Seamus, Talk to Me!

​I was spoiled with my pug Daphne (for more about Daphne, click here). She was an expert communicator. With sass and spunk, she made her needs and desires crystal clear even to the densest individual. For example, if it was getting late and there were guests over, Daphne would stare them down until she got their attention. She would then walk to the door, bring her stare to the door and then shift her gaze between the person and the door until they left. An individual didn’t need to be intuitive to know that she was telling them to leave.
 
Her brothers, Rodney and Seamus, don’t communicate as effectively. Not sure if it is their personalities or that unlike Daphne whom I got as a puppy, the boys were both rescued as adults (11 and 6 respectively) or because when we got them she did the talking for them and they didn’t need to bother. Whatever it is, neither talks a whole lot. So since she left us two years ago (more on that, click here) we’ve had a hard time deciphering the boys wants, let alone needs.
 
Over the past few months, this has become more and more troubling. As at 13 and 12 , each individually is beginning to show signs of old age. Especially Seamus. His legs are becoming weak and he is beginning to poop in the house due to (according to the vet in May) nerve degeneration; we have noticed his hearing is going – he rarely responds to his name while awake and forget about it if he is asleep; and, the other day while scratching his neck, I found a hard lump in his throat.
 
He doesn’t communicate his needs telepathically. This could be due to his upbringing as the first six years of his life he lived in a puppy mill and had very little human contact. Due to this limited contact with humans, his development of communication skills could have been thwarted. Or it could just be his disposition. Like some people who just don’t like to talk much, he could be like that. Either way, other than his verbal complaints of displeasure over my absence in the form of continual whimpers while I am gone and yowls upon my return, we can’t tell what he’s thinking or feeling.
 
So, with the mounting health concerns, in order to figure out what was going on with him, we approached the issue the old-fashioned way. We took him to the Vet.
 
After giving him the once over, Dr. Sweeney from Elma Vets assured us that simply stated he is becoming an old man and it is very unlikely he is in any pain. To alleviate our concerns over the lump, which she was fairly certain was just an inflamed lymph node, she aspirated it and tested it. Sure enough, nothing to worry about.
 
As I said when I started, I was spoiled with Daphne. But, just because Rodney and Seamus don’t do as good a job doesn’t mean I love them any less… and, I probably worry about them more! Sometimes I forget how much I use my intuition. This was a good reminder.

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