Yesterday, Baxter passed away.
This morning, I had a Facebook memory of his picture, showing him smiling in his sleep.
I do not think it's a coincidence.,
Showing posts with label Very Good Boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Very Good Boy. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Friday, June 19, 2020
Sad PUPdate
Things started out good this morning. The vet sent
me some pics of Baxter looking alert last night, and I was happy to see
them when I woke up this morning and checked my email.
His numbers had improved a little, too, and the vet was all set to update me this morning with good things.
But then his blood pressure crashed. They had to move him to the intensive care unit to get him stable. It took a lot of effort to get him stable, but he was no longer alert.
At this point, I knew there was really only one option. The treatments all week barely budged his liver and kidney numbers and they were still pretty bad. He was diagnosed with severe cardiac issues from having leaky heart valves in all four chambers. And the little momentary "zone out" moments that I had noticed a while ago, but thought nothing of because they were so brief, were diagnosed as seizures, to my great surprise. Unfortunately, in a dog his age, the most likely cause would be a mass in the brain.
Even with all this, if there was any chance of achieving quality of life, I would have been interested in hearing about it. But now we are talking about his blood pressure being ready to bottom out without warning. No. I can't subject him to that, too. It took a team of ICU vets in the best animal hospital in the region to straighten his BP out this morning. Suppose by some huge miracle he had come home, and it happened here? I don't have the equipment or the training to bring him back from an episode like that. He'd be gone on the spot.
I had to recognize that all these thing point to just one answer. It was not the answer I wanted, but I have to be honest with myself.
We were at the point where prolonging his life would have meant suffering, not recovery, and under no circumstances would I let him suffer. Mark and I drove up to the animal hospital to be with Baxter while he had the Final Act of Mercy.
We are grieving, but we know that it was the only real option.
Blast all these ailments that impact our innocent little furbabies. All they ever do is love us unconditionally.
Baxter was brought in to a local rescue as a stray in 2013, and the vet there estimated him to be six years old. We never knew his birthdate, so we marked his Gotcha Day as his birthday. We treated him like he was 12 and would be 13 in the Fall on the anniversary of when we got him.
They let both Mark and me in the room with him, and he sat getting cuddles on my lap the whole time. My lap was his favorite place, and cuddles were his favorite thing. I told him over and over how I will love him forever and ever.
His numbers had improved a little, too, and the vet was all set to update me this morning with good things.
But then his blood pressure crashed. They had to move him to the intensive care unit to get him stable. It took a lot of effort to get him stable, but he was no longer alert.
At this point, I knew there was really only one option. The treatments all week barely budged his liver and kidney numbers and they were still pretty bad. He was diagnosed with severe cardiac issues from having leaky heart valves in all four chambers. And the little momentary "zone out" moments that I had noticed a while ago, but thought nothing of because they were so brief, were diagnosed as seizures, to my great surprise. Unfortunately, in a dog his age, the most likely cause would be a mass in the brain.
Even with all this, if there was any chance of achieving quality of life, I would have been interested in hearing about it. But now we are talking about his blood pressure being ready to bottom out without warning. No. I can't subject him to that, too. It took a team of ICU vets in the best animal hospital in the region to straighten his BP out this morning. Suppose by some huge miracle he had come home, and it happened here? I don't have the equipment or the training to bring him back from an episode like that. He'd be gone on the spot.
I had to recognize that all these thing point to just one answer. It was not the answer I wanted, but I have to be honest with myself.
We were at the point where prolonging his life would have meant suffering, not recovery, and under no circumstances would I let him suffer. Mark and I drove up to the animal hospital to be with Baxter while he had the Final Act of Mercy.
We are grieving, but we know that it was the only real option.
Blast all these ailments that impact our innocent little furbabies. All they ever do is love us unconditionally.
Baxter was brought in to a local rescue as a stray in 2013, and the vet there estimated him to be six years old. We never knew his birthdate, so we marked his Gotcha Day as his birthday. We treated him like he was 12 and would be 13 in the Fall on the anniversary of when we got him.
They let both Mark and me in the room with him, and he sat getting cuddles on my lap the whole time. My lap was his favorite place, and cuddles were his favorite thing. I told him over and over how I will love him forever and ever.
Friday, June 05, 2020
Baxter at the vet
We had an appointment at the vet yesterday. Baxter needed a little once-over by some trained eyes.
The verdict: his luxating patellas (wonky kneecaps) are a little worse now than last year. This is not uncommon in older dogs. We were getting concerned because at times, his gait is affected such that his front half walks fine, and his rear half looks drunk. No evidence of pain and no incontinence; just intermittent issues with rear leg weakness and some challenges navigating on stairs.
Solution: glucosamine-chondroitin supplements.
There is also a skin tag that we are keeping en eye on, a little thinning of fur on top of his tail (he sits on his tail), and some eye irritation.
Solution: the first two are no biggie, and he appears to have "allergy eyes", so I have to give him some ointment twice daily for the next few days.
I am relieved that all these minor things are, in fact, minor things. But when your pup is 12, going on 13, you want to keep an eye on all these little things lest they turn into a big thing.
He was a Very Good Boy for his exam. And he was so keyed up from the experience (not) that as he sat in my lap in the car (with Mark driving), he fell asleep with his head on my purse and was snoring before we had exited the parking lot, lol. My mellow munchkin pup.
This morning, I put the ointment in his allergy-eyes for the first time, NO reaction whatsoever. Thank God I can do pretty much anything and he tolerates it. A lot of dogs would go through the ceiling if you were doing things anywhere near their eyes.
I ordered him a ramp for the sofa last week, but between the Rona and the demonstrations, it hasn't arrived yet. My tiny little old man. ❤️ 🐶
The verdict: his luxating patellas (wonky kneecaps) are a little worse now than last year. This is not uncommon in older dogs. We were getting concerned because at times, his gait is affected such that his front half walks fine, and his rear half looks drunk. No evidence of pain and no incontinence; just intermittent issues with rear leg weakness and some challenges navigating on stairs.
Solution: glucosamine-chondroitin supplements.
There is also a skin tag that we are keeping en eye on, a little thinning of fur on top of his tail (he sits on his tail), and some eye irritation.
Solution: the first two are no biggie, and he appears to have "allergy eyes", so I have to give him some ointment twice daily for the next few days.
I am relieved that all these minor things are, in fact, minor things. But when your pup is 12, going on 13, you want to keep an eye on all these little things lest they turn into a big thing.
He was a Very Good Boy for his exam. And he was so keyed up from the experience (not) that as he sat in my lap in the car (with Mark driving), he fell asleep with his head on my purse and was snoring before we had exited the parking lot, lol. My mellow munchkin pup.
This morning, I put the ointment in his allergy-eyes for the first time, NO reaction whatsoever. Thank God I can do pretty much anything and he tolerates it. A lot of dogs would go through the ceiling if you were doing things anywhere near their eyes.
I ordered him a ramp for the sofa last week, but between the Rona and the demonstrations, it hasn't arrived yet. My tiny little old man. ❤️ 🐶
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