Wednesday. Mushu is doing well. She needed antibiotics, pain relievers, a couple of stitches, and a whole lot of nursing care for the skin infection she’d been fighting for some time now.

In the past week I’ve seen three cases like Mushu's: all old, all feeble, all in need of fire-fighting for their miscellaneous ailments. One Doberman could hardly walk. A Golden had a severe bladder infection. And the third, a Cocker Spaniel, had a tremendous ear infection.

The owners in all these cases shared one common trait: an unwillingness to recognize the extent of their pets’ deterioration, in spite of the obvious signs.

Remaining delusional about the state of your pet’s health isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Problem is, these pets are in need of such constant care, care the owner has heretofore proved unwilling or unable to provide. So now it becomes part of my job to infuse some reality into the situation.

I hate to deal with these situations, as watching your pet die is horrible for people and it’s understandable that they don’t want to face it. It is, however, my responsibility to see that they do so--so that their pet's death doesn’t become an agonizing year of illness instead of a few comfortable months of quality time with their loved ones.