23 May, 2008

Birthday traditions

Some people celebrate their birthdays with a big party for friends and family. Others bake special cakes or plan trips to faraway places.

I tend to mark the occasion with unmitigated disaster. In 2006 an already bad day was topped when a falling branch met my windshield at high speeds. My birthday last year saw the expensive culmination of a losing battle with my internet provider.

And this year? Well, it was no exception. It started out wonderfully: a delicious surprise breakfast and an 11k hike in the Schwarzwald. Everything was going along smoothly until yesterday evening. D the wonderdog is limping again. It's only been two and a half months since the operation-- she's finally fit again and we had so hoped that all of the problems were behind us. This morning when she woke up she was completely lame.

I'm going to keep her crated for the next couple of days and hope it blows over, but I've got a very bad feeling about this. The vet assured us that once the bone splinter was removed that she would be good as new. We were so relieved to have been able to finally close that chapter, but today she's worse than I've ever seen her before.

I'm trying not to think about the consequences all too much...

5 comments:

G in Berlin said...

Have you tried glucosamine-chondroitinpills? They work very well for dog arthritis (and mine too). I had something similar with a pet and although the vet suggested an operation severe bed rest allowed recovery, although every now and then he would pull up lame again. Sorry for your crappy birthdays:( I know what you mean. On my last birthday, I spent the entire night packing up my house before the truck arrived to talke all our possessions away, we had a power outage while I was showing the house to the tenants after being up for 39 hours and I can't remember anything else...

anno said...

I'm so sorry to hear about wonderdog. I hope that rest brings recovery, and maybe some time to enjoy your birthday weekend.

christina said...

Well Happy Birthday anyway! I'm glad at least it started OK.

So sorry about D - that's very worrying.

R. Duckie said...

Happy Birthday anyways!

Astrid said...

It sounds like you need a good luck talisman... Shall I send one over, after your last posts I'm getting worried!!

I really hope Wonderdog gets better soon. Our little furry friends are so much part of the family and it's heartbreaking when they're not well and when we can't do much to help them.

I do wish you happy birthday though , and may it be followed by only good news from now :)