Pups in Tea Cups: Tales of Littleness Overcoming BIG Odds Read online

  As you might have picked up on, all of “Taz’s” stressors were the owner’s as well. In my experience, people will seldom make major life changes to decrease their stress, even if their health is suffering. But for their pets?

  In short order, my client broke up with his boyfriend, found a new, better, at-home job, and stood up to his family. It wasn’t a great shock to me that “Taz’s” seizures decreased. Nor was I at all surprised when my client reported that his own seizures had been dramatically reduced. Imagine that!

  I truly believe “Taz” and his brain cyst came into my client’s life to help him—to help them both. Who better to handle a seizuring dog than a client well versed in seizure management?

  Not to go all epic here, but the one thing that still does amaze me is the profound link between people and their pets. The healing potential seems nearly infinite.

  Tales from the Tea Cup:

  “Fiona” – The Rescuer

  I have been a veterinarian for quite a while. Well, even longer than that, but I don’t have to give specifics.

  And sometimes I think I have heard it all, and that I have felt it all. That nothing, even what “Littleness” can bring, can surprise me.

  Then, a little mixed-mutt pup like “Fiona” comes into my office—and right into my heart.

  On the first office call after she was adopted from the shelter, I fell in love with her. Who wouldn’t? She was supercute, and somehow even super-sweeter.

  But, coming from the pound, she had kennel cough, parasites, and some tummy trouble. Even though they only had “Fiona” a few hours, my client was completely dedicated to this little soul.

  It took a few weeks and nearly a dozen visits, but we finally cleared up all of “Fiona’s” problems. As they were leaving the office, I kissed the pup and told her how lucky she was to have been rescued by my client.

  I looked up, expecting my client to be beaming. Instead, she was misty-eyed.

  “No, she rescued us.”

  I knew that tragedy had struck their family a year before. They lost their beloved Cocker Spaniel, “Sprinkles,” and then not a month later, their son was killed in a car accident.

  However, I didn’t know how badly those tragedies had torn the family apart. They were headed for divorce. The papers were drawn up, and the lawyers’ fees paid.

  Then “Fiona” came into their lives.

  Her spark. Her love. Her determination to dig a hole in the couch. All brought joy back into the house.

  Instead of fighting, my clients found themselves laughing. They began to remember what it was like to find happiness in the little things. In the little moments.

  Within just a few weeks, “Fiona’s” antics and “Littleness” helped heal months of heartbreak.

  Am I crediting the puppy with saving a marriage? No.

  My clients are!

  The magic of connection, bringing people out of their shells and back into the world, is just one of the many, many, many miracles of “Littleness!”

  Tales from the Tea Cup:

  “Frick” and “Frack”: It Took Two to Pull Off This Miracle!

  For the New Year, I thought I would tell you a tale of...two mutts.

  Who knew that they would possibly save the life of one of my clients?

  You see, my client had lost her cat, and had decided to not to replace her beloved feline. She and her husband were retired and really looking forward to traveling.

  They had dreamed for decades about heading to Europe, Alaska, and Costa Rica. The farther away, the better. They wanted to stay for weeks at a time, really immersing themselves in the culture.

  When she came back to pick up her kitty’s ashes, we said what we both thought would be our final good-bye.

  Um...yeah...until later that day.

  My client went to spread her cat’s ashes at a nearby beach when she heard whimpering from some bushes. There were two tiny puppies! They were skinny, filthy, and starving!

  Of course, she rushed them to me.

  And oh boy, did they have a LOT of health problems, but oh boy, were they cute!!! They were some kind of poodle, Shih Tzu, and Heinz 57 kind of puppy. All fluffy on the head and all wiry everywhere else—with little short noses, but long ears.

  I started to go over our options, but I didn’t even get Humane Society out of my mouth when she said she would take full responsibility, and at the least, foster the pups until they were adoptable.

  For once, I actually thought this client meant it. I mean, I had been hearing for years about these elaborate vacations. They had brochures. They had travel insurance already purchased. They were serious. I fully expected to find those pups another forever home.

  So my client went home with the two pups and about twelve different medications (and several cans of food). But every day was a new problem...with both of them.

  Seriously, it was if these two pups shared one body. If one sneezed, the other one sneezed. If one stopped eating, the other stopped eating. They walked in step. They played exactly the same. They came whenever the other was called.

  So you can see how easy it was to name them “Frick” and “Frack.”

  Then days turned into weeks.

  These pups needed a LOT of care and attention, but my client’s first big trip to China was coming up. They had scant days before they had to decide to cancel the trip and eat the cost, (the insurance covered a lot of contingencies, but not supercute and fragile pups) or find the pups a new home.

  My client’s husband then started feeling a little ringing in his ears. He playfully blamed it on the pups’ constant yipping. But they saw it as a perfect opportunity to have him checked by the doctor. Maybe if he had an ear infection, they would have a medical reason to cancel the trip and have it covered by the insurance.

