We lost one of our babies this week. 4 years ago, Mr. Eli was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure after routine bloodwork before a dental cleaning. With subcutaneous fluids and medications, he continued to have a happy life. Last year, his failing kidneys began causing him pain, but strong pain medication, despite making him sleep more, kept him cheerful and affectionate. That changed a couple weeks ago. Even increasing the subcutaneous fluids to twice a day didn’t help: he stopped eating, began crying continuously, and was having accidents. The vet told us that Mr. Eli had gone into heart failure. It was so painful to let him go. He was a sweetheart.

Here are a few of the articles I’ve been reading this week. The best place to reach me is Twitter, but you can also contact me via my blog/website: The Alexandria Papers. I’m on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, too, but not as often as I’m on Twitter. Talk to you next week.