{"id":5410,"date":"2016-05-15T12:03:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T17:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deepsicks.com\/?p=5410"},"modified":"2022-06-18T14:23:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-18T19:23:08","slug":"the-mockingbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/megasimon.com\/d6\/2016\/05\/15\/the-mockingbird\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mockingbird"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called life.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We adopted Lafitte in January. Those PAWS! That tail. She\u2019s a sweet girl and total monster, escape-artist, stealing food off the counter. We named her after a pirate, so it\u2019s our own damn fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mudcat wasn\u2019t sure at first, then they were besties, now they vacillate between she cool<\/em> and what\u2019s this other dog here for? The very first day Lafitte resource guarded me\u2014warded off Mudcat, to protect, me, from this other dog, my<\/em> dog, my real<\/em> dog, while Lafitte was the stranger. The interloper. On notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She has heartworms, and we knew it.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The animal shelter counseled us. Transmitted by mosquito, heartworms are thread-like parasites up to a foot long, clogging her heart and arteries. Doing nothing will kill her, and the treatment might kill her. It\u2019s essentially poison. We poison our dog to kill the worms in a series of three shots\u2014one shot, a month later, two, and immediately the next day, three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During and after treatment, we have to keep her calm, her heartrate stable. Weeks of no walks, no playing, no freaking out about thunder or squirrels or strangers in the yard. The worms die quickly but need to dissolve gradually. A pounding heart can cause worm bits to break off and clog her veins and kill her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got her anyway. She doggy-grinned into our home and hearts. We almost named her Praline for her rich brown fur and oh she is sweet<\/em> but such a stinker. Lafitte fits her better. She also sports a sleek black saddle and a swirl of white at the front of her chest, like the injection site for the cream of an \u00e9clair, over her wormy heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought we\u2019d get the treatment over right away, before establishing routine, forming a true pack. I stroked her and said stupid crap like,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll kill the worms out your heart then you\u2019ll be our Forever Dog.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

…not wanting to attach too quickly in case, you know. She doesn\u2019t make it. But our first appointment wasn\u2019t till the end of April. Four months of being a family but not too much of a family but sort of a family, but aw hell she\u2019s cute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a rainy spring, one of my favorite things, sitting in the yard and listening to the birds and chimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n