the healing power of cheeseburgers

this lovely story is making the rounds of the big aggregators this week, which puts me very much in ind of lenny.

the recent history of dogs in my mother's home started with a poodle of high pedigree. he was good natured and kind of goofy. and then a second poodle of the same parentage but different litters came along, and although they shared the same parents, she was, well, kind of bitchy. high strung, and fussy.

then there was another dog who had been returned to that breeder, a dog with some interpersonal problems brought on by what is suspected to have been some abuse and he needed a good home.

and then there was the dog the rescue people had at the pet store, the elderly half-blind diabetic incontinent dog who for sure wasn't going to be homecoming queen and some friends of my mother's saw the dog there and knew just whom to call.

and then there was lenny.

when they found lenny wandering half-feral out in milton, they were not certain at first that he was even a dog. they had to get him cleaned up to even guess about his breed (some poodle thing) and he was blind and old and sick, mostly deaf and not particularly housebroke.

and you know who the rescuers called.

my parents loved him. they got him cataract surgery. he peed where he pleased, often the center of the livingroom. since his accustomed method of dealing with the world had always been to bite first and then consider alternatives, he saw no need to change this approach if there was any doubt.

he needed to be hand fed. they loved him.

and he was happy in his way.

but then he developed some serious heath problems and needed a lot of medical care. one of those problems was an extreme allergic reaction to a medication they'd given him along with one of his surgeries. it was the kind of allergic reaction that the vet had heard about, but never seen.

at one point my mom went to bring him home from the animal hospital; they thought to let him die at home.

and then they stopped at the mcdonald's drive through because what the hell? he'll be dead tomorrow and there's no need to worry about nutrition or fat content or blood pressure anymore.

it was magic.

lenny came alive and regained hope.

but last month it was apparent that he'd experienced some sort of brain trauma and no longer recognized his surroundings or would consent to be fed, not even cheeseburgers without biting every hand in his terror.

they had to put him down.

sorry, lenny. it was a good ride while it lasted. they loved you and you had some good times in between the homelessness and the horrors.

you'll be missed.