I've lost track of what day it is with everything going on since the 14th, but the calendar is telling me it's Wednesday and time to get wordless. But before I do that, I wanted to give an update on Zeus.
It hasn't been easy and I sure feel old with my aching back, knees and shoulders, but I'm happy to report my baby boy is doing so much better! He's come out of the Vestibular Disease quite nicely and is pretty much back to his usual hobble-wobble self (from the arthritis and old age). At times he goes up and down the stairs like he was a puppy, while other times he'll ask for some assistance (or assurance, really) and we'll walk with him.
We went to see Dr. C on Monday afternoon, despite my hesitation of not knowing whether I could get him into my truck by myself. Much to my surprise, he walked right up his ramp, got in, laid down, and was happy as a pig-in-poop that we were going for an R-I-D-E! He even sat up a couple of times when I slowed down to see where we were. When we got to the vet, he walked right down the ramp and tried sprinting across the parking lot to go see the girls inside.
I was even more pleasantly surprised at how well Dr. C thought Zeus was doing! Not only did she say the Vestibular syndrome was just about gone, but his chest x-rays showed the pneumonia was beginning to clear up and his lungs were looking better! We talked about our issues with him eating (or lack thereof)/keeping food down and determined he isn't vomiting per say at this stage, but instead regurgitating due to the mega esophagus. That just means we have to pay extra attention and work even harder at getting him to sit upright (which has been a chore in and of itself when your nearly 100-pound dog is dizzy and weak). Fortunately he hadn't lost that much more weight in the past week, as I had feared, but my boy is skinny and while weight loss is good for his arthritis, we do need to get some weight back on him. He's done pretty well with eating, albeit very small amounts, since Monday. This morning I was more than happy when he heard me getting the other dogs' breakfast and came upstairs looking for his! I think we're going in the right direction.... finally. Normally Dr. C refers to Zeus as a "Happy Old Man," but on Monday it was a "Tough Old Man." She said his recovery thus far is remarkable. I'll take it... and now, let's get wordless!
5 comments:
Mom Kim - Another good report on a furrend that was not doing so good. So very glad to hear Zeus is doing better. There has been a few times when I have had to just tap or even lay my hand on Shiloh's backend just to let him know I am with him if he needs help getting outside or down the stairs. (Not sure if he has IVDD or arthritis with disk degeneration). Just like people, our pets have their good and bad days.
Stopped by to check on Zues, glad he is doing better!!
hugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Greta
Hooray for Zeus! The pictures are pretty, of course, but the report on your boy is what we all wanted to see!
Wonderful news
Retro rover
Glad to hear he's doing better! Hope you're getting some much needed rest!
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