Brighid's Ogham GroveMEET OUR MR. SNOWY by Veronica Smith
You don’t have to be human to be in my family! Let me introduce you to my little boy, Mr. Snowy, who is a West Highland White Terrier Dog. Snowy has been with us nearly eight years now. My sister and I rescued him from a travelling Puppy Show at our local hardware store.
Snowy was far too young to be carted around in such a way, along with many other breeds of puppies. It was love at first sight, when Celia and I saw the tiny white ball of fluff. We brought him home and introduced him to the cat members of our family. Snowy and the kittens were about the same size and grew up together. I suspect that Snowy really thinks he is a cat! He does not like other dogs at all!
Soon after we got him, Snowy started getting sick. He had high temperatures and seemed to be in a lot of pain, particularly around his head. The vet thought that it was just a series of infections (occurring every three months) but then a friend of ours, who is a judge at dog shows, told us what was wrong. She said that Snowy had the worst case of Lion’s Jaw that she had ever seen!
Lion’s Jaw? I had to look that up to find out what it was. Evidently, it is a rare condition occurring in a small percentage of pedigree West Highland White dogs. Caused by a recessive gene, both parents need to have that gene, for it to pass to their pups and even then, only one or two pups may develop the condition. It causes excessive calcium to build up in the developing body, particularly around the jaw, hence its name, Lion’s Jaw. In worst case scenarios, the puppy’s jaw can either snap or it can seize up and close. Either way, the puppy is no longer able to eat and will die without intervention.
Poor Snowy was the one in his litter, who inherited the Lion’s Jaw gene. There were those, who said we should send the defective pup back to the breeder and get a replacement or refund (as if he were a faulty toy!) but we knew what would happen to Snowy if we did that. He would be put to sleep and not given a chance. We could not give up on our family member.
At nine month’s old, his jaw did seize up. It is only thanks to my sister Celia, and her gentle and persistent massaging of his jaw, that Snowy recovered. For days, Celia used a plastic syringe to keep him hydrated with little sips of water and gravy because he could neither eat nor drink, bless him! But for the fact that he is basically a strong dog, I doubt if he would have survived. Thankfully, he was as determined to stay with us as we were to keep him!
At one point, Snowy had two sets of teeth (the excessive calcium again) and he chewed the corners off our mahogany furniture, to relieve the discomfort! Nevertheless, he survived his first year and went on to become a typical bossy, noisy Westie, guarding his two human mammies and his kitty siblings!
Just when we thought that Snowy had finished with medical problems, he started having trouble walking and kept chewing at his back legs. He stopped playing with his toys – always a bad sign! There was another trip to the vet and ex-rays. This time, the vet said that several of the disks between the vertebrae had perished and were causing pain around his back legs. There were two options: an operation, which may or may not solve the problem, or long-term medication.
We decided on the medication and so far, it is working. He can bomb around the garden, playing with the cats, and hurling abuse at dogs and their humans, who are walking on the hiking trail in front of our house. His favorite enemy are the cyclists, who always seem to peddle faster passed our closed gate!
This December, Mr. Snowy will celebrate his eight birthday. There have been times when we did not think he would live this long. Each year is a blessing to have our little boy. We could not imagine life without him.
I will end this story by reminding people to think carefully before getting their children “animal pets” as gifts for birthdays and festivals. These little souls are much more than “animals”. They become part of the family. They have feelings, just like humans, and are devasted if abandoned. All my cats have been adopted from rescue centres and each one bears emotional scars from their experiences. It has taken a long time for them to learn to trust me and my sister.
So, unless you are prepared for the long-haul with your fur-baby, please do not buy-and-abandon. Thank you!
ENDS
#animalStories #dailyprompt #dailyprompt2104 #furBabies #lionSJawSyndrome #petsAreForLife #westies
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Marilyn C | 🦝 🌱 ✏️ 🎭