Poor Polly

There's something wrong with Polly and I don't know what it is.

(This is actually a photo I took awhile ago. I didn't want to add to whatever is going on with her by taking a new picture today. But this is pretty much what she's looked like this afternoon).

Polly has been acting strange for several days. Possibly it began when the puppies arrived. I've noticed that she has been sleeping in the living room rather than with me for the past several days. I kind of missed having her with me, but in a way thought that maybe this was a good sign; maybe it would help when/if someone showed interest in adopting her, if she was beginning to wean herself away from me.

In the last two days I've noticed that she has been trembling more than usual. I noticed something wrong especially when I'm sitting at the kitchen table eating. The dogs always cluster around me begging for food.

But in the last couple of days, Polly has not joined with them and instead has stayed on the recliner, obviously wanting to be at my feet, and whining because she's not. Her behavior has been weird, not like the Polly I've known for the past 11 months, but it didn't start worrying me until today.

I had gone to Woodland to deliver my two Samaritan's Purse boxes. When I drove into the driveway coming home, I didn't hear Polly's high pitched excited bark, which she usually barks. Instead I heard what sounded like the puppies, yipping frantically because they were hungry.

Only it wasn't the puppies. It was Polly. The puppies were sound asleep. Walt had been upstairs and he came downstairs and followed me into the kitchen, holding Polly, who was shaking all over. I immediately went and got into my chair and put her in my lap. She frantically snuggled into her usual position in my armpit and just shook and shook and shook. I hugged her until she finally stopped shaking. But at some point she moved and let out a yelp. This puppy was in pain.

I was afraid to touch her because I didn't want to hurt her. I couldn't see anything obvious wrong with her. Instead I just sat there cuddling her until she seemed comfortable again.

I got up to start dinner, periodically coming back to the recliner, where I would sit at the edge rather than try to pick Polly up and move her. At one point I tried to check her back legs to see if there was, perhaps, an injury. She rolled over on her back and spread her legs as if giving me permission to check her out. I didn't see anything, so I tried feeling around her abdomen and I reached a spot where she jerked and licked my hand. I don't know if she was just licking me or if I had hit a painful spot.

I left her, to go and eat dinner and she stayed in the chair, shaking. After dinner she moved to the side of the chair so I could get into it and then cuddled under my arm and shook for awhile until she finally calmed down.

(Someone on Facebook said the nicest thing when I posted something about my concern for her. "I hope you find out what's wrong soon. Polly has became such a dear to all of us." Polly has fans! I'm verklempt)

I don't know what's wrong with her. I don't know if it's my imagination. I don't know if there is something inside her that is bothering her. I've checked with the SPCA people. My main worry is that tomorrow is Cousins Day, so I'm not going to be here to check on her, and Walt will be at work part of the day.

Everybody is on alert and we'll be watching her as much as we can and hoping that she will be acting more normal in the morning. (She did eat peanutbutter tonight, even though she turned up her nose at a treat.)

As for the other ill person in my life, my mother's doctor called to say that she does, in fact, have fluid in her lungs so she is starting her on a diuretic and wants her to have more blood drawn next week. We offered to cancel cousins day, but she's been looking forward to it for too long, so we are going to keep the date and hope to tie her to a chair to prevent her from spending the day waiting on us, instead of letting us wait on her.

The next journal entry will, of course, be posted late.