July 7, 2015. Near deaths and a potential one.
Good news: So our first production at a pro theater was fantastic.
Bad news: One of my theater prof's sons got hit by a car on the 22nd and they had to put him in a drug-induced coma for two weeks. They took him off the meds over the past few days, and since Sunday he's started responding to stuff! More details on the-bears-wife, since I had a really weird meditation over that time. Still, the past couple of weeks was a really bad trip. His son is two years younger than ME. He shouldn't have been bedridden and comatose.
More bad news: The dog woke me up this morning barking, and she couldn't use her back legs. She can feel sensation in them, it's just very slow. And she can't stand up, so I have to carry her everywhere.
It's not fair.
She's been holding to 30-32 pounds for some reason (her ideal weight is 20-25), so a groomer recommended weight loss food. Unfortunately, both the weight-loss brands we've been giving her are either useless or making things worse, because when I weighed her last week she actually gained weight and she was 37 POUNDS (!!!). Which is twice her weight.
I was finally managing to get her walking every day two weeks ago, and then suddenly she couldn't use her legs and I had to carry her everywhere and bring her food and water over, so we visited the vet this morning.
Good news: She's lost one or two pounds over two weeks, which is a perfect rate of weight-loss for dogs (so walking is working) and she's exactly thirty-six pounds as opposed to 37-38.
Bad news: She suddenly can't use her fucking legs, duh. According to the vet, either she had a stroke, or there's some sort of nerve problem, or something's up with her back.
So they gave us the options: Surgery (if we go through examinations and find out the exact problem) or euthanasia. I was not having my dog mercy-killed right this morning, so they also said to test out medication for a couple of days. If she improves, that's good. If she doesn't improve or somehow gets worse in a couple of days, we might have to put her down because we can't pay for surgery or too many examinations.
We could theoretically let her live, but she also has mild cataracts and she can't use her back legs. I wouldn't let a person go through their last years semi-blind and overweight and unable to use half their limbs, so why would I do that to my dog?
Maybe she'd get better after one surgery, but maybe she'd only get better after five surgeries. And that's assuming we could pay for that first surgery after rent and bills, because we don't have pet insurance.
I really hope she gets better.
My sister is insisting that there aren't JUST the two options of surgery and putting her down if she doesn't improve with the medication. "We can just amputate her legs and then get a little dog-wheelchair for her."
Of course we could do that, but does she comprehend that amputation is another SURGERY?
A more reasonable option is getting a second vet's opinion, but it's just not looking very good.
We've had her for eight years, so she's probably eight or nine. I know most dogs live ten years and she's had a good run, but I want her to live at least a couple more years. Really really really hoping she gets better. My sister is also coming over this afternoon to visit while Mom's out, since my sister's still not talking to her.
Again, I'll do an entry on the-bears-wife because there's some weird Otherworld-stuff happening about the dog as well.
Edit: So I looked up dog wheelchairs online, and your dog DOESN'T need to be an amputee for them! Dogs with mobility issues can use them, too! In hindsight it's perfectly logical (even if they aren't amputees, loss of mobility still means they need a wheelchair) but oh holy gods, I am so relieved there's a non-surgical AND non-euthanasia option.
And compared to the price of the euthanasia alone, it's about the same.
Bad news: One of my theater prof's sons got hit by a car on the 22nd and they had to put him in a drug-induced coma for two weeks. They took him off the meds over the past few days, and since Sunday he's started responding to stuff! More details on the-bears-wife, since I had a really weird meditation over that time. Still, the past couple of weeks was a really bad trip. His son is two years younger than ME. He shouldn't have been bedridden and comatose.
More bad news: The dog woke me up this morning barking, and she couldn't use her back legs. She can feel sensation in them, it's just very slow. And she can't stand up, so I have to carry her everywhere.
It's not fair.
She's been holding to 30-32 pounds for some reason (her ideal weight is 20-25), so a groomer recommended weight loss food. Unfortunately, both the weight-loss brands we've been giving her are either useless or making things worse, because when I weighed her last week she actually gained weight and she was 37 POUNDS (!!!). Which is twice her weight.
I was finally managing to get her walking every day two weeks ago, and then suddenly she couldn't use her legs and I had to carry her everywhere and bring her food and water over, so we visited the vet this morning.
Good news: She's lost one or two pounds over two weeks, which is a perfect rate of weight-loss for dogs (so walking is working) and she's exactly thirty-six pounds as opposed to 37-38.
Bad news: She suddenly can't use her fucking legs, duh. According to the vet, either she had a stroke, or there's some sort of nerve problem, or something's up with her back.
So they gave us the options: Surgery (if we go through examinations and find out the exact problem) or euthanasia. I was not having my dog mercy-killed right this morning, so they also said to test out medication for a couple of days. If she improves, that's good. If she doesn't improve or somehow gets worse in a couple of days, we might have to put her down because we can't pay for surgery or too many examinations.
We could theoretically let her live, but she also has mild cataracts and she can't use her back legs. I wouldn't let a person go through their last years semi-blind and overweight and unable to use half their limbs, so why would I do that to my dog?
Maybe she'd get better after one surgery, but maybe she'd only get better after five surgeries. And that's assuming we could pay for that first surgery after rent and bills, because we don't have pet insurance.
I really hope she gets better.
My sister is insisting that there aren't JUST the two options of surgery and putting her down if she doesn't improve with the medication. "We can just amputate her legs and then get a little dog-wheelchair for her."
Of course we could do that, but does she comprehend that amputation is another SURGERY?
A more reasonable option is getting a second vet's opinion, but it's just not looking very good.
We've had her for eight years, so she's probably eight or nine. I know most dogs live ten years and she's had a good run, but I want her to live at least a couple more years. Really really really hoping she gets better. My sister is also coming over this afternoon to visit while Mom's out, since my sister's still not talking to her.
Again, I'll do an entry on the-bears-wife because there's some weird Otherworld-stuff happening about the dog as well.
Edit: So I looked up dog wheelchairs online, and your dog DOESN'T need to be an amputee for them! Dogs with mobility issues can use them, too! In hindsight it's perfectly logical (even if they aren't amputees, loss of mobility still means they need a wheelchair) but oh holy gods, I am so relieved there's a non-surgical AND non-euthanasia option.
And compared to the price of the euthanasia alone, it's about the same.