Tuesday 15 July 2008

Abbey

I am very worried about Abbey at the moment. Her back legs have been getting very weak and last week I decided no more big walks for her. They were becoming a real chore for her. It's a fine line with Abbey in not over doing things but giving her enough exercise to maintain a healthy appetite.

Anway, at Rugby she was very wobbly and started to go right off her food. I took her to the vets on Monday morning and he said the wobbly back end is mechanical rather than neurological. It's obviously worse as she's feeling weak due to lack of nourishment.

Ian took some bloods from her and unfortunately the results were not what I wanted to hear. Her kidneys are functioning way below the norm but worse than that her liver is going into the failure zone. This accounts for her lack of appetite because the bacteria which the liver should cleanse is building up in her blood and gut. Ian has put her on a course of special antibiotics to try to kill off some of this bacteria and she has a special recovery food which is easy to eat and full of calories. She liked it a lot to start with but tonight she won't eat it. I'm hoping she'll eat some before she goes to bed.

Sometimes she looks OK and at other moments I think the end could be approaching soon. When I take her for her walk in the garden she mostly lays down on the grass and goes to sleep. In my dreams she would really do this and not wake up but it's rarely if ever that easy. I don't want her to go, she is my most precious dog ever and I can't imagine being without her. It's so hard. Maybe the antibiotics will do the trick and give her some more quality time.

At the moment I'm just praying nothing happens whilst Andy is in Germany. He goes out with the EO team on Thursday morning.

5 comments:

  1. Nancy I do feel for you. I know how this feels as I had to make a hard decision with my first dog Mutley when he began to seriously lose the use of his back legs. He was never going to go in his sleep as his heart was so strong - he was nearly 19 and there wasn;t anything in my life between the ages of 16 and 35 that he hadn;t been a part of. Losing him was like cutting out 20 years of my life.I could not imagine living without him he was so part of everything. I miss his face still 9 years later. YOu will know when it is the right time to let her go if that is what must be done. It's true and you will make the right decision no matter how much you batter yourself with the thoughts that you didn't.Big hugs to you and Abbey. They are so precious and become more so the older they get. Hxx

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  2. I am sorry to hear Abbey is not so well, hope she perks up soon. I know it is a worry and I cannot imagine when any one of mine go through this. Stay strong Abbey! Lots of sloberry kisses from your sheltie friends xxx

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  3. Life just seems so very hard sometimes, I am here if you need me, karen xxx

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  4. Big hugs to Abbey. I know what you are going through as when I lost Ben it was only due to him losing the use of his back legs that the decision had to be made, but then he couldn't stand up at all, so hopefully Abbey will perk up abit soon.
    Take Care
    Shaz and merlie boyz

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  5. This is such a difficult time - we hate it when we think we are getting close to having to make a final decision about our lovely dogs, yet the only way to avoid this awful feeling is not to have dogs at all. And that is just not worth thinking about.

    Be strong, and I hope Abbey has plenty more quality time left.

    love
    Sara xx

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