Bowie

No this post isnt about David, but about my dog. Who incidently was NOT named after the singer, but after a dream...
At 14 I had been seriously looking for a dog for months and i kept having a reaccuring dream about a black & white dog named Bowie frolicking with a blonde haired girl aged around 3 or 4. Oneday i got a phone call from my mum who was shopping at the time and had spotted a "gorgeous black & white dog" in the local pet shop. Now my mum HATED dogs with all her might and i had wanted one since i could remember so this phone call was an oppertunity too good to refuse... I caught the next bus to the pet store and met up with mum. Mum went for a coffee while I went into the shop and saw some pups and i wasnt all that phased they were cute but not the dog from my dream, i was just about to leave when a tall red haired man walked out of the back room holding a black and white pup. It was my Bowie a beautiful male Border Collie. After some chatting with the tall red haired sales assistent i went and spoke to my mother and got her to come and sign the paperwork. He was mine.
A few weeks later i popped back into the store to buy some more food and got chatting to the Tall Red Haired man again, this time i mentioned i was looking for some casual work and dropped off my resume while i was there. That afternoon i got a phone call and a job.
Unfortunatly when Bowie was 6 months old he started losing weight, having bad dihoreah (sp?) and becoming increasingly lethargic, after several vet visits i was repeatedly told that i wasnt looking after the dog properly and they didnt believe that i was feeding him properly. Now working at a pet shop i had learned alot about Dog Nutrition and despite me feeding the best food available in the country the dog kept losing weight my 20kg Border collie now weighed 7kg.
I was talking to the vet who came and vaccinated the pups at work oneday and he told me to bring in Bowie - He did and examination and some bloods and 24hrs later i found out that in fact I wasnt Bowies problem - he had Endocrine Pancriatic Enzyme Insufficiancy - which basically ment he didnt absorb any nutrition from his food. We put him on special Enzyme Tablets and a short course of Steroids but he was so far gone already we didnt expect him to make it to his first year. Just over 1 year later Bowie was still a featherweight but going strong much to everyones amazement. I moved out of home into a share house where i met Holger, We got on well and so did our dogs he had had a German Shephard and used to have a second dog who had sadly died but coincidently of the same disease Bowie had! Bowie is now 7 years old and has out lived Peppy the German Shepherd and been around to meet Holger and my three gorgeous children each of whome he has adored. He has had ups and downs and amazed Jim the Vet numerous times with his will to live.
Tonight Bowie started limping with both front and hind left legs. We heated up his pet pad and cuddled him goodnight. I know that his run is coming to an end now, he is losing condition and i think this time it might be cancer. I have alot to thank him for, my job which i am still doing 7 years later, my husband, helping my children learn to love animals, always listening and never complaining and also for teaching me to never give up hope and to always trust my gut instinct. I still wonder who the blonde haired girl was frolicking with Bowie back in my dream, perhaps i was just seeing a younger version of myself. I guess i will never know..
Thanks for everything Bowie. I love ya.