He always knew when the pizza man was coming, as soon as either one of us called for delivery, POOH would lay down facing the front door and wait for the doorbell to ring. Then he would literally go crazy, even if we spelled out PIZZA, he knew.
I have been fortunate to have several fantastic vets during POOH’S lifetime and two of them were introduced to me thru Judy Balter, who has been a very close friend of mine for over twenty years. Dr. Avra in Cumming, Georgia and Dr. Itkin in Alpharetta, Georgia. POOH died several months back and I still remember him as if it was yesterday. He had heart problems that were treated by Dr. Jacobs in Athens, arthritis treated by Dr. Avra along with his joints, and his breathing problems by Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Itkin. So as my kids would say, he had more doctors than they had growing up. I know most of you have experienced the awful pull between not wanting to let your pet go and not letting them suffer.
I truly believe POOH held on for me because he knew how hard it was going to be to let go. He had his first seizure last Christmas and I thought he was going to die then. I remember having to carry him to Dr. Itkin on Christmas Day, right when my husband’s kids and grandkids had come to celebrate Christmas with us. I didn’t want to upset their Christmas so I pretended to have full control over my emotions UNTIL I got in the car and began driving To Dr. Itkin’s Clinic. I cried so hard I could hardly see to drive. But he pulled through and didn’t have another seizure till several months later. If you haven’t ever seen your loved one, human or animal, suffer like that, it is hard to describe the mixed emotions you have. I didn’t want POOH to die or suffer but I didn’t want him to leave me either.
When he had his last seizure, we were at our lake house. After this seizure he was different, I knew it had affected him a lot more than before. He would just sit and stare at me with those huge brown eyes, like he was trying to tell me something. We left the lake early to come home so I could take him to Dr. Itkin’s office. POOH was trying so hard, but he was having a difficult time breathing, so I felt he should spend the night at the vets so they could monitor his breathing. The clinic called me at 10 p.m.
