When Your Dog is Family

By Karen McNew
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: February 28, 2008

Luckie Dog is our 13 year old beagle.  He is slow at times and sleeps a lot… but also reverts to his puppihood when my husband is headed outside to work in the yard or picks up one of his stuffed toys and gives it a toss.

Matt and I marvel at how much we love our dog.  He is so well behaved.  When he sleeps it is so cute to watch him because there are times when his legs twitch in unison… we picture him chasing a rabbit in his dreams because that is certainly all the hunting he does unless it is for a crumb that may have dropped on the kitchen floor.

The past few days he has me worried… because he has a condition called Cushings and we can always tell when it is acting up.  It’s acting up now. Basically, his body makes too much of a steroid that causes him to be super hungry ALL the time and to drink more water than usual.  He takes medicine and has for a while which keeps his system balanced.  Every few months or so we have to take him to the vet for a blood test to see if the pills we give him are keeping everything the way it needs to be.  Cushings also puts him at risk for other infections and conditions… we had hoped giving him a little additional medicine would even things out.. but so far it hasn’t. 

As his hair lightens to a frosty shade of white I am reminded that some of our best friends don’t stay around forever.  His little ear is even getting a little frosty looking around the edge.  Even though he still has spunk this latest flare up has me a little concerned.

He has a vet appointment next week so I think we will be able to get him back on track…