Rescue Journal

the problem with a king sized bed is...

Carol  ·  May 24, 2009

it took almost 3 hours to push all the linens thru if someone leaks. caspar's bloodsugars were a bit high the other night and he leaked alot in his sleep. so...another $150 for another waterproof sheet and now the entire bed and linen is protected except for the top duvet cover sheet.

the linens and protectors now cost as much as the bed!

but despite what folks think about the simplest solution of just kicking the leakers off....this is the difference between how i do rescue and how others might decide to do the same thing.....but differently.

i can take in one or two or ten different animals and manage their quality of life in normal ways...or i can take in many more and get creative.

hence group field runs, multiple barn buddies, AGM picnics with a large canine component and the biggest bed i can find.

kicking the leakers...caspar, daphne and lucy...off the bed is not an option....they NEED to sleep up on the bed...to deny them that would make them unhappy. and i am not denying them something so simple when it can be fixed with a bit of money and some creativity.

this is their home. daphne had 2 small seizures yesterday...am i going to lose her soon like i just lost lexi?...maybe not but maybe. and when i do lose her, i ain't going to be regretting making her unnecessarily unhappy over such a simple thing.

i can't give these guys EVERYTHING...cuz i don't have unending miracles and resources up my sleeve to be able to give them everything.

but what i can give them somehow...i am damn well giving them, any way that i can.

so i bought another waterproof sheet...they are happy, i am happy cuz this will work better for doing the laundry...i get my little corner of unrubberized sleeping,,,they get the rubberized rest...it works.

i know that other folks don't always get this...this would be that line that crosses what the world might consider as crazy.

and the animals here own every single rock, blade of grass, floor, counter, cupboard, couch, bed and roof over their heads.

i gave it to them..you gave it to them too..(except for the bed, linens and protectors cuz i bought us those)...but..we all said, this is YOUR home for as long as you need it....and then we sacrifice and work our guts out to MAKE it THEIR home.

not crazy...just keeping our promise.

and for these guys...that is something totally new to them...humans who actually stand by their words.

(even if they leak)

Comments

Beverly

I'm SO lucky...Carmen LOVES her cute little pants and struts around like she just won the milk-bone lottery lol. I think she is Pomeranian X Paris Hilton tho :)

Patti

Bravo to you Carol... I have had a couple with incontinence issues as well... and did the same thing. put a puppy training pad under them as much as I could... but every once in a while ... it means stripping the bed. But they get to keep their pride, which is a pretty important thing.

Carol

i put diapers on one dog once (and wilbur was not very bright) but he was bright enough to still be devastated. the look on that poor dog's face is seared in my head. never again...some dogs don't care or they get used to it cuz they have too...not sure which.

but whatever...dogs aren't meant to be wearing diapers...they know it and i know they know it. might be different if they were in their very own home and they had everything else in their life close to perfect...but here they don't, here they give up a lot of what family "pets" already have so i try not to make them give up even more....like a little bit of their dignity.
the rubberized sheets work ok and they don't know they are on the bed because of them personally so their feelings aren't hurt.

Audrey Smith

Carol,
It's so nice to see that you commit yourself to making their last days happy. The world needs more of you. Someday you'll be rewarded for all your goodness. More power to you!

Linda

what about nighttime diapers for the leakers? would this be a good option or not? i see they have them for dogs in heat.....