You are indeed right. The greatness of life with dogs you love!
I've written about Coasta, my most beloved Great Pyrenees. Now, I know Pyrenees are awesome overall, but my Coasta is a Queen among Pyrenees. She is loved by everyone who meets her and people marvel at her dignified beauty and gentleness on every walk.
She's older now, I think 10, but they weren't certain of her age when I got her. About a year and half ago, my vet said she had some muscle atrophy in her back right leg. She'd been doing great, going on walks and taking swims. We were just overall having a great time together in the world. Apparently, what she has is a narrowing of the vertebrae around her spinal column which causes the nerves to her legs for be squeezed. Meaning the leg weakness is neurological not arthritic.
I'd been watching her condition since the diagnosis and there was little change until late spring. She wanted to take somewhat shorter walks, but not significantly shorter. I thought maybe it was the heat. After all, I live in NC. Although I always try to walk her where she can swim, the walk to the swimming spot is hot and she is an older dog.
One day in the woods, one of her back legs started slipping. I was worried her condition had accelerated. It was so sudden. Although I shielded her from my distress, I immediately started crying. I went over to look at her leg and viola! She wasn't incapacitated. She had a sweet gum ball stuck in her paw. I pulled it out and was so happy that we had more time together to walk in the woods. Turns out it was a foreshadowing of things to come. Within weeks after the sweet gum ball incident, her legs started getting really weak and she couldn't cross the creek. I talked to the vet about it. He prescribed pain killers and, in response to my distress said not to be overly emotional and personalize it and that she still loved sniffing around, seeing me and eating. He likened it to an old person who just moves more slowly. That was true for a short time. When it got worse, the vet took her off painkillers and gave her a steroid shot. Painkillers were discontinued since the combo of painkillers and steroids is hard on her kidneys.
Well, the last few days, she has gone downhill super fast. I called the vet again and he said that maybe the steroid shot hadn't gone in (he'd wondered since she had absolutely no reaction to the shot). The result was that she's had neither steroids or painkillers the past two weeks. My vet is pretty old. He is super-learned and I like him. He's been practicing for like 50 years, but the info regarding the steroid shot, made me think maybe it he is who is over-personalizing my dog's condition.
Anyway, I called him Friday about Coasta's sudden decline and he came right over to give her another shot. If effective it would have had an impact by now and no impact is visible. She is having a hard time just squatting to pee and poop and this a dog that will cry in the middle of the night to be let out if she has diarrhea because she doesn't want to poop inside.
I think it may be time to put her down. I don't want her to suffer. She is such a regal, eager to please and infinitely loving creature. I don't want to put her through this. Right now, my concern for her is bigger than my grief, but oh how I love her- my best friend and companion. You said to me in a previous post about my dog "hug your pyrenees. The same back at you today, although you've already said it in this post and others - Savor, spoil and hug your Dunc pup and, if you're so inclined, give a thought of comfort and love to my beautiful Coasta.
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