Maddie

Because you never realize what an integral part of the family your dog is until you're driving to the animal ER in your workout clothes, hands shaking, breaths shortened, praying that this isn't the last drive you'll ever take with your dog.

Now believe me, I've been in situations like this before ... With my first dog being sick, and with Maddie when we first got her as a puppy, and even though we hadn't made any memories together then and I was still a mess, visiting her at the vet whenever possible. Now nine years later, as my mom and I stood at the receptionists desk, I was shaking horribly, trying to hang on to Maddie's leash, crying as I was cleaning up the blood that was dripping on the floor. She had started bleeding when I was petting her as soon as we got home from the gym. Blood was in her urine, and I was terrified that her kidneys were shutting down. We were brought into a room immediately, and as we shared what had happened with the vet I could only think the worst. She kept repeating what a good patient she was being, and I kept thinking this cannot be it, I won't let it. She was brought in the back, and time seemed to tick by unbearably slow as my mom and I talked, trying to laugh and smile, but looking unbearably exhausted and pale.

Maddie reappeared and the vet told us we were going to treat this as a UTI, because she has found crystals in her urine/blood sample. After a quick shot, and instructions for antibiotics we were sent on our way, and Maddie already looked like she was feeling better, back to her old self. 

It amazes me how dogs slip into our lives, and it doesn't matter if we've had them in our family for 1 day or 9 years, they become our best friend... The one we can wrap our arms around at any given moment and hug, the one that knows when something is wrong and comes up next to us, laying her head on your leg, the one that waits for you by the door each and every day, the one who's loyalty never breaks. A dog is really a man's best friend. I'm not sure what I'd do without Maddie, and as she sleeps on the ground next to me, I'm at ease. We go back to the vet to find out if the antibiotics have cleared the UTI, and I'm hoping they have, because I'm not ready to say goodbye. I need her, maybe a little more than she needs me.