FibroDog: Please tell us what type of animal you are, your age, and where you live.
My name is Lily. I am a 4 year old tri-color Welsh corgi living in Phoenix, Arizona.
FD: Tell us about the human you support: are they male or female? Do you know how old they are? Do they call themselves a name? Like Mom or Dad or Sally or Fred?
My Mom’s name is Kristine. She is 48yrs old, I’d like to tell you how old that is in dog years, but I can’t count that high. My Mom is famous because she blogs at A Life Well Red on WordPress.
FD: Humans are always talking about something called a “Diagonal-orosis”. I think that means “what’s wrong with them”, but I’m not sure. Does your Mom have a “Diagonal-orosis?” Like “Fibro- mryalgeeya” or one those other things that makes her hurt or feel tired a lot? (Note from editor – FibroDog has trouble with big words sometimes – he means “diagnosis” and “fibromyalgia”, in case you couldn’t quite understand him.)
Mom has Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.). Mostly she spends a lot of time at home with me, and walking around the house very slowly sometimes. We do go out in the backyard a lot though, where Mom watches me run back and forth chasing the birds off my lawn.
FD: Wow, I’m not even going to try to pronounce that M.E. thing but it sounds pretty rough. What kinds of things do you do to help your Mom when she’s feeling sore or tired or sad from her fibro or M.E.?
When Mom feels especially bad, I give her a hug by nosing underneath her chin and pressing my furry body against her. She also seems to just enjoy watching me play around the yard, and nibble the ears off my stuffed dragon. She says it’s calming, but I think she’d feel better with a chew bone of her own to gnaw on.
FD: Your furry hugs sound awesome, I’ll bet they help your Mom a lot! What kinds of things do you try to avoid doing so your Mom doesn’t feel worse? (I know I accidentally broke my human Mom’s nose once when I was trying to give her a kiss, and that seemed to make her feel even worse for some reason, so I’m extra careful with kisses now). Are there things you have to be careful with so you don’t accidentally make her feel worse? Like not pawing at her too hard or not going potty in the living room when she’s having a bad day?
I’m only about 16 lbs, so I don’t hurt her too much when I perch on her leg to get a better view out the front window. My legs are pretty stubby too, so I can only get so high when I stand up to jump on her and say hi. I also try to be extra obedient on her ‘bad’ days and come inside the first three times I’m called instead of the usual seven.
FD: Wow, I’m impressed Lily, coming inside the first three times you’re called takes some serious commitment! I think I’ve got a ways to go in that department, but what I’m lacking in obedience I make up for in Snout. (At least that’s what Mom and Dad say all the time!) Is there anything else you or Kristine would like to say to our FibroFans out there about what they can do to be a more supportive friend?
The best thing I do for my human is be myself and give her all the furry love that’s in me! Yeah, I’m pretty awesome like that!
FD: Yeah you are pretty awesome Lily! Thank you so much for being my first furry interview, and you’re now officially part of my FibroDog Posse! (why don’t the humans spell it Pawsee?) I hope you don’t mind but I’ll be inviting some kitties and small humans to join the Posse, and possibly even a hedgehog, because FibroDog does not discriminate based on species or prickliness. (Although I have to admit I am rather curious about how that hedgehog manages to give soft fibro-snuzzles, I can’t wait to relay more details on that one!)
FibroDog p.s. – Special thanks to our human Moms Medea and Kristine for typing out our interview, because in case folks haven’t noticed, paws aren’t great for typing. I hope everyone enjoys reading my first interview, and if any other fibro support critters out there would like to be interviewed and join Lily and I in our Fibro Posse please leave your info below, or email my human Mom and Dad at [email protected]. And please check out Lily’s Mom’s blog A Life Well Red – once you read it it you’ll probably want to follow it. That’s what my Mom did.
xoxoxo Snout Out!
