MEL WENT TO THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

Yesterday my doggy brother Mel went to the Rainbow Bridge, which is where my other doggy brothers, Gabe and Barry and Nicky already went.  I guess it's a popular place for old dogs to go.  Anyway, Mel went there because he wasn't having any fun being alive anymore.  His neck hurt him and his back hurt him, and when he walked around, he had to walk in a very stiff way.  Also, he had trouble lying down and getting back up again.

This is one of our favorite pictures of Mel.

Mom took Mel to see Dr. Vodraska a few days ago, and Dr. Vodraska thought Mel had some kind of problem with his nerves which made his brain not remember exactly how to pick up his back feet and put them down again.  Dr. V said that Mel should go see a neurologist and also maybe get a spinal tap.  Mom thought all of this sounded kind of expensive, but she made an appointment with a neurologist for Thursday.

In the meantime, Mel started having all kinds of stomach problems, and he didn't want to eat his food.  Then he would go out in the yard and have a bunch of diarrhea.  So when Dr. Ortinau, the neurologist, saw Mel, she tapped his joints with a little hammer thing, and she felt his spine, and she also squeezed his tummy.  Mel did not like this at all because it hurt!

Mel and I used to play sometimes, but we were much younger then.

Dr. Ortinau said that she would have to do two MRIs on Mel to see what was going on with his spine.  But first, he would have to go see Dr. Nikki, the internist, to find out what was wrong with his gut.  Dr. Ortinau said Mel would need a sonogram and some bloodwork and x-rays, and all that would add up to $700 or more.  Then after that problem was fixed, she could start working on the spinal stuff.  Mom said she might just decide to have Mel put to sleep because he was 13 years old, and she couldn't afford to spend so much money on an old dog who wasn't going to live a whole lot longer anyway.

I liked how Mel would let other dogs take his food or treats
or toys away from him.  I tried to do that sometimes,
but Barry usually got there first.

So Mom came home and called Dr. Patricia's office and made an appointment for Mel for yesterday morning.  When Dr. Patricia saw Mel, she said she thought he looked very miserable and like he didn't feel good at all.  She thought Mom was doing the right thing in letting Mel go to the Rainbow Bridge.  So that's where he is now, and I think he's running and playing keep-away, just like he used to do with Mom in the back yard.

Mel was afraid of storms, and he slept under Mom's bed
whenever we had one.  He just barely fit, so I was afraid he would get stuck!

Back in the days when we all did the Group Howl,
Mel liked to join in.  He was a good howler.

Mel used to sleep in a funny way like this.
Maybe it was because his neck hurt him,
or maybe it was just because he was weird.