Wasn't planning on posting for the summer, but need to share. As you recall, came to Palo Alto this summer and we're staying here for a month. My sister had plans to take a trip to South Africa for several weeks and we came to watch her dog (Ollie) and keep an eye on my mom. Pretty uneventful so far...first took mom to Vegas for a couple nights and then settled into a routine with the dog and house siting. Must say that apartment life has its advantages. Watering plants, taking out the many trash bins and all the other pleasantries of home responsibility are overrated.
Walking the dog has been fun though and makes me want one. His hour and a half walk in the morning fits with my routine and other than a taste for cat poop, he is a pleasure. Having a dog that loves to eat cat poop is like having a close (male) friend that loves Coldplay. You still love them unconditionally, but it throws into question every personal decision they make cause ultimately, it's shit. Even don't mind the 30 minute evening stroll as the weather is so delightful. Yesterday, took my mom, Babydoll and her friend from Seattle that is visiting this week to the Korean chicken wing place (BonChon) to scratch that itch. I got the spicy and everyone else had the glazed. No one was injured this year. The last time I took my mom there, her nose started bleeding in the car ride home. The sign of a truly great wing. We got home, fed Ollie and the girls took him out for his nightly constitutional. They went to the park and threw the ball a few times...they reported that someone asked how old Ollie was and when they said he was 10, they were surprised as they thought he was a puppy. They took some videos of him running and wagging and drinking from the water fountain that are classic, but can't figure out to share them at this point as this isn't my normal computer and will try when we get home. Suffice to say, they are joyous.
We all settled into our nightly wind down activities with the girls cackling at K-Pop videos, me watching TV (the new Gong Show is fantastic) and Ollie stretched out beside me.
I got up in the morning and Ollie was downstairs when I went to start the coffee pot. As I hit the kitchen, I stepped in something wet and saw Ollie had massively puked. The amount of poop he produces in a day makes me envious, but paled when compared to the amount he threw up. He was lying nearby and didn't think much of it cause he is old and am told he pukes often (I mentioned his affinity for cat poop/Coldplay, yes?) So I cleaned up the sick and then opened the door so he could take a pee...and he didn't move. He sorta tried but didn't. Tried to cajole him and could then tell something was seriously wrong with his leg cause he struggled to get up and couldn't. Again...he had a limp the other day and heard that was not uncommon, and thought maybe he pulled something. When I tried to help him up, his back legs just wouldn't work.
I got out the house instruction sheet and looked up the vet they use. They were to open in 10 minutes, so lifted him up fireman style and put him in the back of the SUV. He is a big lab, would guess he is about 90 pounds, and getting them there was not easy and my respect for firemen was enhanced.
Got to the vet and they take a look at him. The Doggie Doc threw out some possibilities (a type of canine stroke called FCE and tick paralysis) and said they would run some blood and other tests for a couple hours. When they called back, they were still thinking it was doggy stroke but that I had to take him to a neurologist cause they just didn't know..
All the while, am communicating/talking to my sister and brother-in-law, who are in some camp in a game preserve in South Africa, via WhatsApp. They keep saying they are sorry I have to deal and I feel awful cause I broke their dog.
We get to the specialist and their prognosis is not good. This new doctor thinks it is something to do with his spine...an injury or tumor...as his back legs are paralyzed. They wouldn't say it, but if I read people's faces well at all, they don't look encouraged. They say that just to take and evaluate the MRI, it is gonna be $4000. Not only $3000 for the MRI, but an $686 estimate for the neurologist to review the images. Then, depending on the prognosis, it would be about $1000 a day to hospitalize him, and any procedure needed would be on top of that. I've had similar personal experiences with a pooch, when you are looking at age, prognosis and the costs, and it is just a brutal conversation. One of the hardest ones anyone will ever have and that you will turn over in your mind forever. I have my sister on the phone with the doctor and the call is made to put him to sleep.
After some paperwork, they put me in a room and then brought Ollie in. By this point, they had doped him up and he was lying there glassy eyed. Held his head while they gave him the drugs and it was over in about 30 seconds. In all of this, he did not cry nor did it seem that he was in pain or distress. The same cannot be said for me and am sure that my sister and brother are feeling it. Cannot stand being maudlin, nor is existentialism in my DNA, but I have never seen something die in front of me. Holding his head while they pumped him first with a sedative, and then with the stuff that stopped his heart...soul crushing.
We've no idea what happened. He was his usual self last night and incapacitated completely by morning. I keep running through all of the events and cannot think of anything happened that would have caused injury, but suspect that I will revisit this day in my mind forever looking for an answer. I feel so awful. He was a good boy...
