The minute I started typing this post I heard a plaintive meow coming from my living room. From where my computer is positioned, I have an unobstructed view of the furniture. The sight greeting me was Buddy looking over the arm of my recliner calling me to help him get settled for the afternoon.
My brother has taken to placing a favored blanket on the seat of the recliner for Bud's to snuggle on but lately it's not enough. The blanket must be shaped like a doughnut - mounded all around - so Buddy can curl up in the middle. Before he settles down he calls me to come and cover him up to his ears with a part of the blanket. The end result is Buddy is completely cocooned.
Caring for Buddy is increasing in intensity. His needs are consuming more and more time. He asks for food but then must be coaxed to eat. Time is spent trying to figure out what tack will get him to eat. Add a different food to the mix? If so, which one do I think might do the trick. If it doesn't appeal, then I must try another. Sometimes all I have to do is heat the food slightly to entice him to consume his meal. Then again, sometimes that ploy doesn't work. Oftentimes, the dish must be held up to his nose or food placed on my finger and rubbed across his front teeth.
As the days go on, I've noticed the morning routine increasing from approximately 30 minutes to 45 minutes or almost an hour. Still, there are some pluses. The addition of a few drops of olive oil to each meal has produced the best results in terms of toileting regularity to date -along with his daily morning milk or yogurt. In other words, he poops more often. Also, buddy has retained his sweet disposition although he doesn't seem to talk as much as he did before his illness progressed.
We knew caring for Buddy would get harder. It signals we are getting closer to the day when there will no longer be any quality of life for our little guy and we will be forced to make the decision we both dread. Hope says alive in my heart Buddy will be granted a peaceful end which arrives naturally while he's asleep in my lap or on the recliner instead of an end we have to pick because he won't eat or drink.
I'm grateful he's been a part of my life for more than ten years but I'm sad knowing our time together is coming to an end. What makes it even harder is not knowing how much longer he has. It's really a day-by-day proposition now.
Buddy is calling me once again; I must go and see why. Then is's off to spend more time with Annie. It won't due for her to feel neglected. Soon she will be without her Buddy.
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