There's no expiration date on love

I regularly assess Lil's quality of life, so this morning, while we were walking, I was mentally going through the HHHHHMM scale for the gazillionth time. We're still peachy, thankfully.

My mom used to say that once the dog started using the carpet as an outhouse, it was time to have it put down. I'm not going to judge that comment, but I will say that it doesn't work for me. Still, there are days when looking after a senior pet is exhausting, and I think that your own needs should be taken into account, so I am hereby modifying the HHHHHMM scale. It shall henceforth be known to me as the HHHHHHMM scale. The addition of an extra H (for "human quality of life") is something I need to ponder, at least a little.

I love my pets dearly, and would never give up on them in their present state of relatively good health. However, they do take up a fair bit of time, energy, and money. I work full-time in an effort to keep them in the luxurious manner to which they are accustomed, so I need to ensure that we're all getting our needs met. If the girls begin to require round-the-clock care, that might influence the decisions I make regarding them. It's hard for me to think about my needs when I love my pets so much that I would happily toss my needs out the window, but I had to make some tough calls regarding my mom's care when she was sick, and some of them were indeed influenced by my own quality of life. In the beginning of my mom's sickness, a social worker at the hospital told me that I couldn't care for her myself. After all, she reasoned, I was one person, and I wasn't home during the day. I saw her point, and so, my mother went to the hospice, and I appreciated the care she received so much! I wouldn't have been able to provide anything close to what they did. Besides, I would have lost my mind and exhausted myself. I didn't love my mother less than someone who would have kept their parent at home to die, but I did what was right for both of us.

The love I feel for Lil and Little O won't ever expire, but I'm going to carve out a moment to ponder how caring for senior pets affects my life while I'm pondering their overall health. All I know for sure right now is that Lil and Ophelia add to my life in a way that more than repays any time, energy, and money I devote to their care. I'm so happy they're here with me :-)

She's just perfect. I know I'm biased, but still...