Twinkie

Twinkie

My small town of 2300 citizens probably includes cats and dogs in the count. During the day, the dogs run loose usually in small packs. They don’t seem to cause much trouble except for an occasional garbage incident. There isn’t much traffic and not one red light. So, it is not unusual, especially in the summer, to see a dog lying in the middle of the street napping only to raise his head indignantly and lazily look as you honk and pass by. When I witnessed this “lounging” more than once, I knew that my town was indeed on the small side.

There aren’t many places to eat lunch here. But, one place, “Mr. Jiffy”, a grocery-convenience-gas store, serves a home cooked meal every weekday and had become my usual noontime stop. As I got out of my truck that day, I saw a small dog sniffing the sticky pavement around the gas pumps. She looked hungry and a little scabby. But, it was the look on her face that caused me to stop. She was looking directly at me and continued to watch me as I went inside. The lunch crowd was thick with lots of folks coming in and out. As I stepped out the door, she spotted me and followed me to the truck.

It was not unusual to see dogs hanging out at Mr. Jiffy. But, on this day, the neighborhood pack was conspicuously absent. I put my food in the truck and bent to inspect her closer. I decided that she had probably been put out here to find herself a “new” home. I went into the store and told the clerk, “I’m gonna take the little dog home with me; just letting you know so if someone comes looking for her.” The clerk said, “No one will come. She’s been around for a few weeks now.”

I took her back to my office and gave her some of my macaroni and cheese. After a while, she napped and then we went outside. My aunt, a school-board worker, was passing by and pulled in the driveway. “That little dog has been over at the school for the last two weeks and they have been feeding her molded bread.” Looking at the little dog nestled in my arms, my aunt said, “Just look at her, I swear she’s smiling.”

I took her home that evening and noticed more small patches of skin with no hair. I bathed her and kept her clean but after several weeks the patches had not cleared. The vet confirmed that it was mange. He said that it was the kind of mange that dogs are sometimes born with but the immune system usually fights it off by adulthood. He thought she was about two years old and said that stress and malnutrition had weakened her and we needed to get this under control quickly. For several months, I gave her medicine and shampooed her and everything healed. Things were going well.

Twinkie went everywhere with me. Much to my son’s dismay she even went to his dirt bike races. She particularly enjoyed the ones out-of-state where she ripped around the hotel rooms and wallowed in the beds. My son was clearly embarrassed to see his mom at the start line carrying this tiny dog for all his rider-friends to see.

About a year had passed when the scabby patches returned. I took her back and she received more treatment; but, the vet said, “This is the latest medication on the market so if this doesn’t do it, then there is nothing else I can do. Just want you to know.”

It was 4th of July when she got really bad. The vet was closed. She was in severe pain and was hiding amongst the shoes at the bottom of a small closet. She wouldn’t come out so I placed her bed in with her. She wouldn’t even get up to go out in the yard where she had loved to dart around and terrorize the squirrels. I couldn’t pick her up because she would snap at me. She was extremely hot to the touch and had swelling that was tender to the lightest brush. We suffered all that day and night. The next day was worse. My usual vet had been ill and was still closed. So, I found a clinic in a nearby town that was open. I lifted her gingerly, bed and all, and loaded her into the truck. I then made the long drive knowing what I had to do. When I arrived, I explained her history and treatment and was again told that there was nothing else to be done. I heard, “Wow, she’s hot as a firecracker.” Followed by, “ You’ve done everything you can. I agree with your other doctor.”

The shot took effect quickly. Huge silent tears rolled down my face as I walked into the waiting room full of sympathetic eyes of strangers. This was unexpected and had come on suddenly. I thought I had gotten control of the situation. I have since learned that many of these dogs are too far gone when I get them for me to make much of a difference. But, I seem to be able to give them a quality life even if it is for just a short time.

Her name was Twinkie. She came from a grocery store.