The State of the Dog 2

This past Friday Yoshi had an Xray of his neck. It wasn’t the news we were hoping for. His spondylosis has progressed up his neck and the vet is thinking that his current condition isn’t likely due to an injury, but rather his degenrating spine.

For now he is off one of the drugs he was taking, and when we next talk to the vet we will see about upping the dose on something else. Right now he isn’t any worse nor any better than last week.

I really want Yoshi to be able to enjoy life. Every time I get him to go lay down in his corner I feel a little guilty and quite sad. This is no life for him. I hope that some time in the next month we can hit on some combination of medications that can help him out and allow him to enjoy life again.

There is more from Sox here.

The State of the Dog

Yoshi has been part of our family for a long time. Sox and I love him very much so it was very saddening a few years ago when we learned he had some spinal arthritis issues.

We got him on some medication, modified his exercise routines, and kept him happy. For a long time this was fine.

Recently we started noticing changes in Yoshi. He was having a harder time walking and occasionally on walks he would fall over. This tended to happen when he tried turning around or backing up. A few times he slipped down the stairs too.

A vet trip later and our vet thought a change in medication might be in order. We tried some cartrophen (sp?) shots, but they didn’t seem to do anything. Next up was some steroids, prednisone (sp?). For a couple weeks this seemed to be working.

The side effects are that prednisone makes you thirsty. More drinking makes him pee more. A lot more. Since I was not working, this wasn’t a problem.

This all changed on the weekend. Yoshi was acting funny, whining a bunch, and wasn’t himself. He was panting more too. Sunday morning I went to let him out for his pre breakfast pee he had a hard time getting up and whined loudly. Whining from pain is something Yoshi has never done. This was not a good sign.

Sox got Yoshi in to the vet for another exam and she was immediately concerned. Her thinking is that he has a cervical injury. It may be a lesion on a disc. This is devastating to us. Another indication that he is getting old and that he won’t be around forever.

The treatment is a larger dose of prednisone, and another couple meds. He also is not supposed to move for a month. No walks, no stairs, no running. More pills, more thirst, more peeing. We have to create a gulag for him so he can’t roam around. The pills right now have a sedatory effect so this is a great help, but it is still very sad to see.

The stress level in our household is so high right now. Three of us were diagnosed with strep and are taking meds. I started a new job so I am not able to help with the kids as much as I have been. Now Yoshi needs more care and attention, and agian since I started a new job I can’t help with the extra care.

If all this had happened a month ago, this wouldn’t be a problem. Having it happen now is just killer.

I am just a mess mentally. I’m trying to learn as much as I can for work, but any time I walk in the door all I can think about is Yoshi. He’s 11 years old and has lead a good life, but I am not ready to be without him. I love him to bits and am terrified that soon Sox and I will have to make a decision about whether he will have to be put down because of his failing body. I can’t stand seeing Yoshi in pain, and I firmly believe in quality of life, but that won’t make the actual decision any easier.

I have also thought about the kids. Elliot may have some memories of Yoshi when he is older, but it is unlikely Amy every will. It is hard to fathom that as important and loved as Yoshi is, Amy may not remember him later in life.

And I wish I could do more to help Sox out. That is stronger more than anything else. I want to step in, help out, and make things better. I’ve been so involved in house stuff for the past few months and not having that ability is leaving me feeling a little out of sorts.

Mistake Horn

If I make a mistake I tend to acknowledge that mistake.

Same for driving. If I make a bonehead move, I indicate I am sorry.

Not everyone is like this.

Yesterday I was driving along Catherine St heading towards Esquimalt Ave. As I approached where Bay St intersects, the car that came to a stop at the stop sign on Bay, suddenly left the line. I jammed the brakes and layed on the horn, but the lady driving kept going and never slowed down.

At Esquimalt Ave red light she sort of shrugged in the rear view mirror. Maybe she was indicating she was sorry, but it felt like she wasn’t sure why I honked at her. Yaarggh. Pay attention please.

Strep Hours

Well, the diagnosis was strep throat. I got the call this morning about 24 hours from when the test was taken. Strangely they only had results for me, and not for Elliot. Still, we started him on the antibiotics as well. He needs to be on meds 24 hours before he is allowed back and daycare to alleviate concerns over reactions. He also needs to not be contagious. Best we start early to avoid disrupting our lives too much.

Aches Degree

Just after getting to bed last night Elliot called out. He was shaking, complaining of aches, and when we took his temp it was 103.7. Yikes.After a round of drugs, we brought it down a degree, but it was still a bit of a rough night.

This morning I took him to a clinic so that both he and I could get swabbed for Strep throat. Sue has a positive diagnosis already, and I had a cold with the exact same symptoms, and that cold is lingering a bit. The doc suspects Elliot and I have it. We’ll know for certain in 24-48 hours.

I really hope I don’t since I start my new job on Monday.

Flower Digging

Today cleaned up another old flower bed that was badly neglected from before we moved in. As I started to work I found that the small Holly bush that I wanted to remove used to be a large Holly tree that someone had hacked off. Lots of little Holly branches were growing from the remaining stump.

The only thing to do was start digging. What a hole I made.

A couple feet around it and about three feet deep. I couldn’t even get all the roots out either. I dug out what I could then cut the three roots that were a couple inches in diameter.

I was left with a big hole and big pile of dirt. The easy part was throwing the dirt back in the hole.

Fancy Plant

On the weekend I made a trip out to Petsmart for some more things for my tank.

I got three fancy Tequila Sunrise Guppies to round out my fish population. They add some nice color and I really like the mix I have now. There is one Leopard Danio, one Red Long Fin Tetra, one Albino Cory, one Otocinclus, one blue Fancy Guppy, four Black Neon Tetras, and the three Tequila Sunrise Guppies. Those and many crayfish 🙂

I also picked up a live plant for the tank. It has been a while since I had one. When I got home I planted it appropriately and while I was doing that one of the five leaves broke off. Bummer. When I came back a few minutes later, the plant was floating, so I had to replant it a little deeper this time. A little later it was floating again. This kept happening throughout the day and got very frustrating. Leaves kept breaking off too.

By the time I went to bed, there were two leaves left on the root system. When I got up this morning, the plant was floating again, and only one leaf was attached. Grrr. Now I am starting to wonder if the crayfish are doing something to the plant.