Ginger is looking better. She has perked up somewhat and is enjoying her meals again. Plus, she is working us over for weiners and we are such suckers for her that we oblige. We hide her antibiotics in bits of veggie weiner. She works the pill with her tongue and thus gets four of five more weiner pieces as we endeavour to rehide mushy pill pieces. We all know what she is doing but we all play the game.
We were vigilant for the first couple of days and now we have lapsed for as much as two hours sometimes past her pill time. Fourteen days is a long time.
We go for short walks and mosey around the neighbourhood, she seems happy not to take long galavants right now and I am happy not to put her into my car as I have clients who I am sure don't want to share their space with dog hair. Now that I have de dog haired the thing.
We will take Ginger back for her follow-up x-rays after the antibiotics but I already know the results. Her recovery will not be what a young dog could do. Ginger is 13 years old. If we are lucky we will have eliminated the infection but this process will not reverse the heart valve damage.
All the tooth brushing in the world won't reverse the problem in her blood vessels but may prevent further infection. Her old teeth hardly do her any service anymore she has a cracked tooth no doubt from chewing on bison bones in her salad days but it doesn't seem to be causing her any gyp. I won't put her under anesthetic to remove her tooth, it would be too hard on her.
On the weekend her old buddy Nikki came by for a visit. Ginger had been in the land of nod for hours before they arrived and when Nikki came into the house Ginger sprang into action, trotting right to her food bowl to eliminate any traces of kibble just in case Nikki thought about having a snack. Funny thing I think that kibble had dust on it for having sat in her bowl for days as she sniffed haughtily at it and worked us over for her favourite food, chicken soup.
So maybe she has another summer in her and hopefully another car trip.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Old Girl
Our old girl Ginger is still hanging in there. A couple of weeks ago we thought she was starting to go down hill and indeed I suppose she was. She is 13 1/6th years old and that is old for an large dog. A mixed breed however seems to be more resiliant to aging complaints than pure breds. Our mostly shepherd girl comes from a long line of reserve dogs which must surely by now be a breed unto themselves.
She was lethargic and her breathing came heavy. She would go out for pee and poo only and straight back to her bed. She was exhausted.
After multiple xrays and another physical it was determined by her vet that she has a very stressed heart, some infection in the lungs and heart and spondiloza in her spine.
All of which after lengthy consultation with her doc can be fixed with a careful and exacting extraction of our wallets.
So today, first day in the process she is on antibiotics and a mouth rinse (after brushing), this will progress to an ace inhibitor and a diuretic. The good news is that she doesn't have an enlarged heart or congestive heart disease. I suppose we could put her through the dental cleaning and extraction process, but that would mean an anesthetic and I can't put her through that. I would rather chase her with her toothbrush and rinse her mouth out with this incredibly expensive (69 bucks) mouth wash. You would think you would get a pail of mouth wash for that price, or several pails but we got about 4 ounces. I will always complain about the prices but the truth is there is no ceiling except discomfort for my dog. I will not keep her on this planet on this plane after she wants to go.
Anyway we still have our old love and she will feel better on the antibiotics.
Tomorrow is bath day. The weather will be warm and she can roll outside on the lawn after her bath. She loves that.
She was lethargic and her breathing came heavy. She would go out for pee and poo only and straight back to her bed. She was exhausted.
After multiple xrays and another physical it was determined by her vet that she has a very stressed heart, some infection in the lungs and heart and spondiloza in her spine.
All of which after lengthy consultation with her doc can be fixed with a careful and exacting extraction of our wallets.
So today, first day in the process she is on antibiotics and a mouth rinse (after brushing), this will progress to an ace inhibitor and a diuretic. The good news is that she doesn't have an enlarged heart or congestive heart disease. I suppose we could put her through the dental cleaning and extraction process, but that would mean an anesthetic and I can't put her through that. I would rather chase her with her toothbrush and rinse her mouth out with this incredibly expensive (69 bucks) mouth wash. You would think you would get a pail of mouth wash for that price, or several pails but we got about 4 ounces. I will always complain about the prices but the truth is there is no ceiling except discomfort for my dog. I will not keep her on this planet on this plane after she wants to go.
Anyway we still have our old love and she will feel better on the antibiotics.
Tomorrow is bath day. The weather will be warm and she can roll outside on the lawn after her bath. She loves that.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Official Shower Details
Well, it is now official that Shelley's baby shower will be on Saturday the 27th March at 3pm at Erin's. You all have your e-mail invitations and we are looking forward to seeing you there. I just know that it will be a lot of fun.
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