Diamond Dogs

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I’m not really a dog person. I don’t have anything against them as a species, but they just aren’t my kind of animal. Don’t get me wrong, I give each individual animal the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, so when I moved in with my now wife I had to make some adjustments as her dog was very much part of the deal.
To be honest, it wasn’t such a big deal, as our dog is very easy going, barks only very rarely and is well house trained. Thankfully she took to me and pretty soon I was letting her out to use the garden, giving her food and water and on occasion walking her when my wife was away. Until about a year ago her only visits to the vet were for dental cleaning, but that changed. One morning she woke us up around 2am, and we saw that she was twisted to the right and could only walk in circles. Of course, we got her to the vet as soon as we could and she was diagnoses with Intervertebral Disc Disease, a condition in which the discs in her back atrophy. She presented with back pain and the steroids and painkillers seemed to do the trick.
Such is life, and to quote The Rolling Stones “What a drag it is getting old”. All was pretty much normal until a few months ago. She lost her appetite, and with it about three pounds, which doesn’t sound much, but it is on a 20 pound dog. She also began acting strangely, staring into corners and pressing her head against the wall. To be sure, this concerned us, so again, we headed off to see the vet. This time, the diagnosis was somewhat more troubling.
An MRI revealed a tumour around her pituitary gland. Of course, we were both devastated and began researching options, of which there were three; palliative care only which would give her only a couple of months, 20+ doses of conventional radiation, which would give her an average of two and a half years or stereotactic radiation which would have the same effect.
After many phone calls and consultations we found a place nearby that would do the stereotactic treatment – essentially a gamma knife. This was a relief as our only other option would be to go to Boulder, Co., and for a dog with pressure headaches, a flight would be an ordeal to say the least. The appointments were made and my wife took her over there, leaving her for three nights.
I will admit that it was an anxious few days, as we’d had to leave her at another clinic for an MRI and she did not like it, even trying to bite one of the vet techs, and her notes described her as “Fractious”. This is not our dog, and the only thing that occurred to me was that maybe she thought she was going to a shelter and being put up for adoption, as that is where she was when my wife adopted her.
I’m glad to say that she seems back to her old self, now. Although the meds give hr a ravenous appetite and almost unquenchable thirst which means that she pees about once an hour. As a result, my wife has been sleeping on the futon in the downstairs office for nearly three months now so she can let the dog out. We may look into a dog door or even pee pads as there is no way this can continue long term. My wife hasn’t had a full night’s sleep since she brought the dog home and as a result is permanently tired and it’s taking a toll on her, as you can imagine.
I’m grateful we have good pet insurance, otherwise I don’t know how we would have been able to afford all the tests and treatments she’s had over the past three months, but I’m glad we took care of her and that she’s now as healthy as she’s going to be. I usually end on a pun or some sort of joke, but not today. I’ve grown to love our dog over the past couple of years and I don’t know how either of us will cope once she’s finally gone. I only hope we get to enjoy her company for as long as possible