Caring for a dog with CDS is different every day. I started Molly on Selegiline 5 mg on the 10th. I was told it could take a month for changes to become apparent. I thought the meds weren’t helping until she happened to spit out her pill one day and I didn’t notice right away. […]
This is Buddy. Buddy is around 10 years old and his snout is turning white. He has rough skin patches on his elbows from living much of his life confined in a crate. He has arthritis and skin irritations. He was receiving treatment for these issues in rescue and we’ve already had a visit with […]
I took Rumpy to the vet today. His breathing has been worse, and I wanted to follow up and discuss next moves. Our vet said this is due to the laryngeal paralysis and partly a result of the rising temperatures. She felt the window a/c unit I installed for him is a good idea. She […]
I am now assigned to work from home. It’s great to get to be here with Rumpy and the kitties more, even if I’m working. Especially now. Rumpy has taken a turn for the worse. He still eats well and never says no when I offer to take him outside, but his breathing continues to […]
I have been upfront and open about Rumpy’s condition: he has a tumor at the base of his heart that has grown. He has a lypoma beneath the muscle on a hind leg that is not worth removing because he also has difficulty breathing due to laryngeal paralysis. It was most likely the lar-par that led […]
I have created monsters! Tiny little furry monsters. When Rumpy had pneumonia, I started feeding him chicken to get him to eat. Now he insists on it. I mix it in with kibble and he eats all the chicken and most of the kibble. Otherwise he won’t eat his dog food. Now Bubba has decided […]
We adults act like we can take anything life throws at us. And while most of us can, it doesn’t mean we’ll come out the other end unscathed. I vacuumed out my car yesterday afternoon for the first time since Rumpy’s diagnosis. Why did I wait two weeks? Maybe for the same reason I didn’t […]
Friday I had a conversation with my dog. It went something like this: ME: Rumpy, I don’t want to go to work today. Why don’t you go for me? Rumpy: *blank stare* But it got me thinking. What if I could send in a surrogate for me on days I’m just not feeling it? […]
I want you to know that after I wrote that last blog post, Rumpy decided he now DOES want to be around me. So we’re usually in the same room. It’s comforting for me; I hope it is for him as well. The Rumpster seems to have rallied lately. Yesterday he actually pulled me up […]
Rumpy will not stay in the same room with me. At first I thought it was the temp of the room, because the living room tends to be warmer than the bedroom. But this weekend I noticed when I entered the room where he lay, he’d soon get up and move to the other room. […]
Dogpaddling Through Life 