Tues:
Glamis would not stand to eat dinner. He ate but did it laying down. Before Tim left for work last night, the two of us helped Glamis outside. It was not easy. He was clearly in a great deal of pain and didn't want to go. The problem was that once Tim left, I was not going to be able to do it on my own. If he were co-operative, I could but nope, no way, he didn't want to go. Once in the grass he did walk a bit and peed but that was all. He took a few more steps - enough so he was about as far away from the front door as he could get and laid down. He was done. No amount of coaxing was going to work. This is where Tim was critical. If I absolutely had to, I could lift him but it would not be graceful and possibly do more damage than good. I do have a trolley I could load him on but I don't think he would like that either. We stood Glamis up and Tim carried him into the house. I laid down some pee pads left over from a long ago sick cat and we put Glamis on them. He wasn't moving any time soon and this would be easier cleanup if necessary.
After all of this, Tim is having a hard time. He feels it is time to stop and I am gearing up for the hang nail argument. I hate seeing Glamis in so much pain but I also know back injuries require rest and time. 12 hours isn't enough time for that kind of decision. Tim goes to work and I have some time before handbell rehearsal. It allows me a bit too much time to think about what should be done. Wait? schedule an appointment? For the moment I am thinking it is time but tomorrow is Wednesday and Dr. Mike isn't in the office. Do we have his sub do it or wait another day? The argument goes back and forth in my head until I get home from rehearsal.
I walk in the house and the decision is made. It is not time. Glamis is in the same spot but he has rolled to his other side. He is alert and wagging his tail. So the pain meds have kicked in and are working to some degree. Before bed, Glamis lets me help him stand and then willingly walks outside and toilets. Back in the house and into the bedroom. He has stopped a few times and his back end sags - a sign of pain and exhaustion but he does not need my help.
Wednesday:
5:00 am brings another willing trip outside and more pain meds. I go back to bed and when Tim gets home at 6, he feeds the dogs and takes them out. Initially, it was just Summer and Oregon but then he looked back at the door and saw Glamis standing there wanting to go too. This is very good news for multiple reasons. 1. Yea! He got up on his own to go out. 2. He has been leaking gas for about 18 hours now. The pain in his back seems to have prevented him from assuming the position to empty the bowels. What is so gross is that it is not expected 'dog' gas. It smells like a crock pot dinner. He has been getting vegi beef baby food 'gravy' mixed with his dinners and that odor sticks with him - going in and out. I am switching back to sweet potatoes.
I can tell when Glamis lays down in an unintended location because he will have frog legs. He doesn't have the ability to keep himself in a sit on the area rugs. His back end will slide back until his is down in the frog leg position. I help him stand and if he goes right back down, I know that was where he wanted to be but he couldn't rotate his hips to the side. I will then flip him into a better position. Otherwise, once back up, he will walk to where he wanted.
The rest of the day will be spent letting him rest even though we want to encourage him to be active. I won't force him up. I know he can get up if he wants to but he needs to rest so we can see if he does improve with time.
No comments:
Post a Comment