doglets

Took That Abe to see the Vet, not so much about her increasing weight loss, the now 12.8kg (down from 14.2 in four weeks) Abe is a heartbreaking skeleton, difficult to cuddle, but we have to persevere because that’s all she’s got right now. We went mainly about her confusion and endless agitation. Vet has prescribed vivatonin which sounds a little like Aricept for humans – it’s for increased blood supply but I suspect this may be shutting the door after the sanity has bolted, and probably more appropriate for dogs who have had strokes and the brain tissue is not atrophied beyond repair. But we’ll see. I’m happy to be disproved.

She had full bloods done on Tuesday to exclude any physical problems. She sometimes drinks excessively – it would be fantastic if she had diabetes, we could understand it and treat it. But watching her, it’s the same fixated repetition of a person with dementia who does not remember the beginning of the drink and just keeps drinking – so the bowls are being kept topped up to halfway only in case the 12.8kg  Abe drinks 2.5L of water and bursts.

My feeling is it would be kinder to give her a mild tranquilliser and we just interrupt the distressing cycle of agitation with a nap – but pet care seems to be headed the way of human care. God forbid we alleviate your upsetting symptoms / pain we might shorten your life by a day and you’ll sue.

And in the vets – they still want to call her Abby – and not Abe – she’s a dog and not confined by human gender stereotypes – she could be called Malcolm, Susan, London, Paris, Munich, Pop Music