Happy 237th
birthday to the United States, and happy 13th birthday to my
greyhound Cosmo! I’m particularly happy
to be celebrating Cosmo’s birthday today because it’s a miracle that he’s still
with us. In August 2011, Robert and I came
home from work one day and found Cosmo in terrible condition. He could barely stand up and kept drinking
water almost without stopping. We
immediately called the vet, who actually came to our house. She got him stabilized, and Cosmo recovered
substantially over the next few days.
However, the vet cautioned us that Cosmo had significant heart issues
and probably wouldn’t live more than about six more months. That was nearly two years ago! I’ve been very careful not to stress Cosmo
physically. That means that he’s had to
retire from Greyhounds & Grey Hairs, and he doesn’t get to go to meet &
greets anymore. So, we make the most of
our occasional (very slow) walks to the mailbox or his trips to the office with
me every now and then. By the way, when
it’s time for his breakfast, you’d never know he’s had any difficulties; he bounds
up the stairs from the basement to the main floor like a herd of elephants!
Cosmo has
a special bat connection. To honor his
birthday bat-style, here’s the BCI Member Snapshot from the Fall 2010 issue of Bats magazine, published by Bat
Conservation International (BCI):
“BCI
Member Betty Jean Jordan of Monticello, Georgia, has a retired racing greyhound
named Cosmo that is a bit of a kleptomaniac.
‘Fortunately,’ she says, ‘Cosmo doesn’t chew on anything he steals; he
just likes to collect stuff. And he is
obsessed with my stuffed vampire bat,’ which resides on a bedroom
windowsill. If the door is left open,
Jordan says, Cosmo is almost certain to show up with the bat. In fact, ‘sometimes Cosmo stands and stares
at the closed bedroom door, and I can almost hear the cogs in his brain turning
as he thinks, “Bat, bat, bat.”
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