Lucky dog

Regarding Dawson, my beagle with cancer, this past week started off pretty rough but has gotten much better.

I thought that Monday was going to be his last day. His walking had deteriorated over the weekend to the point where he was barely able to get up. And he was barely eating anything. So I asked his vet (my friend and neighbor Julie) to come over to look at him, assuming it was time to let him go. She diagnosed his difficulty walking as a problem with his spine, not something related to his cancer. She increased his pain medicine and on Tuesday evening, put him on a steroid, prednisone.

On Wednesday morning, he ate. And since then, he hasn't missed a meal. And he's getting around much better. And, very importantly, he seems very happy.

So, while he still has cancer, the cancer is not yet getting the better of him.

And something else happened this week that has been wonderful. While I'm at work during the daytime, Dawson stays at my friend Cherry's house. I drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home. Cherry is the person who had Dawson for his first ten or so years. I adopted him when Cherry got very sick 3-4 years ago. I am extremely grateful to Cherry for her help and for being so good to Dawson. Yesterday, for example, he seemed quite full when I picked him up. Cherry had fed him a huge bowl of food -- and a hot dog!

Here's a photo of Dawson taken this morning on this first sunny day all week. Dawson is flanked by Bose (left) and Oliver.