[Dailydrool] Hello to all droolers

[Vicki Kerns]

It's so heartwarming to see so many fellow Basset Hound 'fan'atics! I've
loved them all my life and will forever. People ask me what it is about them
that I love so much. Maybe it's the long ears that are always hanging in the
water bowl. Maybe it's those sad brown eyes that look up at you with such
love and longing. Maybe it's those big clod-hopper feet that are always
stepping on my bare ones or in the mud and then on the couch. Or maybe it's
because I had an uncle years ago that really did look like a hound! I don't
know, but I know that I couldn't love mine more if I'd given birth to them!
I don't have kids so my hounds are truly my children. I still have my
beautiful Miss Cleopatra Christina von Wigglebutt. She is a little over 10
now and just diagnosed with Cushings. We are headed to our vet tomorrow now
that we know which kind it is to start on our meds. Other than that, she is
pretty darn healthy, except for bad allergies (which might get worse when
her body stops producing all the excess cortisol). The vet said it may take
some time to get the meds squared away but she is my little gray baby and
still acts like a puppy when I say, 'walkies' and 'ice cream'.

There may be some folks on the drool here who remember my beautiful boy,
Pongo. He was rescued from a horrible puppy mill in KS when he was 6 years
old. He was skin and bones and had been mistreated. He had fathered many
puppies over the years and when he was rescued, they also saved 11 babies. I
was going to foster Pongo (to which all my friends laughed hysterically at
me), but one look at that gorgeous red and white boy and I was in love. He
was my baby, my shadow, and I felt a deep love for him like I'd never felt.
I had this wonderful boy for a little over 4 years. I spoiled him rotten,
showed him love like he'd never known, and slept next to him at night; and
he brought me...everything. He was a clown and made me laugh several times a
day at his antics, he followed me everywhere running his head under my hand
for a pat, and he showed me what unconditional love is all about. Last
Sept., I lost my Pongo quite unexpectedly to cancer. He hadn't even acted
sick. He'd slowed down some, but he was 10, and he'd lost a little weight,
but he had needed to, plus there were 4 more dogs scavenging for food at the
time. One evening when I arrived home, he had a nosebleed. The emergency vet
didn't seem terribly concerned but suggested I take him to my regular vet
the next day. I took him to a different vet (thank God, but that's another
story), and after extensive testing, they discovered that he had spleen
cancer and it had already spread to his liver. He was within days of having
his spleen rupture and he would have suffered. My God, I haven't been
through anything that traumatic since my mother died. I still grieve and cry
over him, and miss him every day. I did have a dream after it happened and I
know that he is with my mom up there and she's watching over him until I see
him again. So I can relate to Debbie about Miss Elder Clara being at the
bridge, and thank you Debbie for the uplifting stories 'from the bridge'.
They bring smiles to our faces.

I now have a 7-month-old 'devil dog' Basset Hound puppy named Quincy P.
Fartwhistle. I had forgotten the 'joys' of puppyhood. Holy smoke! He is a
ball of fire, a chewing machine, stubborn as all getout, and one of the
cutest things I've ever seen (he has pink on his nose). I am thinking about
'fostering' (yeah right) a younger basset, maybe around 2 or 3, so he can
have someone to play with. Ms. Cleo will play just a little, and my poor old
14-year-old cat wants nothing to do with him. I've taken him to daycare
several times but that gets expensive. He is a whirling dervish and a peeing
machine, but he reminds me of Pongo in so many ways. He's also a mama's boy
and follows me everywhere, and he is such a lover. If we can survive the
puppy phase, we'll be ok. So thanks to all the fellow droolers out there.
I'll send healing drool to all who need it and keep you all in my hound
prayers. God really did have a sense of humor when he created the Basset
Hound. I can see it every day.   Vicki Kerns, Cleo, Quincy, and Pongo ATB

-- 
Vicki Kerns
**
*"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."*
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