  Well, thank goodness he went to the doctor! That ringing wasn’t an infection, but a tumor on the bones in his ear!

  Luckily, it was caught early enough that they were able to do surgery to save not only his life, but his hearing as well!

  If it hadn’t been for those pups, and both of them wanting to stay home to care for them, my client may have ended up in a foreign country needing delicate, intricate microscopic cancer surgery! The doctors even said that had it gone on much longer, it could have broken through into his brain cavity!

  So yes, “Frick” and “Frack” (who recovered as well as their owner did) possibly saved his life!

  And even better yet, after the surgery and radiation therapy, my clients decided that they still wanted to travel! But this time, in an RV.

  Now they and “Frick” and “Frack” cruise around the U.S., getting to know our country’s culture inside and out.

  I get postcards from them several times a year. Each time with “Frick” and “Frack” sitting side by side, next to my client and her husband, with a national monument as a backdrop.

  They could not look any happier.

  Life seldom turns out how you plan it (even decades in advance) but it feels like when you let animals into your heart, it turns out just fine! :-)

  Tales from the Tea Cup:

  “Chi-Chi” – The Pekingese???

  Yes, that was my reaction too, when I first met “Chi-Chi.”

  I expected a cute little Chihuahua when I walked into the room. I mean, I didn’t even check the chart first to see what breed she was.

  What I found was a black and white mop. Matted, but oh so friendly. Even though she had eaten a paper clip.

  It was lodged in her intestine, and the owners decided not to treat.

  What???

  Well, as you can imagine, we couldn’t let that happen. So “Chi-Chi” was turned over to the clinic, and we of course took care of the problem.

  Now that could have been the end of the story. A poor, misnamed Pekingese rescued from a bad home, but that was just the beginning.

  Just when we were starting to look for a new home for “Chi-Chi,” one of my staff comes in with her elderly grandmot
her. Grams was eighty-seven years old, and did not understand why everyone was fussing over her and not wanting to let her drive.

  Her license had been suspended, but that didn’t stop Grams. They hid her keys and Gram just hired a locksmith to come out and make new keys.

  But when Grams walked in and saw “Chi-Chi,” it was love at first sight! Once “Chi-Chi” was out of the cage, she ran right over, jumped in Grams’ lap, and curled up.

  Luckily, I knew of the situation, so when the notion of Grams adopting “Chi-Chi” came up, I approved it, but only on one condition. “Chi-Chi” had to go wherever Grams went... and had to sit in Grams’ lap.

  Of course, of course. I looked at my receptionist and winked. Problem solved. How could Grams drive if she had to take care of “Chi-Chi”???

  Now, if Grams needs groceries, she just calls one of her kids or grandkids, and they come and pick Grams and “Chi-Chi” up and drive them to the store, because, after all, “Chi-Chi” had come from a bad environment and needed that ‘extra’ care.

  “Littleness,” once again, comes to the rescue!

  Tales from the Tea Cup:

  “Tumbler” – Tumbled Right into Our Hearts

  “Tumbler,” a playful Lhasa Apso, well...tumbled into my client’s life.

  They had lost their beloved German shepherd, Dixie, several months before, and had sworn off dogs. It had just hurt too much to lose her, and besides, life was busy.

  But not always in the good way. They had a child with significant health issues, which meant Mom had to quit work and not only care for their son, but get to and from the myriad of doctor’s appointments, etc.

  They had a cat. They loved the cat. That was enough.

  As any of you who are reading this guessed, it wasn’t enough—not by far.

  Fate forced Mom to go to the shelter to help find a friend’s dog. Joyfully, that dog was found and returned home, but in the same run was a fluffy little Lhasa who insisted on doing strange somersaults. She asked what was wrong, but the shelter didn’t know, and they couldn’t afford to pay for the vet bills to find out.

  Okay, Mom had sworn off dogs, but she couldn’t let this little one be “redlined.” So despite her better judgment, she adopted the ten-month-old puppy. About fifteen minutes later, she was in my office.

  While the puppy did appear to have a penchant for doing a forward roll and then busting out some break-dancing moves, he seemed perfectly healthy. We would run some lab work, but I thought the pup was in good shape—but just strangely playful.

  But what was she going to do? Mom didn’t want a dog, let alone a weird little one. I reassured her that we could find the dog a home, since it was free of any parasites or diseases, so why didn’t she take “Tumbler” home just for one night while I tried to find a foster home?

  Now, of course, I saw the universe’s work in “Tumbler,” and of course, I knew if that little one made it to her house, it would be “Tumbler’s” home, but I was going to let Mom figure that out for herself!

  I was a little worried, however, when Mom and “Tumbler” were at my door at 8:00 a.m. the next day.

