Happy doggie

I just HAD to share this picture. Is this not the happiest dog you have ever seen or what?

 

Pet hospice

It seems that hospice care for pets is conducted largely at home, rather than in a specific place, as it would be for humans. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Angel's Gate, a pet hospice in New York currently being accused by PETA of massive neglect. I couldn't find much else online, but I'm sure they're out there. However, I'll be discussing home based hospice care, which seems like a strategy to make a pet's final days or weeks more comfortable. 

When your pet's illness can't be cured, and death is inevitable, the process can still be dignified and humane. Even with hospice care, I think it's still necessary to keep constantly reassessing the pet's quality of life because their suffering may increase to the point that euthanasia becomes necessary. I want my Lilith and Ophelia with me for as long as possible, but not if they're suffering. I know from trying to look after my mom when she first became ill that it's a huge commitment. Being employed full-time means that if Lil or Ophelia begin to require around the clock care, I will not be able to provide it. Hospice care isn't for everyone, but it seems like a really nice gift to give a pet, provided that the human isn't going down that route for their own benefit. 

The ASPCA website is a great resource for further reading:
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-loss/end-of-life-care-faq.aspx 

CB, one of my childhood dogs, in middle age. He lived to be almost 20!

 

Sick Little Girl

Lilith has been throwing up since 5:15 this morning. I've been trying to comfort her and clean up after her at the same time. She's resting now, but I'm not sure if that means she's out of the woods. I'm going to call the vet as soon as they open to ask if her cartrophen injection yesterday could have anything to do with the situation. It's time for a professional opinion. 

At this age, whenever something like this happens, you find yourself wondering if this is the end, and it's so scary.  

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A little later in the morning...
I called the vet, and he said that the cartrophen probably had nothing to do with it, thankfully. I hope it really is just a passing stomach irritation. I've got some brown rice in the rice cooker, and am going to see if she'll take it. Lil isn't like most dogs. She won't eat food off the sidewalk, she stops eating once she's full, and she won't eat if her tummy is upset. At her age, hunger strikes aren't ideal, but she knows her body best.

She hasn't thrown up for almost four hours. I hope the rest of the day is uneventful. She's having a good nap on her bed in the living room, and seems pretty wiped, but as long as I can hear her dainty little snoring, I'm calm about the situation. 
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Still later...
She finally ate a little bit of rice mixed with some of her wet food. The rest of the day was indeed uneventful. I even managed to take a nap! Phew! I think the worst is over, but we'll skip our walk today, just because I don't think Lil has enough energy just yet. 

Hair - and lots of it!

Lil is currently shedding her undercoat. Here's an example of the results of ONE grooming session. 

I groom her daily, in case you were wondering.

I am dedicating today's post to my brother, a wonderful human being who sneezes every time he comes to my place. It's ironic that I'm the one supposedly allergic to animals, yet he's the one with the symptoms. I just spent an hour brushing my dog. She was curled up in my lap, licking tiny gobs of poultry flavoured toothpaste, while I was inhaling the tiny particles that are supposed to make me sneeze. Either constant exposure makes you resistant, or I have discovered a miraculous cure for allergies. Or neither. I don't know why I can groom my pets daily, sleep with Ophelia two inches away from my nose, and carry Lil in the elevator tete a tete. I'm just really thankful that I can. For her part, Lilith is thankful I'm done grooming her for the evening.


I thought I'd include her before and after pics:

Before

After

Long live the internet!

Here's a gem I found this morning:http://www.animalhospice.org/
These people provide grief support before and after your pet dies. This includes giving you suggestions on reading materials, providing telephone support (though it's not toll free, and is located in Idaho), answering emails, and providing a goldmine of information on their website. 

These people are so amazing! Check out their response to one of the FAQs about how to cope with grieving pets:
We recommend the human that felt a love for the deceased animal sit and share with the grieving animal about the loss, holding the animal, sitting next to it, or across from it, whichever is accepted by the animal, and tell them `exactly' what happened to their animal friend. We tell them very slowly and explain all of the details of the loss as closely as possible. Many times this seems to be the beginning of the grieving animal's healing. Whether the animal understands your words, sees images through your thought processes or feels your emotions is not to be debated here. We at AHCC believe that the barrier between species is lowered through this type of clear and honest sharing. 


