Overwhelmed

7 years ago, while I was working at Ruby Tuesday one Sunday, something compelled me to look at the dog listings in the classifieds. I wanted a companion, but I wasn't sure what kind I wanted. So I was going to look at some dogs to see.

I found an add for a 4 month old Jack Russell Terrier. I went to visit the lady with the dog, to find that she was keeping the puppy in a guinea pig cage all day long while she was at work because the dog was "too hyper". The dog didn't even have room to stand up inside the cage. Something in me took over, and I bought the dog right then. Yes she was hyper, and she was a mess because she had never gotten any attention. That poor puppy. I brought her home, renamed her Tallulah.

We had some great walks around the neighborhood. We visited with my roommates families dog, and with my family and the family dog. I couldn't get her house trained to save my life, but I was trying really hard. One lazy weekday morning before I had to work, the dog and I were lounging in the sunshine on my bed. When I noticed that she'd peed in her sleep on the bed, something she hadn't done in awhile. She'd done that in the past several times, but things had gotten better.
Well, i changed the bed clothes (and my clothes), and we went back to sleep. A little while later she'd done the same thing.
I changed the stuff again, got back on the bed, and made Tallulah sleep on my chair. she peed on the chair. 3 more times in an hour. While she was asleep. So i took her to the vet because the vet tech thought she had an infection.

The vet looked around with an ultra sound and it turned out that Tallulah basically had no kidney function. They gave her 5 or less years to live.

My mom eventually took my dog in because I had to work and be at school too much to give Tallulah the attention she so needed. 5 years went by, and Tallulah was as healthy as any dog ever was because mom made sure she only ate things that were easy on the kidneys.

Earlier this week, Tallulah's health took a turn for the worse. Her kidneys were finally failing her, after years of fighting so hard and becoming a really wonderful dog, despite the first 4 months of her life being spent in a cage.

Mom took Tallulah to the vet this morning to, well, make things better for Talullah.

After 7 years of kickin' it hardcore, and fighting for her life, Tallulah's kidneys were gone and now so is she.