June 9, 2023

Senior, Sick, and Injured Pets

Geriatric and Sick or Injured Pets

This post is a follow-up to my blog about veterinary bills and also a shout out to all the people caring for elderly, injured, and sick pets. It’s not an easy job! I feel like not enough is said about the stress and emotional load that comes with aging pets. We love them so deeply, and when we can’t reverse the aging or disease process, we can have trouble moderating our own stress.

I have talked a lot about the ongoing issues Toki is having. He started last year with behavior changes that pointed to the possibility of pain or cognitive decline or both. He was getting up in the middle of the night, trembling, becoming stressed around our other dogs, barking at things on walks. He stopped wanting to play in the yard and couldn’t manage even short walks. Then he had a big dramatic GI issue that sent him to the ER. Thousands of dollars, supplements, schedule changes, medications, diet changes, physical therapy consults, and lots of crying later, he was a new man. BUT. He has started showing some signs of cognitive decline again. Waking up every hour on the hour starting at 3:30 a.m. Not always hearing me when I call him, or being confused about where I am in relation to him. We also know his back is a mess and his limp is all I need to see to send me into a sadness spiral. He’ll be 11 years old next month. In my mind he’s “ONLY 11!” and shouldn’t be having any problems at all, but that’s not reality. I like to be in denial some days.

Now our Riddick, the 15 year old (he’s ONLY 15!) one-eared Pirate Cat and Private Security Officer is on a downhill slide. For a long time, we were struggling with his chronic asthma. It took nearly a year of oral steroids and then antibiotics for a secondary upper respiratory infection to get him to the point where we could finally decrease the prednisolone, add in an inhaler, then stop the pred. In the meantime, he was literally screaming (his voice is atrocious) for food every 2 hours. He was getting huge due to the steroids even though we were only feeding canned food, and he was obviously developing arthritis. Fast forward to about 10 days ago when he suddenly could barely walk. He had such an intense limp that each step caused him to fall to the floor. In a panic, we made a trip to the ER and after 7 hours there, had few answers. I took him to his regular vet and X-rays revealed the worst knees on the planet (BAAAAAAAD arthritis and falling apart haunted house bones), an old cruciate ligament tear, and a possible bulging disk in his back. He is now on daily pain meds and monthly injections, and he is barely able to get around. His new pirate name is Old Crap Knee. He was also confined to the dogs’ play area for safety while on the mend, which really threw a wrench in things during the Code Red Air Alert. The dogs couldn’t exercise outside and were not able to use their room, and I wanted to jump off a bridge. All the enrichment activities in the world weren’t cutting it. Thank you, air, for being breathable today.

Toki woke me up at 4:30 this morning and Riddick started his daily Scream Service at 5. It is heart breaking to see these guys all weird and old. Toki is thankfully happy as can be for the most part, but he still has some bouts (now thankfully rare) of intermittent trembling and for the most part has normal energy levels and personality. But getting me up all night is slowly driving me insane. We are trying more schedule changes and I may add in some supplements for sleep (I will not recommend any supplements or meds by name in this blog because I am not a veterinarian).

Riddick can barely walk, but I have to keep a close eye on him because he somehow manages to get himself onto the guest room bed when I’m not looking. That room must stay open because it is Toki’s room and he likes to go there for quiet time. Riddick seems happy, but his little legs make me tear up.

It goes without saying that anyone who loves their pets LOVES their pets. So I know you know where I’m coming from. I’m sharing all of this, because I think it’s only fair to be open about the reality of life with pets. As a dog trainer, especially one who likes to post all the cute happy moments of life on our Instagram page, I need to be careful to not gloss over the other side of pet guardianship. It’s not all hearts and rainbows. It can be stressful, cause us to doubt ourselves, and cause crying jags. I had one yesterday in the parking lot of my vet’s office, in fact! I was so sleep deprived – then Tiramisu decided to have a little puppy tantrum and I just had a meltdown in the car. I called my husband. I called a friend. I cried and drove around aimlessly until I had a brain again.

I don’t have any answers for how to handle the stress and sadness associated with having aging and/or sick/injured pets. All I can tell you is that you’re not alone and your feelings are valid. The good news is that if you’re managing your pets’ pain and issues, they are most likely happy as can be, so you need to remember to take care of yourself, too. Take a nap, buy yourself flowers, drink a pitcher of Sangria, buy a private island – whatever works. And I know it is easier said than done, but focus on the time you have with your animals, not the what-ifs of the future.

I’ll end this post with some pictures of my goobers being themselves.

I’d love to hear your stories – feel free to email me or share under one of our Instagram posts!

Riddick: who he is vs. how he sees himself.

Toki the Coziness King.