Thank you Shazzy. You don't have to sugar coat anything. It's me, so I know all too well how serious this all is. It's scaring me to death.
Last night I force fed him a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was the easiest thing to get into the turkey baster after I blended it. He kept it down for a round 20 minutes and then up it came.
He's on pain meds, and the vet was hoping that would help him get his appetite back, but so far no go. He turns his nose at everything we bring to him, and we have brought him everything. By the way, whoever said that giving a dog a pill was easy, didn't have a dog that didn't want to eat. It's not at all easy when he won't even eat bacon, or cheese. I had to literally shove it down his throat and then chase it with water in the turkey baster, and even then it took around 10 tries. Little bugger. It's not that big a pill, he's weak, but he still manages to spit it back out even when it's in the back of his throat and I've held his mouth closed for 5 minutes. Stubborn little bug. So there is some fight still left in him. Sadly he's using it against healing.
Right now I'm giving him around a tablespoon of chicken noodle soup, forcing it with the turkey baster, every hour. I think that yesterday the whole bowl at one time was just too much, especially since he hasn't eaten in days. So far so good. He's managed to keep that last two "doses" of soup down.
As for bites. We live in the burbs in Alberta. About the only thing that will bite you here is a mosquito. Itchy and annoying, but definitely not deadly. We don't have poisonous bugs, snakes, or anything. The biggest fear here is that your dog is sprayed by a skunk, and even that is a rarity.
The vet looked at his leg, did x-rays, and says she thinks he strained it, and that the pain is from his arthritis. I'm finding that a bit odd, because he's never been diagnosed with arthritis. Fat, yes. Arthritis, no. She also said that his heart rate is high for a dog as lethargic as he is. If he were Chewy (healthy and active) his heart rate would be normal. But considering the fact that he hasn't been even walking, or eating, his heart rate is high. Also, he's drinking water as if it's going out of style. If you leave a big bowl of water by him, he'll drink it empty within minutes, and when you fill it up again, he'll drink a second bowl, third bowl. It's gotten to the point where we have to take the water away (which I hate doing because he's not eating), because he's drinking it so fast that he ends up puking it all up. Right now he's getting a small bowl of water every hour, 30 minutes after the soup.
Right now Rod has to carry him to the yard for a pee, and has to hold him while he's peeing. I called the vet today and told her that the pain pills aren't doing anything, and asked if she had any other recommendations. Her exact words "I'm so sorry. All of his tests came back fine for a dog his age. The only thing that is looking at all off is his leg, and it's just swollen. It shouldn't be the cause for all that's going on with him. I had really hoped it was just pain causing him to stop eating, but these pain pills are good. If they're not working, then it's something else". In other words, she has no clue what's going on, no clue how to get him to eat, and she mentioned that this may just be out of anyone's control. No shyt? Really? Thanks for the news flash! I asked if there was another vet at the clinic that could take a look at him, someone more specialized. She told me that all the vets work together on a problem case, so all the vets in the clinic have already reviewed his x-rays and other tests, and all of them are baffled as to what's going on. I even asked if maybe his stomach was twisted. She said no, she checked that. Everything looks normal. His stomach is empty, but other then that, and the leg, there's nothing else that should be causing this. I asked about a blockage, because he's very gassy, and I thought that maybe he's drinking so much because he's trying to work something out of his system. She said no. There's nothing at all in his stomach or intestines. Nothing.
Right now Rod and I are on our own. The vet says there's nothing further she can do. She can put him on IV to keep him alive, but unless we figure out what's wrong, that's pouring gas into a leaky gas bucket, and he'd have to stay at the vet clinic. Rod and I both agree that we'd rather have him home with us.
Last night Rod and I agreed that we will do everything we can, give him the meds, force feed him, keep him comfortable, and if nothing changes, and the vet still can't help, then we may just have to do for Jasper what we did for Indy. But I'm not ready to give up yet. I just can't believe that a dog that was running around, barking, wagging his tail, eating my underwear, not even a week ago, is now so weak, so close to death.
They always say that God (or whoever is in charge) doesn't give you more then you can handle. Well, not to feel sorry for myself, but seriously, who the heck is in charge up there, and how much more do they think I can handle? I'm telling you right now, I'm at the very end of my rope. You would think that with all the death I've handled in my life, I'd be immune to it by now, I'd breeze through it like nothing. But in truth, every single death just takes more of my soul. I just don't have anything left anymore. Someone has a very sick idea of what I can handle, because I can't handle this. Not right now. In a few years yest, but not right now. It's too much! Isn't it enough that I lost my parents only 6 months apart? Now I may lose my dogs less than 6 months apart? It's too soon. I don't expect 16 years with Jasper. I get that we got really lucky with Indy, that he wasn't the norm for a larger breed dog. But Jasper is only 10! I've never lost a dog at this age before, and never had a dog that went from being fine to being like this within days. I don't expect 16 years, but can I at least get one or two more? Can I at least be prepared for this?
I just keep seeing him running around, playing, barking, wagging his tail, nudging me because he wants a belly rub. That was not even a week ago! Not even a week!
Sorry for the book. It helps to write this down. I'm beside myself right now. I don't know what to do. I need a miracle, because if I stop sugar coating things for myself, I have a feeling I won't have my Jasper past the weekend. If things keep going downhill as they are, as quickly as they are, we're going to lose him, and it won't be weeks, or months, but hours, or days. :(
