Posted by Suzan
on 7/10/2009, 10:57 pm
24.150.125.213
Hi,
I've been searching the web to try and find some support for the situation with my dog and reading the posts on this site tells me that you are very kind people.
I have two Shih Tzus, 14 and 16 year old. The 16 year old girl (Sushi)is doing very well, I believe that she will be with me for many more years.
But my 14 year old boy (Jippy) has been doing very poorly. He was diagnosed with IVDD (disc disease) two months ago, and is on medication for this. He doesn't seem to have any pain, the only symptom is that he doesn't use his back left leg all the time, sometimes he just holds it up a bit, the vet said that this is because the pressure on the disc/ spine makes his brain confused, essentially it doesn't know where his leg is. He's on prednisone and tramadol (for pain - which I think is making him sleepy?). The vet would not tell me a prognosis, but she did have me sign a paper that my sitter (I travel a lot) could have the authority to put him to sleep should something happen while I'm away.
Then a month ago, he developed a very bad eye ulcer. My vet told me that he was too old to be operated on, and if the ulcer penetrated his cornea, I would have to put him to sleep. This seemed to have happened two weeks ago, my vet was closed so I brought him to the Emerg clinic, assuming that I would be saying goodbye. But the vet there said that he was in good health and not too old for the surgery. Actually quite surprised at the advice I was given. So, he had a corneal flap done the next day at OVC and was doing well. And needless to say, I changed vets right away.
Then, while I was away last week, he spent a night vomiting, was off his food, etc. His sitter is a vet tech, so she knew to bring him in right away (to his new vet) and he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. So now he in on medication for that. But he is back to his regular 'eating' self, where he watches and waits for his sister to finish her dinner, in case there are any leftovers!
I should also add that I am long-divored, have no children, both of my parents are deceased, I essentially have no family. Some good friends, but one of them is currently battling cancer, so their emotional resources/ support are currently directed there - which is understandable. Sorry, hope this is not tmi, but writing this out makes me realize that I don't have the support for this situation in my current circle, and actually makes me feel less crazy about the fact that I feel alone and anxious about all this...
In fact, I'm so anxious and upset I don't want to leave my house, or leave them. And I wonder if these three illnesses coming so close together are a sign that his time has come. Am I selfish for getting him these treatments and medications? (One of the benefits of being single, I have the finances for all of the visits, operation, medication, etc. - that's not an issue).
And then, when I think that he could take a turn in the next few weeks/ months, etc. I get so upset I don't know what to do. How will I know when it's time? He still seems happy, likes to eat for sure! but he is more tired than normal. Many of the comments that I've read on this site are that, our babies can't tell us when it's too much, so how in the heck am I ever going to be able to make that decision.
I'm sorry for the length of this message, but I do feel a bit better (or crazy?) for writing this out. Reading the posts on here shows me that I'm not alone in how much I love my babies.
Kind smiles to all of you....
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