Sahraa is now 13, according to the estimate of the shelter we adopted her from in 2010 after she was rescued from a fire in Kuwait and flown to Washington for adoption. She has been the absolute sweetest companion, traveling all over the world with us, to Budapest, Riyadh, Portland and now DC.

A few months ago we noticed that her behavior was changing significantly and her memory failing as well as suddenly going deaf. A lifelong creature of habit, she was doing the complete opposite of what she had always done, which got more extreme as the days went by. We asked the vet if dogs could lose their “mental acuity” and was told that Sahraa was suffering from Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome, which is similar to Alzheimer’s in humans and can’t be cured. She prescribed a very expensive medication that may alleviate some of the symptoms and make her life more comfortable. I hope it works because it breaks my heart to see her going through this, and in all honesty it has made our lives more challenging as well in trying to accommodate her. Time will tell.

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

Heart of the lotus, posted earlier: