Six-year-old Murphy and five-year-old Maxximillian are the two precious Shih Tzu-poodle pooches living in the home, lives and hearts of Sharon D’Cruz and her family.
They may be “brothers from another mother” but the bond between them is one of true brotherhood.
After all, it isn’t blood that makes you family; it’s love! And these two definitely have a lot of love for each other, as they are inseparable.
“They’ve been living the good life so I have no dramatic rescue tales to tell,” laughs Sharon.
“They have their mischievous moments, but ultimately, they’re both good boys and very protective of one another,” says Sharon, proud of the camaraderie between the two.
Murphy plays the part of a dutiful big brother quite perfectly — despite being the smaller of the two — and was once spotted taking his little brother for a toy box ride around the house when he was still a little pup.
This precious moment was caught on camera by Sharon, who says that it just shows how much of an amazing big brother Murphy is.
One can easily get distracted by Murphy’s high-energy and sporting personality, so much so that one would not be able to tell if there were underlying health problems.
As it turned out, Murphy was born with a liver complication caused by a birth defect called a congenital portosystemic shunt.
“We found out when he was a year old by insisting on a full blood test during a routine check-up,” says Sharon, who kindly reminds pet owners out there that pets “may look healthy to your eyes, but only a full blood work will tell you what’s going on the inside”.
Though this ailment of Murphy’s will always be a constant worry, the D’Cruz family nipped it in the bud and now avoids food that is difficult for his liver to process.
Hundreds of hours of research went into getting the right food for Murphy, Sharon says, but they finally settled on the right kind of “menu”.
“This means no store-bought treats or processed food, so we feed them only home-cooked meals and give them celery, apples, papaya or watermelon as treats,” she elaborates.
Speaking of treats, the little furry guys will line up in the kitchen daily at 5.30pm sharp when it’s “celery time”.
“The wait is intense, and you can feel their stares boring through your back as they patiently wait for the celery to be cut,” smiles Sharon, who reveals that she sometimes has to place a tiny barrier in the hall to prevent the hungry boys from heading to the kitchen or bedrooms when no one’s watching.
“At times like this, Maxx will attempt to ‘Houdini’ the stool away, get past and wait for his brother to come through. Then it’s freedom all the way!”
Sharon enthuses that the two boys simply love playing catch, and each wants to be the one who claims and brings the toy back.
This means that the toys come back mangled, and require “surgery” to be performed by Sharon’s mother.
However, one horrible day, Maxx sustained an eye injury during a playtime gone wrong. Blood gushed everywhere and it was panic-central in the house, recalls Sharon.
“He was immediately rushed to surgery, and once he came back, the look on his face showed that he was so ‘done’ with everything!”
The photo below says it all.
When Maxx went off for his surgery, Sharon says that Murphy was a complete mess; he refused to eat and sat around sulking because he was so worried about his brother.
“Joy once again shone on his face when Maxx returned from the animal hospital. It was really a moment to watch and ponder, how animals exhibit their feelings for one another,” adds a relieved Sharon.
Maxx was fixed right up, thankfully — with no damage to his eye despite some stitches — and is back to his antics.
“The bond between Maxx and Murphy is truly amazing and goes to show how much you learn from living with pets, except that we don’t consider them as pets, we call them ‘family’,” smiles Sharon.
So, what else can we learn from Maxx and Murphy, aside from the fact that we should never be shy about showing how much we care about someone or something?
Well, always watch your diet and avoid processed food — that’s one. Next, go for regular check-ups and be sure to get full bloodwork done to understand what’s truly happening in your body.
Don’t forget to take a break and play, as Maxx and Murphy do often, and, last but not least, love your family fiercely!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.