Thanks all.
It’s really gotten worse in the last week. He’s now had three episodes in a week that left him looking cyanotic. Without intervention, he basically stands there and just hoarks like he’s trying to clear his throat. His hind end weakness has progressed rapidly too. This last week, there have been a couple of occasions where I had to help him get upstairs from his “lair” in the basement where he likes to rest. (it’s cool, dark, and quiet)
Even when he’s having difficulty, he doesn’t seem anxious. My neighbor witnessed one yesterday–she’s a physician, not a vet–but also a dog person–and she said “I’m anxious watching this, but he doesn’t seem alarmed.” And he doesn’t. He just stops, stands, and within a minute or two, recovers. I think my mouth to mouth thing was not that helpful, it was just my reaction after working in vet med and seeing a purple tongue. He probably would’ve been fine w/o me. But it was the first time it had happened.
I emailed the GOLPP study group at MSU about recommendations because even the last awesome vet we saw about this is kind of at a loss giving me an answer about how to properly gauge “quality of life” in order to make a decision. I think she is afraid to tell me what I think I know…that it’s not a matter of if, but when. I think she was maybe hoping that the hind end issues would outrun the breathing issues.
The things that get him excited or distressed are:
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doorbell rings. I’m going to disable the damned thing. The only people who ring my doorbell are door to door whatevers–not people we know.
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strange dogs in our yard when he’s out–we live on kind of a busy walking route and there are a lot of people who let their dogs off leash. So they end up in our yard and want to play and my dog wants to play and voila! I can’t put up a physical fence as this is a rental. I have invisible fence so that keeps mine in but not the strange dogs out. He’s never out if I’m not home so if I see someone coming I take him inside. But sometimes, I’m caught off guard.
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Heat and humidity: We moved back to MI from VA this spring so we’ve actually had a pretty good summer–it was initially an improvement. I keep the house cool and have a dehumidifier running. And he can hang out in the yard a bit like he enjoys without being badly affected since it’s so much milder here.
I’ve seen 4 veterinarians in 18 mos for the breathing issues and no one seemed to think he was a good candidate for tie back-shoot, no one even wants to scope him to determine what we’re dealing with. I would really hate to have him die on the table or from aspirating after the fact. I’d honestly rather euth him on a good day.
But I hate to snuff him out before it’s really time.
This is my “first” dog. First dog of my own. We’ve been through a lot of other “crisis” before and come out strong. I’m super thankful that I’ve had 13 years with him and can’t imagine my home and my life without him. But that’s selfish. So I’m just trying to gauge where we are on the trajectory so I can make a plan. If I can make a plan with some metrics, I’d feel more comfortable.
He’s sleeping at my feet right now, had his peanut butter bones this morning, and is generally doing great. But…I know it’s not going to improve.
