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- Jun 3, 2008
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As some of you may already know, my eight-year-old Great Dane, Caesar, is not doing so well.
Eight is pretty old for a Dane, and he has developed some of the more common problems that elderly Danes get. He has very severe arthritis in both knees, and he also has a condition called lumbosacral stenosis (also known as cauda equina syndrome). Basically, this means his lumbar vertebrae are fusing together and his spinal canal is narrowing, which puts pressure on his spinal cord. This causes weakness in his hind legs and a loss of bowel and bladder control.
Due to the hind leg weakness and knee arthritis, it is difficult for him to get up on his own. He can get himself into an almost-sitting position, and then DH and I help him with his hind end by wrapping our arms around his waist and lifting until he''s standing. Once he''s on his feet, he stands there for a couple seconds to stabilize himself, and then he can walk on his own. He CAN still get up on his own, but he very much prefers for one of us to help him. Because it''s so hard for him to get up on his own, he has developed a pressure sore on his right hip from laying in the same position for too long. We have been treating the pressure sore, and it is starting to look better.
Our vet calls from time to time to check on him. She called a couple weeks ago, about a week after his most recent appointment with her. Fortunately, I wasn''t home at the time and DH took the call. It was not an easy conversation, and I''m SURE that I would not have handled it as well as DH did. Basically, the vet told us that we are just acting as a hospice for him at this point.
He is on quite a number of medications:
1. Deramaxx once a day for his arthritis;
2. Proin three times a day to minimize his urinary incontinence;
3. Antibiotics once a day to prevent infection in his pressure sore; and
4. A joint supplement twice a day to help prevent the arthritis from progressing.
He is taking SO many pills that DH and I had to buy a pill organizer for him to help us figure out what to give him when. It has 28 compartments . . . four per day (morning, noon, evening and bedtime) and it holds a week''s worth of pills. I fill his pill organizer once a week, and it always makes me so sad. When I see all those pills, it makes me think of a person who is terminally ill, and I really DO feel like we''re just providing hospice care for him.
The Proin is helping, but he does still have pee accidents from time to time. There is nothing we can do to help with his poop accidents, and those are basically a daily occurrence now. The Deramaxx and/or the joint supplement he''s on do seem to help some, but he still has so much trouble getting up.
This is just breaking my heart. We have two other dogs, but they were both DH''s dogs before we got together and Caesar was mine. I''ve had him since he was ten weeks old and he''s my baby. He and I have been through a lot together, and I just cannot imagine life without him. But, I know it probably won''t be long until we''re at a point where it''s just not humane to keep him alive any longer. I really and truly don''t believe that we''re at that point yet, but I know it''s coming and I''m trying to prepare myself as best I can . . . and I''m failing miserably. I''ve been crying way too much lately. I always go somewhere else in the house so Caesar and DH won''t see me . . . but I especially don''t want Caesar to see me. Is that stupid?
My Mom is a member of a book club and she orders books all the time and gives them to me to read when she''s done. About two months ago, when Caesar really started going downhill, she ordered a book called "The Art of Racing in the Rain." It''s written from the perspective of a dog who is elderly and is about to die. The funny thing is, my Mom is NOT a dog person at all (although she loves my dogs . . . her "grandpuppies"), and she didn''t know about Caesar''s health issues at the time she ordered this book. She doesn''t know why she ordered the book, but she read it and loved it. When she gave it to me to read, she told me she thought it would help me get through this. I started reading it tonight, and I think I made it all the way to page four before I started bawling.
Sorry this got so long . . . I don''t really even know why I started this thread. I guess I just needed to say all of this to someone, and I needed a place to come to and someone to talk to as we go through this process. Thank you all so much for being here.
Eight is pretty old for a Dane, and he has developed some of the more common problems that elderly Danes get. He has very severe arthritis in both knees, and he also has a condition called lumbosacral stenosis (also known as cauda equina syndrome). Basically, this means his lumbar vertebrae are fusing together and his spinal canal is narrowing, which puts pressure on his spinal cord. This causes weakness in his hind legs and a loss of bowel and bladder control.
Due to the hind leg weakness and knee arthritis, it is difficult for him to get up on his own. He can get himself into an almost-sitting position, and then DH and I help him with his hind end by wrapping our arms around his waist and lifting until he''s standing. Once he''s on his feet, he stands there for a couple seconds to stabilize himself, and then he can walk on his own. He CAN still get up on his own, but he very much prefers for one of us to help him. Because it''s so hard for him to get up on his own, he has developed a pressure sore on his right hip from laying in the same position for too long. We have been treating the pressure sore, and it is starting to look better.
Our vet calls from time to time to check on him. She called a couple weeks ago, about a week after his most recent appointment with her. Fortunately, I wasn''t home at the time and DH took the call. It was not an easy conversation, and I''m SURE that I would not have handled it as well as DH did. Basically, the vet told us that we are just acting as a hospice for him at this point.
He is on quite a number of medications:
1. Deramaxx once a day for his arthritis;
2. Proin three times a day to minimize his urinary incontinence;
3. Antibiotics once a day to prevent infection in his pressure sore; and
4. A joint supplement twice a day to help prevent the arthritis from progressing.
He is taking SO many pills that DH and I had to buy a pill organizer for him to help us figure out what to give him when. It has 28 compartments . . . four per day (morning, noon, evening and bedtime) and it holds a week''s worth of pills. I fill his pill organizer once a week, and it always makes me so sad. When I see all those pills, it makes me think of a person who is terminally ill, and I really DO feel like we''re just providing hospice care for him.
The Proin is helping, but he does still have pee accidents from time to time. There is nothing we can do to help with his poop accidents, and those are basically a daily occurrence now. The Deramaxx and/or the joint supplement he''s on do seem to help some, but he still has so much trouble getting up.
This is just breaking my heart. We have two other dogs, but they were both DH''s dogs before we got together and Caesar was mine. I''ve had him since he was ten weeks old and he''s my baby. He and I have been through a lot together, and I just cannot imagine life without him. But, I know it probably won''t be long until we''re at a point where it''s just not humane to keep him alive any longer. I really and truly don''t believe that we''re at that point yet, but I know it''s coming and I''m trying to prepare myself as best I can . . . and I''m failing miserably. I''ve been crying way too much lately. I always go somewhere else in the house so Caesar and DH won''t see me . . . but I especially don''t want Caesar to see me. Is that stupid?
My Mom is a member of a book club and she orders books all the time and gives them to me to read when she''s done. About two months ago, when Caesar really started going downhill, she ordered a book called "The Art of Racing in the Rain." It''s written from the perspective of a dog who is elderly and is about to die. The funny thing is, my Mom is NOT a dog person at all (although she loves my dogs . . . her "grandpuppies"), and she didn''t know about Caesar''s health issues at the time she ordered this book. She doesn''t know why she ordered the book, but she read it and loved it. When she gave it to me to read, she told me she thought it would help me get through this. I started reading it tonight, and I think I made it all the way to page four before I started bawling.
Sorry this got so long . . . I don''t really even know why I started this thread. I guess I just needed to say all of this to someone, and I needed a place to come to and someone to talk to as we go through this process. Thank you all so much for being here.
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