A Little Archie Update ...
Archie's back end has definitely deteriorated, but he doesn't appear to be in pain, because he tries to run around as he usually did, but his back legs collapse. He picks himself up, and has another go. He can walk, he's just slower and wonkier, but running is a thing of the past now, I think.
Last night we bought the pushchair pictured here from someone off Marketplace, which I should have thought of before, but haven't used marketplace before and so it wasn't on my radar.
You can see we've taken the baby parts off because we want to pop him in the lower basket so he's nice and low to the ground for some serious sniffing. It's designed for rougher terrain, as you can see by the wheels, and we're hopeful we'll be able to take him up to the dog park and Bledisloe park soon.
I use the words hopeful and soon, because Archie was not at all impressed with the idea of sitting in it last night, and it's going to take a bit of time to get him happy with it.
I lay awake during the night thinking how I can protect my hands from his little bites, because he was rather feral when I was trying to get him in and out of it. Somewhere in the early hours of the morning I came up with the idea of OVEN GLOVES. LOL
Liv and Soul and I were having a laugh this morning as we each visualised me wandering around The Square with Archie in part of a pram, with oven gloves on. LOL
I'll update you on our progress, so watch this space...
A little Archie update...
The walks around the Square went well yesterday. Archie was all eyes, very alert to his surroundings and really enjoyed getting out and having a sniff around. He forgets his back legs don't work too well and tries to run.
The challenge we're trying to navigate at the moment is pooping. He assumes the position but his butt keeps dropping to the ground. We try and help, but I suspect that isn't helping so I'm just going to let him go and hopefully he'll get there on his own, and I'll clean up after.
The chariot, as Peter named it this morning, has pockets and I have a plastic bag with wet cloth in it, so hopefully we'll have success today.
Peter dropped us off down Broadway this morning, and we realized we hadn't put his harness on. Peter went home to get it, and I walked him to the shop hoping he wouldn't try to get out.
He was a good little chap and stayed put.
I also tried putting him in at a different angle. Can't have him front facing because of the design of the basket, but sideways seemed good and gave him a little more room.
A little Archie Update…
It’s been a while, actually quite a while, which I found when I was trying to remember how long it had been since Archies’s back end started to give out. It was almost 3 months ago, and to be honest, I really didn’t think he would still be with us by now.
I’m confident that the ‘chariot’ we found on marketplace is why he’s still here.
Prior to that he was no longer able to walk across the road from the shop to the Square, which meant I had to carry him, which he didn’t like, and wasn’t fun for me. We obviously couldn’t wander around the Square any more, because he’d fall over all the time and tire quickly. I feel he would have become depressed, and lost interest in life…
But he hasn’t!
He loves his chariot, because it gets him from A to B, and then he gets out for a wee trot around, a lot of sniffing, and a bit of socialising because people like to stop and say hello.
And when he’s had enough, he lets me know and I pop him back in the chariot for a walk around the Square. He relaxes into it, leans his head out the side, bright and alert, taking it all in. Then it’s back to the shop, and another sleep.
We’ve adapted our home and lifestyle as Archie has become less able, and we’re so grateful for every day we have with him. There are days when I look at him, and worry about how much time we have left, and I have to work on not dwelling on ‘that day,’ because it would rob me of today, which is pretty bloody awesome.
Namaste
A very grateful Michelle
- Tags: pets
