The night before last I got home and found Brandy acting strange. She was clearly in pain (she has arthritis in her hips and tail), but also completely out of sorts. I gave her an extra baby aspirin and tucked her into bed. The next morning, when I sat up in bed to give her the usual morning massage, she actually lunged at my face. Instead of snapping and growling, she was nearly screaming in pain from a rather gentle touch to her tail. For the rest of the day she lay listlessly, her breathing shallow and her heartbeat irregular, while I gave her half a Percocet to help with her pain.

Normally when this happens I give her half a Percocet and she's fine the next day. This morning I had concerns that I might have to put her to sleep. She's still listless and in significant pain. Loneliness is compounding the problem; she perked up a bit when my dad came to visit her this afternoon, but only for a short while. It's been more than forty-eight hours and she's had a Percocet and a half. I'm going to send her up to stay with my parents this weekend, but if their company doesn't help relieve the problem, I'm going to have to seriously consider my baby's quality of life.