August
2013
Bailey’s sister, Prancer10
You all have probably heard me mention Bailey’s sister, Prancer. She has been part of our life for about 16 years. We believe she is about 16.5 years old, having adopted her when she was about 9 months of age. I know that this site is for tripawds and issues we face with those pups, but we are now facing an issue with a sister of one of those pups. Prancer was just diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. We have tried IV fluids, which were not very successfully, and are now just trying to maintain a good diet for her to help her body process her food. I, unfortunately, do not believe the prognosis is good, as her vomiting has again started today, just five days following her IV fluids. Prancer is the sweetest dog you could ever meet, just wanting to be touched. She doesn’t really care if you pet her as long as she is able to lean on you or your have a hand on her. She always gets so excited when you come home and is simply satisfied with a small hug. It is sad to imagine my life without her as we have all been preparing ourselves for with life without Bailey. The sad part is I am not sure how long either will be in our lives.
Bailey is really having a hard time holding up his back leg. I will find him dragging his back leg, particularly in the mornings. We have tile in our house, with carpets strategically placed around the house, but I find it happens everywhere. Then there are moments he runs around the house like a five year old. The vet has prepared me that Bailey will likely go into kidney failure like Prancer or will start suffering more back pain, but right now I am more concerned about the dragging of his leg. He is on a low dose of Rimadyl, which he definitely needs, but this dose upsets his belly a little so I am leery to increase such although I think it might help. He is very restless at night trying to get comfortable and we only sleep in short intervals. I have given him Valium (per the vet) to help with sleep on occasion. I am concerned more about pain for him right now than kidney failure as recently he has had moments of crying, which the vet believes is cervical pain.
I know I have been lucky to have my buddies for so long and everyone tells me how fortunate I have been, but I don’t think they realize that doesn’t make it any easier – in fact it makes it harder. I know tough decisions are around the corner as my vet continues to remind me that they will not just go to sleep one night and not wake up. He said that dogs very rarely suffer from heart attacks.
My babies
I am so sorry to read about your babies. To lose one is one thing, to fear losing both is another altogether.
As far as the Rimadyl, I found that when Sara was on it for a back injury, if I gave it to her in the middle of a meal it didn’t upset her tummy. If I gave it to her just before or later in the day, she got nauseous and sometimes vomited.
In the meantime, enjoy every second of every day that you have with your kids. Every second is precious.
Thank you so much for your reply. We have tried various times of the day but it doesn’t seem to matter. I have recently given him his pill not at meal time as he is a finky eater sometimes. I will focus more on ensuring food is given with his pill. Tonight he took his pill wrapped in turkey. A special treat for dogs who live with vegetarians.
You are absolutely correct when you say that even though you have been fortunate to have Bailey and Prancer as long as you have, it still doesn’t make your future decisions any easier. Unfortunately, any time we choose to make a commitment to a fur baby, we always know in the back of our minds that we will outlive them. It shouldn’t be that way, and I wish it could be different. But you have to remember that you have given Bailey and Prancer the absolute best lives they could ever have ahd, and they were meant to be with you. I know it’s hard, but try to just take things day by day. Bailey and Prancer just know they love you, they are with you rignt now, and that’s all that matters. Just love them up for every minute you have, and try not to think too far into the future. In the meantime, we’ll be sending positive thoughts to both of your babies.
Thank you. Even though I don’t know you all personally you have been a great source of support and strength. I thank you all for the kind words. I call you my tripawd family at my house.
Yes, ditto everyone else.
There will be a time for tears later, for now’ just enjoy every blissful second with them and continue to surround them with all the love, joy and spoiling you can muster up!
I have a senior now, as seems to happen with so many seniors, dealing with kidney issues. It sounds like everybody is still hapoy and alert and enjoying relatively good quality. Has the vet shown you how to do subcutaneous fluids at home? You can do that daily and will nelp with appetite and nausea for awhile.
Have you tried Tramadol for Bailey’s pain?
I’m sure you’re going the boiled chicken route for all. Have you tried anything holistically?
Just know we are here with you and we understand like no oters can. You are not alone.
Your pups are adorable and cleary love each other!
You hang in there. You are a strong and loving pawparent. Stay focused on tne present and don’t let anything rob you of your time together now!
Surrounding you with calm, hugs, strength and love,
Sally and Happy Hannah
We are meeting with the vet tomorrow to discuss options. Unfortunately the IV fluids didn’t seem to work as her numbers did not change much, however she did regain her appetite somewhat. We are currently making Prancer a kidney specific diet provided by the vet when she turned down the canned food. She is eating a meal made with ground beef, eggs, white bread, white rice and calcium carbonate. This seems to entice her and as I said in a prior comment, meat for dogs in a vegetarian household is exciting. Thank you for your comments.
what a cute twosome.. I think you need to scratch those bellies for me.. and kiss those brows and tell them Christine said hello!!
It is horrible that we have to go through this with our furbabies.. Just does not seem fair… I wish I had a magic wand I could wave and make every sweet furry kid better, make their life longer… make all the pain go away.
But I don’t…
But I do have the capability to tell you that you will have day by day unconditional love from both your babies.. that you can have as many snuggles and whisker kisses as you want!!
Enjoy them and your time together…. it’s irreplaceable!!!!
Christine…. with Franklin in her heart ♥
The babies were very excited with their belly rubs and kisses today. They say thank you and so do I. I think my issue with all of this is that they just don’t go to that special place when it is their time and that I have to make that decision for them. It seems wrong in a sense but I am also relieved that if they are in pain I can help make it go away. They have licked my tears for years and made my pain go away and now it is my turn.
Oh guys I’m really sorry to hear this. First, let me say that if you have a quadpawd that pup is part of the family here too, we have many members who also blog about their four-legged family members.
Kidney failure sucks but it is manageable in many cases. Have you seen Maggie’s blog? She is a Tripawd who’s been in kidney failure and boy she’s got some great info there:
http://maggie.tripawds.com/
Meanwhile, I can understand what you mean about the longer you have a dog, the harder it is to say goodbye. I want you to know that when it gets to that point (hopefully a long time from now) we are here for you all.
Many hugs coming your way.
Thank you for all your support. You all are wonderful and I am so blessed to have found you that one fateful night when I felt at wits end on Bailey’s first night home. Thank goodness for the Internet. I am going to check out Maggie’s blog right away. Thank you.