Billy is a palliative care foster who was being fostered by a family close by. He has recently had surgery to remove tumours from his belly and an ulcer on his eye. He had developed separation anxiety and wasn’t coping with being left alone when his people went to work during the week. So, on Thursday, after our previous foster option fell through with the passing of Zot, they asked if we could mind him a few days a week to ease the stress on him of being alone. We agreed and were working out the arrangements to make it happen when, on Friday afternoon, Billy and the family’s dog had an altercation. So, his foster family asked if we could permanently foster him.
They live literally round the corner so they walked him up. My first vision of him was a big loping beast walking calmly on the leash through the Winter dusk. Sniffing everything and not at all bothered by the barking dog on the other ide of the fence
Billy was a little stand-offish at first. Hanging back with his people but pretty soon he was loping around the house, inspecting every room and eventually coming up to say hello to Heather and I. It is evident by the way that he carries himself that he is a friendly, happy chap, despite all that he’s been through. It wasn’t too long before he was snoring on the couch. He has a recent, still-healing wound on his under carriage (sort of testicular region) from recent surgery and his left eye is weepy and squinty from having an ulcer removed from the cornea. He is very skinny which is not surprising given the stress he has been through.
Billy has fabulous manners. Just after the foster family left, he kept walking to the door then coming back and sitting at my feet. He did this a few times and I wondered if he needed to have a wee. We took him to the backyard and indeed he did.
Saturday June 26th
We were told that Billy wakes up around 5ish. We’re used to a very elderly dog who would toilet in the house, fall in it and then stomp it everywhere if we didn’t get up early enough so we’ve been a little extra cautious with Billy. Heather got up and checked on him around 5 this morning. He was awake but not doing anything. They hung out for a bit and then Heather went back to bed. He eventually came through to the bedrooms and woke us up to say good morning.
I spent the day reading on the couch with him snuggled next to me. It was a grey, overcast day, perfect for snuggling with a pooch. It’s so nice to have dog energy around again.
Sunday June 27th
This morning I woke up early to check on him. I walked into the dark lounge room and saw a slight movement on the couch followed by the ‘whump, whump, whump’ of his tail. The little darling was curled up in a ball in the corner of the couch watching me and wagged his tail when he saw me. I opened the door for him to go outside for a toileting but he wasn’t interested (I don’t blame him, it was freezing). I left the door open and we went back to bed. I invited him up onto the bed and he was more than happy to accept. I made a bit of a mistake here in not making sure that my blankets were pulled up high enough and when I got into bed I couldn’t pull the blankets up, so I spent the next 3 hours shivering and trying to wedge myself under the blankets as much as I could. Again, I’m used to a small dog and you can just pull the blankets if they’re hogging them or move the dog. This is not at all an option with Billy!
Monday June 28th
Billy went to the vet today for an eye check-up. The ulcer on his eye is not healing. The vet thinks this is due to his age. So, she debrided the ulcer on the cornea and if it’s not looking better tomorrow afternoon, he’ll probably have to see an eye specialist.
He was a little out of sorts when he got back from the vet this afternoon; tired, hungry and sore. He’s had a lovely big feed of sweet potato, brown rice and beef and now he’s snoring contentedly next to me on the couch. Happy to see his ribs are becoming less noticeable.
Peppa's Place 