July 11, 2019 – We moved three weeks ago. I found it stressful – major rain storm, elevator problems when moving in, and a call from the daycare because Chuck was stressed.
We’re slowly settling in. Boxes are being unpacked. It’s starting to feel like home. Chuck has not been adjusting to the new apartment. He was stressed at the daycare and hasn’t been the same since. He has hardly been eating. He has been pacing around. Lost. Confused. He’s normally a stoic dog – not one for displays of emotion of any kind. He’s just “there”.
I’ve been watching him for signs that he’s bouncing back. I try to remind myself that at 14 (98 in people years) he’s not going to bounce back quickly. I watched as he picked at his food. I watched as he followed me and Mom around – trying to keep us in his line of sight.
After the first week, I told Mom that if he didn’t start to show signs of his former self I was going to have to take him to the vet for a wellness check. I could tell he was losing some weight. Normally, that is a good thing as he was a few pounds overweight. However, it was sudden and noticeable. I had to tighten his collar.
Towards the end of the second week, I told my Mom that he didn’t seem to be improving. I was going to wait until Tuesday and make an appointment for Thursday. On the weekend, I decided not to wait. I booked him in for a check-up on Tuesday evening.
The vet was really nice. Compassionate and non-judgemental. I could really see that he loved pets. He remembered Chuck from my phone call in the beginning of June “This is the dog that ran 3 kilometers in 15 minutes? What did he do? Take a cab?” He made me laugh. But, as he is also the owner of a senior dog, he understood.
He conducted his exam. Chuck had lost 4 lbs. He said it could be a number of things. However, what he thought it might be were diseases that, while treatable, were for a younger dog. We had a lot of unknowns. Chuck’s heart murmur was now accompanied by an arrhythmia – very worrisome to the Vet. He delicately broached that Chuck could have some underlying condition that was aggravated by the stress of boarding and a move. The fact was/is that Chuck is probably dying.
We talked about the types of non-invasive tests he could do. What do you do with that knowledge once you have it? Does it change the course of treatment or do you just torture yourself with that knowledge? We decided that bloodwork and urinalysis were quick tests to rule out some things. We’d put him on some soft food that would get him eating again.
We headed home. I explained everything to my Mom. She didn’t say much. I’m not sure if she understood or was processing what I was saying.
Chuck loved the soft food. I opened the tin and he walked by the food bowl. Then he got a whiff of the food and he made a bee-line for it. I couldn’t get the food out of the tin fast enough. He gobbled down every bit. Mom laughed. “What a good boy! See he’s going to be okay!”
The vet called this morning. The good news is that the bloodwork showed nothing significant. His liver and kidneys are functioning normally. Nothing elevated. His urinalysis was clean. He’s a healthy dog – in terms of those tests. What would normally be considered “good news” also meant that whatever his problem, it was more serious than we thought.
We discussed next steps – ultrasound, x-ray – non-invasive tests that wouldn’t cause too much stress. We decided to keep him on soft food and see how he was in a week. See if he gains weight and starts to bounce back.
Chuck has had a few episodes in his life where I thought that he was “a goner”. Every time he has surprised me. He’s bounced back. I’m not sure if that’s the case this time or if this is my Vet’s way of easing me towards that inevitable decision to repay Chuck’s love and loyalty by allowing him to go with some dignity.
Diary of a DOW 