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Dear Friend, Matching a puppy with his or her forever family is exciting and fun but sometimes it is part of a healing process. Over the last year I have been so touched by the depth of the love these remembered and honored pets have received and reciprocated. It became a shared and heartfelt loss for me as well. This true piece was remembered and inspired by their legacy.- Lea  My Dearest Friend,
I want to thank you for taking me into your home and heart. You are my world. We have had such great fun over the years and shared our lives together. I have spent my life in your love and friendship. We have seen each other through times of joy, change and sorrow. You have cared well for me when I was young or when I got sick or in good health. I have known when sad things were with you and reminded you that you are not alone, I hope. We have played and played together forever. I am sorry to tell you I am not well and wanted to share with you something I want. My friend Rayne was a beautiful fawn colored Great Dane with a gorgeous black mask over her nose and eyes with white on her chest. Eventually her mask silvered as time passed to become more white than gray. When she was young she was the smallest of her family but this child, Cassie, thought she was the best with her shiny eyes, smiling face and a very licky tongue. Her little puppy body quivered with excitement to be going anywhere with Cassie or no where just as long as they were together. Eventually they grew up. Cassie moved on but her little sister Kimmie was there to love Rayne and she loved Kimmie very much because now it was Kim who talked to her and played with her. Kim took her on walks and loved her back. Kim taught an old dog new tricks. Time passed and Kim grew up. Oh so slowly Raynie became a little frail and thinner. She was always pretty thin but she began to be a little too thin. At first it wasn’t a big deal because she would always fatten up in what Texans call the 'winter months' but not so much recently. Kim noticed Rayne was becoming weaker and standing was not so sure although Rayne was always so glad to see her. Rayne had become wobbly when she stood and standing had become quite the enterprise like it had become an ‘iffy’ thing. The pain in her back and hips must have become more and more because I thought I could see it in her eyes and face a time or two. Not anything to cry about she would tell me, but her balance and appetite were not so good even though she was drinking more and more water. Rayne also had grown a bump on her side which was growing on its’ own! Her doctor looked at it and took some tests. It was not hurting her - just growing. Recently one fine morning, it was cooler and felt so wonderful with a lot of sunshine! Blue skies everywhere with a breeze just slight enough to whisper by. Rayne felt as if the years had dropped away for a moment and just enjoyed playing again. She ran best she could and played with all of us as we cohorted around the back yard. Kim came out to play with her again as she ran and danced in the sunshine and laughed at how good the crisp air made her feel. Rayne told me about what a great morning and day she was having just before she and Kim left. I never saw her again. I really miss her all the time but I remember how happy she was that day. I would ask you for all the wonderful times we have shared to let me have one best day before we go together for the last time. Love me enough to not wait until I cannot remember feeling wonderful or what those first brisk mornings are like early in a fall after the final long, hot days of summer when it is long after dark before the day really begins to cool. Let me have a better day to say, “I love you” one last time. When I am not well, do not wait until . . . With love, Your faithful best friend.
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9/15/14
Kiwi’s Korner …………………………. “Hair . . . long beautiful hair!” Not so in the ears and other places. There are three areas of concern regarding hair growth between grooming trips resulting in taking care of it at home. The eyes, ears and santi-area are in need of care from a daily issue to a weekly or bi-weekly care. When I started writing this article I thought I would cover all three areas but as I have discovered, my article needs to be a three part piece. To those of you who would prefer to get it all in one reading, my apologies. I just found I could not do the topic anywhere near justice in a short piece. In this series I am referring to normal eye discharge, normal discharge within the santi-area and normal conditions within the ears. If there is head shaking with the ears, abnormal coloring, texture or odor with any discharge make an appointment to see the vet. Abnormal discharge can mean so many things and only the vet can evaluate the situation accurately. Long term abnormal discharge can result in permanent damage so make the date and have a check-up. Eyes The corner of my eyes is an area of concern where I can have excessive eye drainage and build-up. Mucous discharge dries to become hard pebbles and stuck in the hair from my eye duct down the side of my nose below my eye resulting in hair glued together, darkly stained, stiff with hard knots of yuck in it. It is always good to have the vet examine me to establish I am healthy and any discharge is normal or to set a ‘baseline’ of information about me. A friend of mine recently went to her vet with excessive discharge. She learned she had eye allergies and medicine could help the health of her eyes and decrease the overly excessive drainage. There are products on the market that work very well to minimalize normal eye drainage and may be of interest to you. One of these products is called Angels’ Eyes made by Angels’ Eyes, a U.S.A. company and for those of you who are interested in these things, they say all there ingredients are 100% from the U.S.A. This is actually becoming more important for pet owners because of lack of regulations or higher standards in other countries and is an article for another time. I use this product and it does work but I really want to emphasize eye care on a regular basis. Having distilled water for your water supply is another choice. In the Havanese family or what is referred to in some circles as a ‘breed issue’, more than one reason exists for eye drainage. I have even heard of some Havanese that have almost no eye discharge and whether are not the eye has dark hair versus lighter hair around it makes a difference. I will leave those questions up to you but the explanation for the tearing I have found very interesting has to do with the beautiful almond shape to our eyes. The shape of our eye inhibits proper drainage. My human friends refer to the buildup of this drainage as ‘eye boogers’. They use this juvenile reference instead of ‘eye duct obstruction’ or ‘excessive tearing’ or any of the other more mature references. Some days . . . but with any reference I sincerely appreciate the frequent removal of buildup and care given my eyes. One treatment that seems to help is when I have the hair closely clipped in the corner of my eye, the path the drainage takes and any hair that may touch my eye enough to irritate me. In the pet stores rounded end scissors are sold. Some people have spoken of using baby fingernail scissors. The ones we have are very sharp so there is no pulling and they have rounded tips for safety. A finger is laid over my eye to prevent any contact and the clipping is patiently and carefully done at the corner of my eye and the path of drainage just below my eye. Do not! clip my eyelashes. They are there for a reason but this is not about my eyelashes right now so leave them alone, please. It only takes a few minutes every two weeks or so to check on it. Viola! I can see well, I have less problems with my eyes draining and dried mucous discharge. I get a treat for being still, too, after I’m told what a good dog I am, of course. I hope this has helped you. There are a million other tips and almost as many products on the internet for good eye care from eye wipes on to drops, etc. I receive no discounts or other perks for product endorsement. Drat. You can always address questions or comments to me via [email protected]. I welcome hearing from you. - Kiwi |
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