Can't Keep a Good Man Down

This post is about my very precious Oscar. Just when I think that he is down for the count, he perks up and surprises me. I have had Oscar since I was 20 years old. He has been by my side for a decade. I drove through the pouring rain a cold night in February down to Crawfordville, FL to go pick up this special dog. It seems like ages ago that I welcomed Oscar into my life and it is hard to imagine my life without him in it. He has been in bad shape this past week due to his issues with his degenerative disc disorder. Whenever this flares up, his slipped disc swells and presses on his nerves, therefore rendering his left side of his body basically paralyzed . He is pitiful when he is having an episode. It got so bad that I was at the point of putting him down.




Oscar at the vet's office

So on Saturday, I took him to the vet to see what they recommended. It is either spend $2,500 (which I don't have) to have back surgery, crate and sedate him and pump him with lots of steroids, or put him down. So I talked it over with my vet and asked her if she could make him comfortable for at least a week so that I could spend some time with him and say goodbye. So she prescribed him some Predinsone and some more pain medication and sent us home. And would you believe it? The Predinsone is working like a charm. He is back to being Oscar. It is truly a miracle. I think Oscar and the good Lord knew that I couldn't say goodbye to him just yet.

So this week, Oscar has come with me to work every day. He makes a wonderful office mascot. He pretty much just sleeps in his bed all day beside my desk in my office. The only time he gets up is if someone comes in with lunch. Then he sneaks off while I'm busy and harasses the people eating to give him some of their food. He is such a mess!

I love this picture. The whole drive home yesterday, he just looked at me with his big brown eyes. I could tell he was just happy to have me all to himself without having to compete with attention from Brutus and JR. So for now, I will just keep his medication going if he starts getting down. I can't keep him on the steroids forever, due to the damage it will do to his liver. But as long as I give it to him whenever he has a flare up, I think that we may just be able to keep him around a little bit longer. Like I said, you can't keep a good man {dog} down! I am just thankful to the Lord for blessing me with this time with him. Every time I look at Oscar, I am just reminded of God's love for us. A dog loves you unconditionally. They don't care what you look like, how much money you make, what kind of car you drive, what clothes you wear, what house you live in. They don't care. All they care about is loving you. The same with the good Lord. And its just a good reminder of that love.

I had to come back and add something to this post that just happened. For the past two hours Oscar has been passed out in his bed behind me. A few minutes ago, I was sitting here eating my lunch, not really paying attention to him. I didn't notice he had gotten up until I heard his talons hit the tile right outside my office door. He was standing in my doorway, sniffing the air and then started to walk off. I of course called to him and politely told him to get his butt back in my office. He reluctantly obliged my request. But my curiosity was peaked. I went down to the back of the building to Randy's office. Sure enough, there Randy was grubbing on some Popeye's. Oscar did not hesitate to take advantage of me getting up and walking to the back. He came trotting out of my office, down the hall, and the next thing I know he has zipped past me and procedes to get in his begging position and waits for Randy to feed him. So needless to say, he has a new office nickname. He is now known as Mooch Pooch. That's because he only likes other people here when they feed him. Then he goes back to his anti-social antics. I swear this dog is such a mess!!