Attention everyone!
I know it’s been a minute since I posted, but I have an important update to share.
Three years ago, I adopted a rag-a-muffin mutt from the shelter while in a grief-induced state of making poor decisions a month after the sudden and devastating loss of my precious baby Wedge.
The adopted dog in question was Tumbleweed, an 80 lb ball of chaos mischief wrapped in six inches of matted fur that was full of rocks, sticks, sap and shit which prevented him from moving his legs properly, made him stink, and took me two weeks to find a groomer willing to shave the mess off him.
He’s a malamute/golden retriever who’d been found as a stray in the countryside. I’m pretty sure he was dumped there because he cannot stop barking. Loudly. And also perhaps because he was injured.
Because after all the mats were gone and he could run again, he was really excited about that. Ran a lot. And within days, was limping and needed TPLO surgery on his knee. We wonder if he was injured before and the shelter couldn’t tell because he could barely walk and they were under the impression that he was an older, obese gentleman with impeccable manners. Not a muppet gremlin shackled by his own fur.
So there I was, three weeks into adopting a wrecking ball of a dog who had no insurance yet despite all my dogs having health insurance, facing a $5,000 vet bill. I did a GoFundMe, amazing people helped cover half the cost, he got his surgery, I camped on the living room floor with him for months of recovery because he could t do the stairs and he Requires Constant Eye Contact And Snuggles. Or he barks.
And then, just as he was recovering, he did the same thing to the other knee. Apparently that’s common.
$5,000 more. I wasn’t done paying off the credit card for the first one. But I got a loan. Tumbleweed got his new knees. He healed. I got to move back into my bedroom.
And today, three years later, I have finally paid off those knees.
I felt the need celebrate. And to cry a little. So here I am.
Photo evidence:
And any update about my pack of dogs would be remiss without mentioning that Locksley remains, as always, a prince among dogs who never barks or acquires three years of high-interest medical debt (I just paused to knock on wood). So here he is: