I just came home from a shift got the news that Chessie Bear, aka Cheesey Chessie has had a stroke. I've been in the kitchen, where he's lying down, talking to him and trying (and failing) to get him to eat some cheese (his favorite treat) and mostly crying. He'll sometimes lift his head up to look around, but he won't pull his right-side paws away if you handle them. The most he'd do for me is lick at an ice cube I held to his lips. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, but he's got all his toys right next to him and won't nudge or chew or lick them at all. He's lying on his right side, and his left eye will sometimes dart around, but it's so beady and black it's hard to tell where he's looking.

I've watered a spot in the back yard to soften up the soil. I'll start digging in the morning. Jude, my landlady, has had him for a long time, but we don't know exactly how old he is. Probably 15 or 16 years.