Tuesday, 28 August 2012
While away.....
We were away for 4 days at our friends cottage. The vet was able to keep Dock for me and make sure she got her meds, and did not have any odd episodes. She did well. When we brought her home though, she was super sucky, and needed to be close. I was reeling from a multi-day migraine, and was thankful for the attention, but just wanted to sleep off the headache and nausea. She spent the night upstairs, either sleeping around my head, on my chest, or on her cat bed which has been unused for the last year (but I kept there, just in case). Yesterday, she seemed a bit more settled, but is still being a sucky pants. Going back, she has been on her pred for about 7 months now, and the prognosis I was given was 6-8 months. She has done extremely well, and I'm hoping she continue for a while longer. We are going back to the cottage in just under 2 weeks, so we'll likely have her monitored at the vets again for simplicity, (that is of course something happens in the mean time). That being said, I forgot to give her meds to her this morning so I'd best do that while I'm thinking about it.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
I Just Keep Watching
I don't know if I'm over thinking things or not. Am I actually seeing what I'm seeing?
Dock and I were in the computer room yesterday. She likes to sit on a wooden tray table at the window and look outside when the windows are open (which isn't too often with the crazy hot summer) She moved between the window, to my lap, to laying on my computer desk. Rinse and repeat. She did this circuit for about an hour before finally leaving the room. I thought she may have been uncomfortable, and just could not settle, so I'm going to gave her some extra gabapentin after dinner. (My vet said it can be given more often if needed. She wrote the dose down for me somewhere. Should maybe call and confirm).
We all ate dinner and than settled in to watch some tv. I watch Dock like a hawk now a days, never knowing if she's going to have tremors, or stumble, etc. She started some tremors, and she did the staring off into space thing. As her tremors are so subtle, I'm never knowing if I'm seeing them or not. They appeared to go on and off for about 5 minutes. She did fine for the rest of the night though I did miss parts of my movie watching her. That's ok as she's my girl and I need to keep an eye on her.
Last thing I've noticed is that she's not holding her tail up any more, and when she lays, it's kind of kinked about a third from the tip. It does not hurt her, and if I pinch it, she will pull away eventually, so I know she does feel it. But she laid down last night, and it landed all curly q like a pig tail. Never seen her not have it curled around her, or straight out behind her. This just confirms the weakness that she has.
I guess I'll just keep watching, and waiting, and second guessing myself.
Dock and I were in the computer room yesterday. She likes to sit on a wooden tray table at the window and look outside when the windows are open (which isn't too often with the crazy hot summer) She moved between the window, to my lap, to laying on my computer desk. Rinse and repeat. She did this circuit for about an hour before finally leaving the room. I thought she may have been uncomfortable, and just could not settle, so I'm going to gave her some extra gabapentin after dinner. (My vet said it can be given more often if needed. She wrote the dose down for me somewhere. Should maybe call and confirm).
We all ate dinner and than settled in to watch some tv. I watch Dock like a hawk now a days, never knowing if she's going to have tremors, or stumble, etc. She started some tremors, and she did the staring off into space thing. As her tremors are so subtle, I'm never knowing if I'm seeing them or not. They appeared to go on and off for about 5 minutes. She did fine for the rest of the night though I did miss parts of my movie watching her. That's ok as she's my girl and I need to keep an eye on her.
Last thing I've noticed is that she's not holding her tail up any more, and when she lays, it's kind of kinked about a third from the tip. It does not hurt her, and if I pinch it, she will pull away eventually, so I know she does feel it. But she laid down last night, and it landed all curly q like a pig tail. Never seen her not have it curled around her, or straight out behind her. This just confirms the weakness that she has.
I guess I'll just keep watching, and waiting, and second guessing myself.
Monday, 6 August 2012
Second Guessing
Dock has had quite a good week. She seemed perkier, and was awake a lot more than I expected. She seems to be more content with the new cat Norris and maybe that is why she is doing good this week.
I re-evaluated her quality of life score, and talked it over with the vet. The link I posted I think was more for the vets, so they can judge, but both my vet and myself think there is a lot more to quality of life from an owners perspective. For example. While Dock has good mobility, I see it declining. I can tell she's weak and can't stand or sit for long. She also stumbles. She was not interested in playing with toys recently, but when I engaged her with a feathered wand toy, she batted at it for a good 5 minutes. I know she is not great, but she is not as bad as I thought, and my vet was an important part of that process.
I am a believer though that quality of life is not just the basics (eating, drinking, lying there watching the world go by). I want Dock to be happy. I would rather see us say goodbye to Dock on her terms and our terms, versus the illnesses terms. I don't want her to go through a big event such as a major seizure, or her stumbling down the stairs and breaking a leg. Those are the things that worry me. And though they are unlikely to happen, there is that possibility. For now, it's still week by week, and I'm still always second guessing myself. But that is what being a pet owner is about.
I re-evaluated her quality of life score, and talked it over with the vet. The link I posted I think was more for the vets, so they can judge, but both my vet and myself think there is a lot more to quality of life from an owners perspective. For example. While Dock has good mobility, I see it declining. I can tell she's weak and can't stand or sit for long. She also stumbles. She was not interested in playing with toys recently, but when I engaged her with a feathered wand toy, she batted at it for a good 5 minutes. I know she is not great, but she is not as bad as I thought, and my vet was an important part of that process.
I am a believer though that quality of life is not just the basics (eating, drinking, lying there watching the world go by). I want Dock to be happy. I would rather see us say goodbye to Dock on her terms and our terms, versus the illnesses terms. I don't want her to go through a big event such as a major seizure, or her stumbling down the stairs and breaking a leg. Those are the things that worry me. And though they are unlikely to happen, there is that possibility. For now, it's still week by week, and I'm still always second guessing myself. But that is what being a pet owner is about.
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