I have wanted to get into fospice since the first time I realized that such a thing existed. My husband at the time didn't want me to...he didn't want his heart broken. A few weeks ago he told me he wanted us to go our separate ways, and one of the first things I did was start researching fospice again. If you don't know, fospice is fostering terminally ill dogs who still have some good time left but aren't really adoptable. Muttville Senior Dog Rescue is near me, and they started off primarily as a fospice organization. They do a lot of regular adoptions now, but they still have a huge focus on taking in these special dogs. I emailed them on Thursday to inquire about joining the fospice team, and due to my background as a vet tech and my realistic views on quality of life rather than quantity of life, I was accepted immediately. Today I was given Juno, who is a 15+ year old American Eskimo mix.
Juno is not actually *ill* that we know of, he is just extremely old and frail. He languished in a shelter for over a month before Muttville pulled him...he was full of worms and in a lot of pain. Now that he has been de-wormed and given some wonderful pain meds, he is doing much better, but the rescue coordinator still feels that he is probably only going to have a few good weeks or months left....though he might rally some now that he has lots of good food and care. I have to say, for how frail he appears, he does have some good times left. He LOVES walkies, and I've had him out three times today to totter slowly around the neighborhood. He sleeps a lot, and he prefers to be hand-fed because his mouth is still quite painful. The rescue coordinator felt that he wasn't up for being sedated for a dental, otherwise he would have had most of his teeth removed already. IF he rallies really well, he might have those teeth pulled, but I'm doubtful about that. He likes the other dogs in the house, and I don't think he even notices the kittens.
He's pretty unflappable. I took him out to the pet store briefly to get some bath wipes and a new sweater, and he was interested in all the dogs and people, and VERY interested in the bins full of bones! His rotten teeth didn't stop him from ripping off and swallowing a chunk of rawhide earlier, so for now I'm keeping the chewies in a drawer away from him.
Without further ado, here is Juno!
At the rescue
Napping
"What's that flashy box? Make it stop, please."
OK, back to sleep now!
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