Earlier in the year, our little Finnish Spitz, Ama, suffered an unpleasant medical episode, or at least we thought she had. One night she wouldn’t settle. She paced and whined, panted and barked constantly. For hours. I thought she was having a heart attack so my True Love rushed her to the overnight emergency vet.

The vet said she was in pain, maybe a back injury, so they gave her some strong pain medication and told us to keep her quiet. It didn’t work. She continued to pace, whine and bark. All night in fact. She also wanted to go outside every five minutes and cried at the back door. We were exhausted. What were we to do? At 6am, we took her to the other emergency vet for the blood tests we had declined the previous evening. The blood tests revealed very little. It was a mystery. The vet gave her a sedative so that we, I mean, she, could get some rest. We slept all day and Ama seemed to improve. As evening approached, she started to get agitated again.

A couple of months later, she saw her regular specialist – special girl that our cherub is. We discussed the possibility of dementia but he could see no evidence of cognitive decline. The verdict? She’s getting old and demanding.

Weeks later it came to pass that the same thing happened again. But this time, the cause of this agitation became abundantly clear.

A possum eating our climbing rose! Ama is now banned from going out at dusk and early evening until we check that the coast is clear. Typical Finnish Spitz. The force (hunting instinct) is strong in them. So is the cheese instinct, but that’s another story.

Ama turned 12 years old in December. She still shines brightly.

Here’s to Ama.

Take care, everyone. May your evenings be free of rose-eating possums.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

RDP – The Day After

20 thoughts on “24 Stories – II”

  1. Oh, Ama! She was just doing her job. Happy Birthday Ama! Ophelia turned 13 in December. The time passes too quickly.
    I love the photo you captured of the possum. They do have cheeky look to them . Fortunately, not a creature I have to deal with in the garden.

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  2. I can only imagine Ama’s frustration at being unable to tell you about the possum. I’m glad you found the cause of her discomfort. Happy Birthday Ama and may you have many more years with your family.

    Our Gem in 14 1/2 years and still pushes through the pain of arthritis and a bad heart. I treasure every minute we have with him.

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    1. Every day is a bonus with our senior pets. I hope Gem is with you for a while yet, Anne, and that he gets to go hunting even if it is only in his dreams.
      I should have guessed about the possum but they never really hang around for so long like this one did.

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  7. Thank goodness you eventually solve the mystery and Ama didn’t have a serious health condition.

    Possums are pesky little critters and demolished a beautiful large tree we had in our community garden when I lived near the Botanic Gardens. I didn’t know they ate Roses though.

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  10. I’m so glad she’s okay, but I’m sorry that two vet misdiagnosed her and you had to pay for all those tests. Dogs usually have a reason for what they do, despite what we humans sometimes think. The problem is, they can’t tell us!

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    1. Ama regularly has that panel of blood tests run because of her chronic illness, Anne. That’s why we were worried possibly more than we normally worry about her. Still, it would have been cheaper if the tests were run in standard business hours. Have you noticed how vet emergencies usually happen over night or on a long weekend? There was actually three possums in that rose bush. Enough to make a small hunting dog lose her mind. 🤣

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