A Most Normal Meal

Sometimes it's the little things. If you skip over the pill appetizer course (otherwise known as the really-it's-just-a-treat course), Sam and Abby's dinner was the most normal that I can remember since the summer, maybe. I scooped Sam's measured amount of kibble, dumped it into his bowl, he dove it like a champ and then I scooped Abby's measured amount of kibble, dumped it in her bowl and in she dove. She was almost as sharklike as in "the old days". No fuss, no muss, no extra this and that, no encouragement needed. Two clean bowls in about two minutes, I'd guess. Why, you might ask, is this news? On July 23rd, Abby did not want to eat her breakfast. That day, she went to the vet and we started the journey. I had felt that maybe even for a few weeks she hadn't been devouring her meals in her usual bloodthirsty way - still readily, but not as bloodthirsty. Something only I would have noticed. I have always said that if my dogs do not eat, they are going to the vet. Some animals are picky and might not mind missing a meal - not my pups. Food hounds from the day that I met them. Every time they have not wanted food, they've gone to the vet immediately and I've never regretted it. It has only happened twice to Sam and once with Abby. I think that July 23rd was some early stage of our adventure with cancer. The lesion was spotted on August 27th - just over a month later.

So, that's why such a normal mealtime gives me joy. Boring, maybe. But we're starting to like boring around here on occasion...