A Cure For Everything

Lately my Dog has been sick.

Not just a little sick, but the kind of sick that signifies the start of a spiral towards the end of a long life for a dog. 

Our Dog has trouble with her hips, stiffness in her legs, a lump in her neck, and she has less and less ability to eat.  Whether it is the lump in her neck, causing pain with swallowing, a tooth that has gone bad, or a sour stomach we have no definitive explanation of why she is not eating.  We do know that she is losing weight very fast.  Earlier this week my Husband had to start force feeding her and give her subcutaneous fluids to keep her strength up.  She will eat an odd bite of food here or there, but she looses her appetite very quickly.  She has refused even delicious steak, chicken, and eggs.  We believe it is causing her pain to eat.  We have been giving the dog medicine for pain, for upset stomach, for infection, but although it helps with some of her symptoms, it has been no cure for her starvation.  We have spent a small fortune, which we do not have, looking for the right medicine.

Tonight I may have found a cure. It was not expensive, it did not involve needles, and it was not prescribed by the veterinarian. What it was, was the obvious solution, I just was not listening to my inner Jewish Mother before. Tonight, I made chicken soup.  Even before I was done with the soup, the Dog came sniffing around the kitchen.  I ladled out a bowl of broth with generous hunks of chicken.  I cooled the bowl with an ice cube and when I was satisfied that it was cool enough, I placed it in front of my Dog,  She licked carefully at first and then chewed the meat with gusto.  She licked the bowl clean and looked at me for more.  When I asked "More?" she wagged her tail.  I got her another bowl, this time with even more chicken, and she finished that one, too. Then she took a nap. When later I went to put the cooled pot in the refrigerator, she awoke from her nap and begged for some more.  I ladled out another bowl.  She ate it all up.  Maybe tomorrow we won't have to give her fluids.  I know that tonight she will be spared the forced feeding.  If I have to make chicken soup a few times a week to get her healthy again, I will.  It seems that chicken soup is truly a cure for everything, or maybe everybody.

Click here for the recipe.