Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 6


Zoey settled in quite well in Florida under the doting care of Jonathan. I had told Jonathan all about her and about her slight incontinence problem, so he went out and purchased a sterilite container (about 27" wide x 36" long x 8" high), put tons of fluffy blankets in it, placed it on his bed and put Zoey in it, just so she could sleep in bed with him. Zoey took to this right away and has since become quite the princess at what lots of people call CampWhippet. Camp Whippet came about because Jonathan does a lot of Whippet & Greyhound rescue and there are anywhere from 4 to 10 dogs in his house at any given time. He truly is a godsend to rescues, and especially to Zoey and myself.

I get monthly updates on Zoey's progress and because of the warm, sunny, sandy beach treks, nice sun bathing area in Jonathan's back yard, and care given by him, Zoey had been steadily improving, so much so that all the medications she was on, she was weaned off of. She even came into season for the 1st time since this dilemna all started. Although this was good news, the heat cycle took it's toll on Zoey and she started in a downhill slide. She is back on some of the meds, but not all, and is now holding her own once again. Her spirit, love of life and will to live is just amazing.

I did call Jonathan in tears one day in November, just cause I was upset that I would probably never see my girl again. I knew I would never see my Zoe-Zoe again, but knowing she is in the right place made everything okay. That was a relapse on my part, and I think I made Jonathan feel bad, but all is better now.

In December over the Christmas vacation, hubby, Tyler and I traveled to Florida to Disney World (that'll be another story), all the while wondering how I was gonna get to Fort Pierce to see Zoey. I called Jonathan one day while we were waiting to get on the bus to go to one of the Disney Parks (it may have been Christmas Day), and I asked Jonathan how things were going, he said, "not good", he had lost a dog and he was driving around right now trying to find her. My heart ended up in my throat as I asked what dog, he said Zoey. Tears came to my eyes, as he explained that she politely let herself out the front door. He said she was contained on the island, and thought she would probably run north on the beach, as that is where they always went, and Zoey does LOVE her beach.

Fort Pierce is a small island and there is only one access road off of it to the main land. He said he'd call me back, and hung up. He called a few minutes later stating that Animal Control just called him and said they had her and he should come get her. Zoey in her "sad condition" had traveled about a mile north on the beach before she was spotted and taken into "custody". Jonathan called me about an hour later to say he had sprung her from the joint, and was on their way home, and that Zoey was just fine, but tired. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

We did our Disney trips, and on the 30th of December we decided to take Tyler to the beach. We headed east to Cocoa Beach, but did head farther south cause there were dead fish all over the beach there due to a rare Red Tide that came in. I called Jonathan and he said he would meet me at the beach with Zoey. This wonderful man drove Zoey about 2 hours north of his home, just so I could see my baby girl again. It was a joyous reunion as I hugged my girl. To my delight she looked really good. Melbourne Beach is a non-doggy beach and where we were, you couldn't see it, but Zoey stood at the very edge of the tall grass, and with nose in the air was taking in all that glorious sand and salt water she so desparately wanted to get down to. I now know in my heart as I've seen it with my own eyes, Zoey is where SHE needs to be.


To Be Continued...

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