Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. We had a bit of a scare over the weekend. What Max? Okay, you are right it was not a small scare; it was a big scare. I had to go to a wedding over the weekend, so I dropped Max off at the kennel that is run by my vet. What? Okay, right again, your vet but I still pay the bills.
Anyway, I dropped him off on Thursday and made plans to pick him up on Monday. I got a call from the kennel Monday morning telling me that Max had a good weekend, but that morning he had some problems. I know he struggles after he has taken a hard fall due to his hips being torn by arthritis. When I picked him up they had just finished giving him an impromptu bath, he had an accident because he could not get himself up on all fours. He was pretty disheveled and kind of glassy eyed. I just thought he was upset from the bath (which he hates), and was hurting from his fall.
I got him home and he was still pretty out of it, however, I figured by the time I got home from work he would be more like his old self. Well, he just seemed to get worse. He could not stand for more than two minutes at a time, he turned up his nose at his peanut butter treat, which he never does, and he just acted like he was lost half the time.
I was starting to worry that Max had hit bottom (he will be 15 years old this November), and some tough decisions lay ahead for both of us. Max was a little better Tuesday morning but I decided to call the vet anyway and they were able to squeeze him in after lunch. The vet thought it sounded like Max was not getting enough oxygen, so he took him in to have an EKG. He came back and said that Max had high blood pressure (like his Master), and his heart beat was erratic. I call it a heart attack of some kind, or maybe a small stroke. We left with three more pills. Max now takes more pills than I do, which is not a good race to win. LOL!
Anyway, Max is feeling much better and is pretty much back to his “old” self, which was not great considering his age, but 100 percent better than he was on Monday. I know Max, I am old too, but we still have some miles left in us, and I pray we will be allowed to continue down the road together…for as long as we can.
As always be good, do good, play safe, and remember it is a long journey…take care of yourself.
JR and Max