And here's part of their philosophy regarding euthanasia:
At AHCC, we discuss how we sit with our ailing animal and are very quiet. From this place of quiet and peace, we share with the animal that the illness or old age is irreversible and that we are open to hearing or feeling what the animals wishes are about the future. Not always, and still, many times the care giver will get a feeling from the animal such as: `I'm fine for now, let's wait awhile', or `I'm very tired and ready to go', or a variety of impressions or feelings that will help the person with the choice of the decision.

I love the focus on your connection with your pet. I truly believe that I can sense what Lil and Ophelia are thinking and feeling, just as they seem to know what I'm thinking and feeling. People dismiss that sort of deep bond, so I seldom refer to it, but it's there, and I love that it's been validated on this site. Thank you, people!!

Look into my eyes and listen carefully...

There's no expiration date on love

I regularly assess Lil's quality of life, so this morning, while we were walking, I was mentally going through the HHHHHMM scale for the gazillionth time. We're still peachy, thankfully.

My mom used to say that once the dog started using the carpet as an outhouse, it was time to have it put down. I'm not going to judge that comment, but I will say that it doesn't work for me. Still, there are days when looking after a senior pet is exhausting, and I think that your own needs should be taken into account, so I am hereby modifying the HHHHHMM scale. It shall henceforth be known to me as the HHHHHHMM scale. The addition of an extra H (for "human quality of life") is something I need to ponder, at least a little.

I love my pets dearly, and would never give up on them in their present state of relatively good health. However, they do take up a fair bit of time, energy, and money. I work full-time in an effort to keep them in the luxurious manner to which they are accustomed, so I need to ensure that we're all getting our needs met. If the girls begin to require round-the-clock care, that might influence the decisions I make regarding them. It's hard for me to think about my needs when I love my pets so much that I would happily toss my needs out the window, but I had to make some tough calls regarding my mom's care when she was sick, and some of them were indeed influenced by my own quality of life. In the beginning of my mom's sickness, a social worker at the hospital told me that I couldn't care for her myself. After all, she reasoned, I was one person, and I wasn't home during the day. I saw her point, and so, my mother went to the hospice, and I appreciated the care she received so much! I wouldn't have been able to provide anything close to what they did. Besides, I would have lost my mind and exhausted myself. I didn't love my mother less than someone who would have kept their parent at home to die, but I did what was right for both of us.

The love I feel for Lil and Little O won't ever expire, but I'm going to carve out a moment to ponder how caring for senior pets affects my life while I'm pondering their overall health. All I know for sure right now is that Lil and Ophelia add to my life in a way that more than repays any time, energy, and money I devote to their care. I'm so happy they're here with me :-)

She's just perfect. I know I'm biased, but still...

Kindred Spirits

I'm so excited! I took Lil for a walk at 5:00 a.m. today, and we saw another dog in a buggy! Chica is a bigger dog, so her human had what looked like a bike trailer converted into a stroller because she would never be able to lift her into something like the dogger. My former neighbour has an Akita, and always used to say that she didn't know what she would do if she needed a buggy for her dog. It's nice to know they make viable options for bigger dogs. It's also nice to know that people use them. After all, the more demand there is for such products, the more accessible they will be, and that's good news for those of us wishing to preserve a good quality of life for our pets. Anyway, it was so wonderful for me to meet someone else using a stroller. If I ever see them again, I'll ask if I can take a picture to share with you. I was so excited I couldn't think straight this morning. Oh well, here's a picture of Lil:

Sitting in front of some cool flowers

 

Canine cuisine

Lil's doo doo has been a little less than firm for the past few days, so I'm making her peanut butter biscuits to help her in that regard. I thought I'd share my recipe:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1/2 cup of peanut butter (I use organic smooth without added salt) and 1 cup of water. Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of white flour. Knead, roll, and cut using a cookie cutter. You can add a little bit of extra water in case the dough is too dry. Bake for 20 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. Watch your dog gobble them up! 

