Coco Turns 6!

Today’s post is dedicated to our little pooch Coco. I wanted to take a minute and share some of the milestones our little fur ball has achieved and how truly important she is to us!🐾 This is perhaps the oldest photo I have of Coco, or at least the one I could find. It was taken in late October 2014 shortly after we decided to keep her. She was born on September 3, 2014 to an interracial couple very much like mine, lol, a Maltese dad and Chihuahua mom, hence her tan color and pink gumdrop nose. Her Maltese fur is the softest and most manageable fur ever and she doesn’t shed!

My youngest son’s gf at the time brought her over one day and I just melted! She was the cutest and tiniest thing I ever did see. Shortly after that first meeting I asked her to bring her again for a sleepover. Little did I know what I was getting into. But with those beanie eyes, I just couldn’t let go!!! She had ALL of the perfect requirements I found attractive for a pet. She would stay small, she currently weighs 12.5 lbs, she’s playful, charming and adaptable. She doesn’t bark much (unless she hears odd noises), she’s a cuddler and very affectionate and she’s a she. I worked my magic and convinced my husband to let me keep her. Fast forward 5 years and Coco continues to be the cutest little thing, always amusing us and showering us with love and joy!I have no idea what I used to take these photos, but I now realize how bad they are! Chances are they were taken with an old cell phone. Anyway, as is with most things in life, we thought we knew what to do with a brand new pup. As a stay home mom raising four kids, I thought, how hard can it be to add a little pup to the mix. Little did I know how much work, time and energy she would require, almost more so than the kids! Everyone had an ‘opinion’ on how to do this, how to handle that, what to feed her and how to train her and did I mention how everyone else in between considered themselves an authority on how to raise a pet? But, we’re one of those families, yeah, we kinda just learn as we go…I was so happy to find a really good groomer. She immediately brought to my attention the cause of Coco’s tear stains (very common with small breeds) and suggested a remedy for it. We’ve been using it ever since and it made those ugly stains go away. Over the years my husband and I have argued over how to cut/shape Coco’s fur. He prefers to have her shaved down to the bare bottom where as I love the fuller puffier look. There were a few times when he beat me to the groomer’s but we’ve since compromised to keep her fur short but not too short.The greatest obstacle we would ever have to beat was yet to come. In April of 2018 Coco suffered a motor vehicle accident. She was hit by a pickup truck and suffered head and brain trauma. I can not even begin to explain how devastating this whole experience was. Without going into too much detail, Coco was kept at the pet hospital for four days and throughout the whole time her prognosis was not good. They wanted to put her down.I searched high and low for similar conditions and how to care for an injured pet. I wanted to know what her chances for a full recovery would be. No one could give us a definitive answer and although I understood that, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to give our Coco a chance to get better. Four days just wasn’t long enough to decide her fate. I prayed and prayed and cried and sobbed. We decided to bring her home. I was determined to nurse her back to health. It was the best decision we ever made!

After the injury, Coco lost her eyesight, several teeth and was having frequent seizures. She couldn’t eat or chew on her own so I had to spoon feed her and give her water via a drop feeder. We also had to make sure to keep up with her bathroom breaks. She required tons of patience, meds on a regular basis without fail, sleepless nights and lots of love. It was a decision we made together as a family and one we would all give our full support. Although we were able to get her back on track it wasn’t until about a month later that we began to see some positive progress. There were moments when we second guessed our decision to keep her but we quickly brushed those aside. It wasn’t easy to nurse an injured dog back to health but we felt we had to give her a fighting chance.

Coco was able to regain her strength and all of her learned behavior. At times we look back and can’t help but squirm at the thought of what would’ve been had we chosen to go along with the vet’s recommendation. To be fair, we saw two different vets while she was at the pet hospital. The one vet was very negative and didn’t think Coco would recover. The other seasoned vet was much more positive without compromising his position that he couldn’t guarantee a full recovery. I’m glad we sought differing opinions. We chose to listen to the latter…As we celebrate Coco’s 5th year with us we also count our blessings. These creatures truly bring so much joy. I know it’s such a cliché but pets do really become part of the family. She’s one of us, she’s one of the kids. I never in my life felt so much fear as I did when the thought of losing her was at my doorstep. My husband and I were so distraught at having to make such a dreadful decision; but thank god we didn’t. We chose life. We chose to keep fighting and to help her fight. We communicated with her as if with a newborn. Its as if Coco understood. I’m convinced she felt our love and our strength.Coco is a smart little creature that fought against the odds and won. Our big family wouldn’t be the same without her. We hope to have her for many, many more years to come…💞