Those of you who know me, or who have been reading this blog for a long time, know that I have an elderly demented dog. Sam’s a 14.5-year-old border collie/mutt mix. I adopted him from the Humane Society when he was a year old. He used to be Quite the Dog.
In case you’ve never seen a demented dog in action, I’ll describe it. It’s eposodic, and occurs more frequently at night, but can happen anytime. When he’s not having an episode, he’s relatively normal. The episodes are now occurring almost daily, and can go on for hours. During an episode, he paces, stares and pants. He paces the perimeter of each room, including a trip into each closet. He climbs in and out of the bathtub repeatedly, sometimes for an hour or more. He climbs up and down the stairs over and over again, and sometimes falls down them. Throughout all this, he keeps coming back into the bedroom and staring at me. He stares at the wall. He pants and licks his lips repeatedly. He is anxious, unhappy and compulsive. I think he hallucinates.
This all started last January, and the vet thought he might be in pain but painkillers didn’t resolve it. Sedatives didn’t resolve it. Clomacalm, an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant did resolve it after a few weeks. He’s been on Clomicalm for 10 months now, but the anxiety attacks started again about a month ago.
Last Friday I took him to the vet for vaccinations and an anxiety consult and also to get her to look at a smelly scab on the back of his neck.
He lost another kilo this year…that’s a kilo a year for the last four years. He’s underweight. He’s deaf. His bowel control is increasingly unreliable. She performed a Menace Test, which involved tapping the nerves around his eyes. His responses were slow and incomplete, which indicates brain deterioration. His dementia is progressing. Brain Diet Dog Food might help him gain weight and regain some of his mental powers. It’s $80 a bag, compared to the $12-a-bag Kibbles and Bits that he now eats.
The scab on his neck was covering a (probably) benign but infected tumor, so she prescribed antibiotics. They had to shave it and remove the scab in order to get a good look at it, and it was shockingly ugly. Yuck. He has lots of tumors now, but the others are all beneath the skin. She drew blood to see if the anti-anxiety meds are doing any organ damage: if not, she’ll up the dosage. She attempted unsuccessfully to get a urine sample, so she sent me home with a contraption for ME to collect a sample.
I left the vet’s office $328 poorer, and all I had to show for it was a bottle of antibiotics and this urine-collecting kit.
When my son was here on Christmas day I said, “Hey James, could you do me a favour?”
“Sure,” he said agreeably.
I handed him the contraption.
“Could you take Sam outside and get a urine sample for me?”
He looked at the contraption. He looked at the dog. He looked at me. “No.” he said.
This is me, collecting urine. It was easier than I expected, but I have to tell you it felt a little weird. Sam didn’t seem to mind, but it still felt weird.
I should find out tomorrow what the results of the tests are, and then I guess I’ll need to make some decisions.
On the funny side, trying to get a urine sample from the dog is beyond the call of duty. I can just imagine it. I’ve had it recommended before, but I couldn’t follow through. The dog wouldn’t let me near enough. But maybe I should get the ‘kit’ from you when you no longer need it.
But good luck over the whole issue. It’s not easy.
Best for ’07
I was once cat-sitting for a young female cat that went into heat for the first time.
The poor kitten was howling and seemed to be in terrible discomfort so I called the veterinarian. “Is there anything I can do for her?” I asked.
“Yes,” I was told. “You can moisten a q-tip with vaseline and then swab around her vagina to stimulate her. That may release some hormones and ease her distress.”
Gillian, I’d happily give it to you, but it’s a single-use kit.
David, I have to ask: did you do it??
David’s story reminds me of when Mom had to rub some ointment on Boots’ “lipstick”. I could never understand how she could do it… but our animals become our children after a while. I once had to stick my baby finger up one of my children’s anus to stimulate his/her bowels so that he/she could finally poop after a week.
Actually that photo of you getting the sample, I’m not sure i could have taken it, for shaking with laughter.
Other point, with your blog, I always have to remember to go back and reread your comments since you comment there too. So if i don’t always answer you, it’s ’cause I didn’t remember to go back.
You know, it’s been hours since I read Dave’s story about the cat, and as much as I want to, I can’t get it out of my mind.
Aren’t there laws against that sort of thing?
I never know how to answer the “did I do it?” question.
(a) Yes: I’m a serious pervert
(b) No: I am squeamish and cruel to small animals.
So, let’s just say that I believe one should try to overcome squeamishness and I do not like being cruel to small animals.
This is the kind of posting that is interesting, distressing, and hard to respond to. Dogs don’t live long enough. Making these kinds of decisions for animals who depend upon us is extremely difficult. It’s very obvious that you and Sam love each other very much and he’s very lucky to have such a kind, loving and concerned person taking care of him.
Still thinking about you and your poor, wee dog. I see you can tell that it’s still not “that time”. But take heart, that you will know when it is. If you aren’t sure, then it isn’t.
Anyway, I never had to take a sample with Rockwell so I don’t know about male dogs. But females are easy – just take an old margarine container out and slide it under them when they squat. Plus, all the old guide dog training always paid off and Uma peed on command!
Oh Zoom, I so feel for you! I, too, had to take “the” decision earlier on. I put my furry friend first rather than my feelings and emotions and am glad I did it even though I miss her terribly every single day. Good luck!
Awww, thanks everybody. Those comments mean a lot to me.
Here’s an update: the vet called today and said Sam’s organs are still working well. Slight liver enzyme elevations, and slight anemia, but nothing to be overly concerned about. So she’s able to up his dosage of the anti-anxiety meds.
It’ll take 4-6 weeks to see an improvement. There is a possibility that the drug may have plateaued and his anxiety may have increased to the point where the drug can no longer counteract that level of anxiety. I should be able to tell in 4-6 weeks whether he’s improving, staying the same or getting worse. If he’s not improving, I will have to seriously consider whether – in my humble opinion – his life is still worth living.
In the meantime, I’m just going to keep being the optimist I am, and wait for the improvement!
And I’m going to work on flushing that image of David out of my mind. (It was very humane of you David, but oh my god!)