee!) and he doesn’t seem as weak as he did previously. Apparently one of the medications the vet prescribed left our little buddy quite drowsy.

The vet called last night with good news. Petie is fine. His heart murmur is in line with his age. The cough had nothing to do with his heart (that’s the good news) and overall, he seemed fine. The vet mentioned that she wanted to do a yearly ultrasound on his heart just to monitor his murmur.

We’ll still walk him (because we know he loves exploring the great outdoors) but know that our walks will have to be MUCH shorter. I’m really considering getting Petie his own stroller. Strange looks be damned!

As for the vet costs – getting an x-ray and ultrasound were considerably less than I thought. It was less than $1k (about $700-800). While that is still a lot of money (especially when it is an unexpected cost) – it is much less than when we had to get his teeth pulled. Oy – the teeth. I still can’t get over that one.

Back to this recent health scare – it made me realize what a crappy dog owner I’ve been to Petie and Emily. A friend had warned me that after a baby comes, despite how much I might love my pets – I will view them as a burden. I thought she was crazy but holy hell, she was right. During the first 2 months, I was just so tired and the idea of having to cater to the dogs who were obviously not used to this tiny crying human was wreaking havoc on my nerves. And the dogs definitely let us know that they weren’t happy with us… by peeing in our bed. Twice. And on the couch.

Jeremy’s been great with the dogs and while I try to show them more affection, Annmarie definitely wins when it comes to my attention. But this past weekend, I found myself letting Petie lick my leg FOREVER (something I normally hate because his breath smells like poop). I also let him lick Annmarie more than usual.

So now I bring you what I think are some of the cutest pictures to date of Annmarie with Petie…

Oh hey Petie – how’s it going?

Mom, is it okay for him to lick my feet?

Ooh, your fur is soft.

I bet you taste good too.

Whoa – I was trying to eat you, not get you to lick my face.

Mooooom… get him to stop.

I’m assuming Petie thought, “this is awesome!” the entire time.