Sweet Murphy Girl and I are heading back to the vet’s office this afternoon to get her skin examined.  She had some really painful looking welts and pimples on her underside that required an antibiotic and some special medicated shampoo to clear up.  Fortunately, her painfully long nails were trimmed (under sedation) during her last vet visit, and that has dramatically improved her quality of life.

When I got Murphy, she also had a bit of a flea problem.  The shampoo, along with a strong dose of flea and tick medicine, took care of that no problem.  I also nuked the house with a bug bomb while we went away for a long weekend, so any lingering critters should have been gassed out of existence.  So far, I haven’t seen any new unwanted visitors.

As far as I can tell, the antibiotic has done the trick, and she is looking much better.  Hopefully the skilled eye of the veterinarian will confirm what I hope I am seeing.  I’m not sure what caused the welts on her underbelly, but I suspect the fleas played a role.

If Murphy receives a clean bill of health from the vet today, then I will able to adopt her from The Bull Terrier Rescue Mission.

I’m a bit unclear on the timeline, though:  initially, I thought I would be eligible to adopt her thirty days after l first picked her up, once she received the “all clear” from the vet.  In that case, I’ll be eligible after this afternoon’s visit to adopt her from the Rescue and assume full responsibility for her (including vet bills—gulp!).  But based on my conversations with the Rescue people, it could be thirty days after she is cleared medically.  That would make sense, as it would give them an opportunity to make sure she remains healthy before they hand full responsibility for her health over to me.

Either way, I’m excited (and another month of the Rescue footing the bill for her vet bills is fine with me).  Murphy has become not only a part of my life, but a part of my family.  At this point, she has met my brothers, my sister-in-law, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, my niece, my nephews, and my parents, and I hope to have her meet my grandparents soon.  She’s also met all the dogs in the family, with the exception of my older brother’s boxer mix, a dog that is temperamentally and behaviorally almost identical to Murphy.  My girlfriend also loves Murphy, although her German Shepherd puppy is still on the fence about the old girl.

I’ve also made arrangements for Murphy’s care during the day, while I am slaving away at mind-molding and teaching lessons.  I have a retired neighbor who comes by twice a day to take her out to use the bathroom.  He’s also enlisted the aid of his ten-year old, home-schooled son, who usually takes one of the two shifts.  They report that Murphy is a doll, obediently going out to use the bathroom, then heading back to her crate, where she patiently awaits a treat.

As I write this post, Murphy is dozing at my feet, intermittently lifting up her head when she either a.) hears an unfamiliar sound or b.) I stop rubbing her with my foot for more than five seconds.  Her coat is sleek and shiny thanks to Cassidy at PetSmart, who gave her a good bath and administered the store’s trademarked FURminator ™ shedding reduction service.

She is an absolute treasure.  Here’s hoping she gets all the clear and we can get this adoption finalized.