Dogs in the Workplace

I got hired at a new school for the coming school year, and have been told that I can bring my dog to work. Because a typical workday for me involves up to 22 loud little munchkins, I doubt I would bring Lil on a regular basis unless I had an octagonal playpen to provide her with a safe space free of little hands (she's not that fond of physical affection unless it's offered by me). Still, I am delighted to know that my future workplace is dog friendly. 

I remember one school I worked at where the librarian brought her dog to work with the special needs children. It was absolutely lovely to see this gorgeous dog with such a beautiful heart make a difference in the lives of children who were often non-verbal or otherwise challenged. Then, she was told that it was against the rules. In my opinion, that was a tragedy because one child, confined to a wheelchair and seemingly unresponsive, lit up when the dog was there. It was as if the dog provided the motivation for this child to become an active participant in life itself, and it was amazing to see this and the many other examples. I can understand why such a rule was put in place, but there need to be exceptions. For example, I recently worked at a school where a pint-sized therapy dog provided love and learning opportunities for many young children. Even the adults loved seeing his cute little face every morning! Dogs are amazing, and it's lovely when they are allowed to spread love and joy in the world.

For me as an employee, being able to take my dog to work alleviates stress (i.e. "Oh no, I need to stay a bit later, but my dog needs to pee and I live an hour away"), improves morale, and also improves the quality of life for the dog. After all, they want to be with their people, and I think most dogs enjoy having a job. 

Of course, if someone is allergic to dogs or afraid of them, they won't think it's such a lovely thing. I guess in that case, the humans need to be respectful and create a distance between their dog and that person so that everyone is comfortable. However, it has been my experience that even the non-dog-lovers I've worked with in the past saw the benefits of involving dogs in the workplace, and were not bothered by their presence that much. It was an "out of sight, out of mind" situation, and it worked well.

As for me, I think I'll go check out octagonal playpens online. Before the start of the 2012 school year, I plan to bring Lil to work and see how she does in the classroom without the kids. If she does ok, I just might start bringing her sometimes. She can't hear that well, so I think the stresses of the environment would be significantly lesser for her. We'll see. I used to keep bettas in the classroom, and every year, they would die around Spring Break. One year, I took the fish home for the vacation and didn't bring him back (long story). That fish just turned 4. Is the classroom that stressful of an environment? I don't know, but since I can gauge Lil's stress level fairly well, I'll know if it's a good idea quickly enough. Stay tuned...

Silent Night

Lil didn't make a peep last night. I have a tendency to mother everything that breathes, so I still got up to check on her, but she was fine. In fact, she was snoring quietly with a smile on her gorgeous little face. 

I took a moment to be thankful for her relatively good health, as well as her overall presence in my life. I never would have gone out and adopted a dog because I work some long hours, and didn't think I could manage. Because Lil was already family, there was no question that she was going to live with me when my mom could no longer care for her, so I had to get creative. With the help of friends, I managed to make it work, and it has been soooo rewarding that I can't even begin to explain it. 

Yesterday, while we were walking near the ocean, two men in their late 20s came up to us and asked if the Dogger was for Lil (she was skipping along next to it instead of riding in it at the time). When they found out she was nearly 17, one of them got tears in his eyes and said I must be a super nice person to look after her so well. I thanked him, and didn't say much else because I wasn't sure what to say at the time. Last night, as I watched Lil sleep, I thought of what I would have liked to tell him: That's what you do for family. You care for them, even when they're old and frail. I know that my dog will run through fire for me, no matter how old she is, so I want to be her best friend and protector, too. There's a love on this planet so true and pure that it can only come from the soul of a dog, and I hope that I'm able to repay it sufficiently.

Things that go bump in the night

Lil has developed a new habit, and I can't say that it pleases me. However, it is what it is, and I've been rolling with the punches as best I can. My little doggie has been reverse sneezing, which sounds like she's gagging and trying to clear her throat at the same time. It's hard to explain, but it's definitely enough to wake me up out of a sound sleep...and it has...quite often these days. It's not serious, and can easily be managed by a little throat rub, but at Lil's age, any new thing is a cause for concern. I sure hope it's a phase instead of a regular event.