That Abe...
That Abe continues to lose weight at an alarming rate and is now down to a feeble 11.5kg. She has been on the Vivatonin for quite some time now - and I don’t think we have seen any improvement.
She has three main problems
(1) Unexplained rapid weight loss
(2) Agitation
(3) Severe tooth ache - leading to her snapping at both me and Kato. (and I think this affects no 2)
The vet had offered to give Abe a general anaesthetic and do scans/x-rays to see if we could locate the problem. But in a 13.5 year old dog this would be with risk so we declined - and there’s always that issue about what do you do with the information once you have it.
However, as her poorly teeth are giving her so much trouble, we made the decision on a quality of life basis to have the teeth removed and so she may as well, while she is under the anaesthetic, have the x-rays and scans.
Abe went off to the vets this morning - they didn’t give her a general they sedated her, and because those tests showed up some possible symptoms of an underlying bowel/gut disease, they (the vets) made the decision not to take the teeth out as “she may have cancer”. The only way to determine this for definite would be referral to a specialist and more tests. I don’t feel this is the right route for such an elderly dog but I did feel the agonising toothache was imperative.
I’m sure none of you need the obvious statement that the bowel cancer does not cancel out the tooth ache. This really would be like saying to a human - sorry, we haven’t fixed your agonising fracture but you might have lung cancer which is far worse.
The other issue - the agitation. It is heartbreaking to hear her stressing and fretting, so I asked for some sedation which we could administer when Abe’s misery is excessive. I was offered a DAP diffuser but I have no faith in such hocus pocus (and we did try one once) and I want scientifically proven medication. The vet said there are no sedatives for dogs - so what they sedated her with this morning must be some magical chemical and the tablet that Abe once had to keep her chilled out while she had stitches removed must exist only in my imagination.
Oh said the vet - dogs do take diazepam for agitation - well give us some of that then. No, Abe has been prescribed Zylkène http://www.zylkene.co.uk/ (active ingredient casozepine) which turns out to be yet another “natural remedy” a DAP diffuser in tablet form. The evidence is anecdotal and not remotely scientific. It is claimed to have no side effects which in itself hints towards it up to be a pointless placebo. Well, I say prescribed, it’s actually available from Amazon.co.uk and considerably cheaper than what we just paid the vet.
So, we'll be back to the vets with my tiny half shaved skeleton of a dog to demand the teeth are removed. I just want her to have a pain and agitation free sunset on her life.