Friday, June 13, 2014

{This Moment} See Beautiful: Happy Old Man

Happy Friday, and Happy 2nd Anniversary to the See Beautiful blog hop
{This Moment} See Beautiful is a once a month Blog Hop, every 2nd Friday of the month. simply create a blog post that made your day, week, and/or month … inspiring you in Seeing Beauty.  
Per Sugar's Mom, in honor of the 2nd anniversary, "For every blog participant, we are donating $ to our dear blog friend Goose Medical Fund. This hop is very dear to us. We hope you can join us."  So come on folks, hop along with us today!

Happy dog! In his way to see his favorite vet... #dogstagram #instadog #seniordog #happydog #carride #love #smile #ilovemyseniordog

My See Beautiful moment was when our vet called Zeus a "Happy Old Man" at his check-up last week.  Evidence was captured above during his R-I-D-E to visit Dr. C... seriously, have you seen a happier looking old man?

2014-06-05_08-01-38

Although Zeus would like to think he just visited to give Dr. C kisses, we were actually there to check his liver levels and have her take a look at that growing lump on his right shoulder.  The lump is indeed growing and is "possibly" the C-word, however we will continue to simply monitor it, as the risks of surgery to remove it far outweigh those of just letting it be (the possible type of cancer does not spread).  His liver issues, megaesophagus and reaction to sutures in the past are all red flags for any type of surgery... never mind the fact he's the ripe 'ole age of 13!

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Zeus' liver levels came back within the range we've been bouncing around for the past year or two, so we will continue doing what we're doing (samE and milk thistle).  Dr. C noticed one of his kidney levels was ever so slightly elevated, so we did one additional blood test, as well as a urine test to be sure his kidneys were functioning properly... and those both came back well within normal ranges.  Yay for my Happy Old Man!  

Due to some increased stiffness, we did opt to increase his tramadol dosage slightly and that seems to be helping.  I've also adjusted his food to about half as much kibble as he used to get, with additional soft canned food added to help his ongoing megaesophagus issues.  And while he's clearly an old man, Dr. C continues to remind us how remarkable it is for such a big dog to be so happy at 13. We're truly lucky and I cherish every single day with my big boy.

10 comments:

Sheltie Times said...

Congrats on a good report.

Anonymous said...

That old man is very lucky to have you to take such good care of him.

Unknown said...

How great! Thanks for sharing!
Pawfect see beautiful post!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

FANCY the Red Standard Poodle said...

Hi Y'all!

You go fellow! That is the most beautiful news a dog can get! A great vet report!

Y'all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog

Golden Woofs! SUGAR said...

Woofs for the Beautiful news. Old Dogs ROCK ... Sugar can relate and she's going to be 13. Beautiful news to celebrate. Happy Seeing Beauty. Golden Woofs

Ruby said...

WooooHoooo!!! This is FABulous news Zeus!!! And, might I say, (don't let Murphy see this...) you are lookin' might ManTastic!!! Just sayin'...
Kisses,
Ruby ♥

Unknown said...

There is indeed nothing more beautiful than a happy, healthy and loved senior dog (and an lovely silver muzzle and face help too!)

tubby3pug said...

This is just the most beautiful post! Zeus reminds me so much of Norbert who will be 12 in July. Norbert has some arthritis but no meds for it yet and now we are dealing with recurrent bladder infections which have me worried, that something else is afoot but overall he is very happy.

I was going to ask have you tried denamarin for Zeus's liver? Ping had very elevated liver values and ultrasound showed signs of cirrhosis she has been on denamarin for ayear as well as milk thistle and her levels are normal as of last check

retro rover

Unknown said...

Like Mary said, he is lucky to have you. But you are also lucky. I would have loved to enjoy our Kasey as a senior but we only got 6 years with him. What a great gift those years with your old man are.

Sue said...

Zeus, you look great to us. We're happy that your checkup was good. Do you have thyroid issues? Mom just read that mesoesophagus can be a result of a low thyroid.

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