cougher spaniel
My dog is officially old.
As soon as she hit seven years old, Angel was classified by the vet as a senior. She's ten now, which translates to anywhere from 54 to 70 human years, depending on which age conversion calculator you use. At any rate, a dog hitting double digits is pretty significant, or maybe that's just my experience since Angel's the first I've had to break it. Still, she's playful and gets excited when we come home, moreso since Bella came along, so we haven't thought about it too much.
About a month ago she started coughing. Pretty serious chest convulsions, usually ending with her throwing up. The vet thought maybe it was bronchitis and gave medicine to clear up any infection she might have in her lungs. And it worked -- sort of. She stopped vomiting, and the cough died down, but never totally went away. So we went back for her follow-up, and this time the vet's diagnosis was emphysema.
The tech's literal description for this? "You know -- old person's disease."
So now my dog has to be on medication long-term. And you can't put a dog on your health insurance policy, not without some raving conservative freakout anyway. It's not as expensive as it could be, but it's significantly more than if it were covered.1 But it's a small price to pay for my pet's health. Angel's got some good years left in her yet, and I'd sure rather her live them in comfort than not be able to control her wheezing for the rest of her life. You have to take care of your family, and I don't care what species she is, Angel is one of us.
The good news is she's doing a lot better with the new meds. She's even helping me remember them -- she hounds me for it2 at the designated times, because it means she gets a treat too.
1. I know they have such a thing as pet health insurance. But can you imagine the premium I'd have to pay for a ten-year-old dog with emphysema? Probably it'd cost more than just buying the medication.
2. No pun intended.
As soon as she hit seven years old, Angel was classified by the vet as a senior. She's ten now, which translates to anywhere from 54 to 70 human years, depending on which age conversion calculator you use. At any rate, a dog hitting double digits is pretty significant, or maybe that's just my experience since Angel's the first I've had to break it. Still, she's playful and gets excited when we come home, moreso since Bella came along, so we haven't thought about it too much.
About a month ago she started coughing. Pretty serious chest convulsions, usually ending with her throwing up. The vet thought maybe it was bronchitis and gave medicine to clear up any infection she might have in her lungs. And it worked -- sort of. She stopped vomiting, and the cough died down, but never totally went away. So we went back for her follow-up, and this time the vet's diagnosis was emphysema.
The tech's literal description for this? "You know -- old person's disease."
So now my dog has to be on medication long-term. And you can't put a dog on your health insurance policy, not without some raving conservative freakout anyway. It's not as expensive as it could be, but it's significantly more than if it were covered.1 But it's a small price to pay for my pet's health. Angel's got some good years left in her yet, and I'd sure rather her live them in comfort than not be able to control her wheezing for the rest of her life. You have to take care of your family, and I don't care what species she is, Angel is one of us.
The good news is she's doing a lot better with the new meds. She's even helping me remember them -- she hounds me for it2 at the designated times, because it means she gets a treat too.
1. I know they have such a thing as pet health insurance. But can you imagine the premium I'd have to pay for a ten-year-old dog with emphysema? Probably it'd cost more than just buying the medication.
2. No pun intended.