  Had I missed something? I had. Exactly how much this little dog was going to change my client’s life.

  It turns out that as soon as they got home, “Tumbler” did his little routine. Their son, who had been too ill to run or play, got off the couch and started mimicking Tumbler’s routine. What a sight!

  Then it was time to go to the pediatrician. The child balked. He hated it. He hated taking his medication. He hated getting poked.

  But what if “Tumbler” came along? The boy brightened. Mom thought she could hide the dog in her purse, but as soon as they got to the office, her son began telling the other kids about “Tumbler.” Everybody had to see.

  While the nurses were reluctant to have a dog in the waiting room, they had never seen my client’s son so happy and interactive.

  The entire doctor’s exam, the boy chatted on about the new puppy. This pediatrician must have had kids and dogs too, because he informed the child that if he wanted to be able to bring “Tumbler” in, he had to take all of his medication—AND do all of his physical therapy.

  Of course!

  So there Mom was, on my doorstep at 8:00 a.m. hugging me and telling me about “Tumbler” and her tumbling son. She also wanted to make sure that I had taken “Tumbler’s” adoption picture down. I laughed, and told her I had never put it up. #duh

  You would think that after being in veterinary medicine for over thirty years, I would tire of such stories. I am here to tell you, I haven’t—and I don’t think I ever will.

  Tales from the Tea Cup:

  “Tootsie Pop”: Tougher than a Rattlesnake Bite?

  I could (and usually do) wax poetic about what troupers dogs are. I mean, their resilience, especially puppies, is pretty freaking incredible.

  But terriers? Holy cow. They were bred for tenacity. Like, “Why don’t you go into that badger’s den for me?” kind of tenacity.

  So it is no surprise when a terrier beats all odds to survive.

  I am not going to relate in depth the trauma that “Tootsie Pop” went through. She got that name because she was all hard and tough on the outside, chasing squirrels and taking on Great Danes, yet yummy and soft on the inside. She won Best Kisser on her block for five years running.

  Let’s just say that the rattlesnake was a little more than she had expected to take on.

  And poor “Tootsie Pop” had every known complication you can imagine. But did she give up?

  Heck, no! She was hooked up to two IV lines and fourteen medications. She was being fed through a tube, and she had the audacity to bark at the hospital cat (I mean, she may have been on the injured reserve list, but that didn’t mean that she had to put up with cats! #Imean #getreal).

  I can’t tell you how many times I warned her mommy that we may need to say good-bye to “Tootsie Pop.” But her mommy just smiled and shook her head.

  Nope. “Tootsie Pop” would make it. Mommy would come and sit for hours with “Tootsie Pop,” sometimes when the terrier was barely clinging to consciousness, and tell her all the bad things that the squirrels were doing in the backyard.

  And how the neighborhood possum was starting to dig around their woodpile (which, according to “Tootsie Pop,” was sacrilege).

  This was early in my career, and my training told me that poor Mommy was just in denial, but luckily, my heart could see that this owner knew more than my medical tests did. Seeing “Tootsie Pop’s” crazy, wiry hair and those determined eyes, I, too, knew that a stupid rattlesnake bite to the jugular wasn’t going to get her!

  Seven days later, “Tootsie Pop” trotted out of the clinic, bandaged and without the usual spring in her step, but she trotted, nonetheless.

  “Tootsie Pop” taught me such a valuable lesson.

  No matter the circumstances, hope can be as powerful a medicine as any injections I might have.

  Tales from the Tea Cup?

  BIGNESS ALERT:

  “Ali” – A Dog with Lots of “Heart!”

  Okay, yes, I know this book is called Pups in Tea Cups, and I am, in theory, supposed to talk about “Littleness” 24-7. However, sometimes a true underdog comes into my life, and I just have to share his or her inspiring story about “Bigness.”

  When I first met “Ali,” it was a difficult time for him. He had been dumped at the shelter (at ten years old), and then adopted, but he kept “fainting.”

  Anyone who knows Boxers knows that this isn’t a good sign.

  Each time he got excited (especially at a niece’s birthday party), he would fall over.

  Between my testing and the cardiologist’s verdict, it looked as though “Ali” may only have a few weeks left. After talking to his new parents and giving my “honored to have been a part of this animal’s life” speech, they decided to give him the best few weeks he could have.

  Then, a month later, they called me. His fainting spells ha
d stopped. They brought him in. Sure enough, he still had the heart problem, but he had somehow medically stabilized.

  We thought that was the only miracle “Ali” had up his sleeve. Boy, were we wrong.

  Months later, they were at the dog park, and two unleashed Pit Bulls jumped the fence and headed straight for my client’s young daughter. “Ali” didn’t hesitate. He ran between them—and got attacked for it.

  My clients were distraught. They loved him for protecting their daughter, but knew this had to be the end for “Ali.” Either the fight, or the stress, would take him.