My puppy Doc

[firetrucker]

Well, an 11 year old Siberian puppy, but that's the problem. For years he jumped up at the back door to get our attention when he wanted to come in. I just couldn't seem to get him to ring the bell and wait patiently. In the last year and a half, he's been slowing down noticeably, so much so that I was sure, more than once, I was going to lose him. Until that time, we'd bicycle almost every day in the hills around the homestead (he'd use the 24 speed).

Everything else seemed fine. He was alert, connected, eating well, trim, but his energy level was nonexistent. His problem didn't seem to be the normal arthritis, either. Regular visits to the vet didn't show anything out of the ordinary, except, maybe, old age.

But it was devastating to watch my kid, my friend, my companion deteriorate so quickly.

Finally, we took him back to the vet to see if he could tell us how long he might have (how long we might have him). As we talked about his condition, the vet checked his reflexes and response to foot stimuli. He decided a spinal x-ray was in order, although his symptoms weren't classic. The x-ray showed spinal arthritis on two discs, and not even in the area the vet expected.

We tried NSAIDS for a week, with no improvement, and immediately went to steroids (prednisone). What a change! The bounce is back in his step, we're up to over a mile walk every morning, and I'm finding it harder to keep up with him. I'm going to have to break out the bike, at least for me.

And for those familiar with the side effects of steroids, you'll recognize his now insistent, and I mean insistent, demand when he's humgry or needs to go out. He's very quickly learned (and we CAN learn quite well at an advenced age) that a sharp bark will get me moving pretty quickly. I just head for the back door and watch to see if he stops at the water bowl, food bowl, or is behind me when I reach for the door knob. Now, if I could only teach him to open the door by himself.

So we have our friend with us for a while longer. We'll cater to his needs and appreciate his friendship more diligently, in hopes that he'll forgive us for not taking better care of him. But he's a dog, and he has forgiven us (or never blamed us), and doesn't that make us feel more guilty?!

He'll be with us on our travels this year, along with our other two kids, to say hello to all our friends and share in their love.

Thank you

Bob