Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was a very special day in our household. Yesterday, October 20, Manny turned 6 years old. I will admit and say I've been a bad fur baby mama. The last 5 years I have not really given his birthday the attention it deserves. I will never forget standing at the vets waiting on some tests to come back. I was fully expecting to hear that he had diabetes. When the vet came in and said he was in kidney failure, I wanted to just fall to the ground and bawl my eyes out. I won't go into the whole story, but if you'd like to catch up on or take a look back you can read about that post here. Hearing he had a max of 3 years left to live really hit me hard. December 7 of this year will be the one year mark since getting the diagnosis. I have spent a lot of time praying over him. The last time I had his kidney panel checked they were much better than they were when he was in the hospital. I'm pretty sure the vet was surprised...with God NOTHING is impossible!!!

I wanted to have a full fledged party for him, but I wouldn't really have anybody that would want to come and celebrate with us. I also wanted to give him the biggest cake, but since his kidneys are failing he has a very strict diet. He cannot have people food and his dog food is a special kidney food that is not harsh on the kidneys. Most dog treats have what is called phospate or phosphoric acid in it and that is what is hard on kidneys, so he really shouldn't have treats either. All I knew to do for his birthday was give him lots of lovin and I tried to give him some time outside. He doesn't ever get time to just run around outside or sniff or anything like that. I took him outside and of coarse Maddy wanted in on this action. Manny seemed so confused. He went to the bathroom and then kept trying to go inside. It didn't help that Maddy was running around screaming at him. Everytime she would charge towards him he would take off running and then look at me like help lol. We finally got everybody calmed down and enjoyed just running around and Manny enjoyed eating grass.

I had a day of reflection. I just happened to find one of his puppy pictures in my car. I will never forget the day I got him and I will never forget the sleepless nights he gave me from biting me as a puppy. I seriously had wondered what in the world I had done. We bonded over the years. I remember when he had to stay in my mom's fence once I had Maddy because I couldn't care for him until I healed. I remember feeling so horrible that he was outside. I wondered if he hated me. I never wanted him to be left out once Maddy was born. It was soon after she was born that I think his kidneys started failing. He really loved playing with my mom's outside dog, but one day he just acted funny. My mom wondered if someone hit him or tortured him outside the fence because his whole demeanor had changed...he definitely seemed depressed and lost a lot of weight. We brought him inside, but he was never the same again. That was about a year before we found out his kidneys were failing. I thought about the first Christmas I had him. We spent the night at my mom's house Christmas eve and she got some of the cutest pictures of him with a bow around his neck and in a basket under the tree. He is such a sweet, loving dog. He literally hugs you and it's just so sweet. He is so much a part of our family and loved so much. I pray he has many birthdays to come.

The top 3 pictures are prior to the diagnosis. The top picture he was anywhere from 10 to 12 weeks old. The next two are in 2010. Then the rest are all after finding out his kidneys were failing. You can tell in his eyes he doesn't feel good. The last picture they were both giving me kisses lol. I feel so thankful to see another birthday come and go and have him here with us. I want to be selfish and keep him forever. I know eventually there will come a time when it's his time to go...I just pray he goes peacefully in his sleep.

I know I'm not great at writing and it doesn't help that I just watched The Heart of Christmas and bawled my eyes out. I don't mean for this post to be a debbie downer. I am truly blessed and we had a great mini birthday celebration for our buddy Manny.