[nagdu] Update on the old gal

[Tami Kinney]

Tracy,

Oh, that is good to hear. I am glad you get more time with Echo and she
with you. And thank you for sharing. We are beginning the early stages
of arthritis with Daisy, who is only 12 but has had a harsh life --
until she came to live with DD. With her missing front leg, the added
stress to her back where it's starting has us really worried. Or, well,
we don't worry so much as we're pretty certain she won't be with us
long. We're controlling the pain with Tramado, too, and looking at some
other options to keep her comfortable for as long as we can. We're also
discussing options for her passage to the Rainbow Bridge, with all of us
together as a family, whether at home or at the vet's office. She's
picked up Mitzi's love of the vet's office and all of its smells and the
excitement of seeing other critters come through. And she loves going in
the pickup with her pack! For now, though we keep an eye on her pain and
activity level and spoil her as rotten as we ever did. I would say more,
but that's not even possible. /lol/ DD decided to retire fully earlier
than intended, so he is now around nearly all of the time, which really
is great for her. He is most definitely her guy! /gri/n 

Thanks again for sharing, because it is something we all will or have
gone through, and it is not easy. I am glad Echo is still able to be
with you awhile longer and that you can keep her comfortable and
enjoying life.

Blessings,
Tami

On Wed, 2011-07-27 at 11:09 -0400, Tracy Carcione wrote: 
> I thought I'd give an update on my old dog Echo, in case it helps someone
> else dealing with a senior canine.
> My retired guide Echo turned 16 in April.  We found a vet who makes house
> calls, which is great, because the old gal gets totally stressed at the
> mere thought of getting in a car, and also gets very anxious at the vet. 
> Now she can be treated in the comfort of her own home.  She still gets a
> little anxious, but it doesn't exhaust her for days like the trip used to.
>  And it's about the same price, too.
> About 3 weeks ago, the vet recommended we put Echo on anti-inflamatories,
> because the arthritis in her hips is getting pretty bad.  A few days after
> we put her on the new pills, she stopped eating.  At least 3 times we
> decided to make the call for the vet to come and put her to sleep and then
> she'd rally--eat something my husband found to tempt her appetite, or get
> up and casually go get a drink or whatever when we thought she couldn't. 
> ("Bring out your dead!" "I'm not dead yet!")
> Of course, we were trying to reach her vet, which took a couple days and
> did not make us happy.  When we finally got her, she suggested we try a
> small dose of a pain pill, Tramadol, which she called in to our pharmacy. 
> She said it wouldn't make Echo dopey, and it might help.  If it
> didn't...well, we could make the decision you can't unmake.
> Echo started to feel better about 20 minutes after we gave her the first
> pain pill.  Her appetite came back, and she started walking around a lot
> more.  Now she's back to where she was a while back--not bouncing around,
> but walking about, eating well, wagging her tail, and generally taking an
> interest.  It's great to see.
> I'm not a big fan of drugs, but the combination of the anti-inflamatory
> with the pain pill is making a big difference for our old gal.
> It ain't easy taking care of such an old dog, but it does have its rewards.
> Tracy
> 
> 
> 
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