Duchess is home

[cjsmith]

They didn't get a urine sample. Her bladder simply does not fill. But she's straining a lot, and she did pass

several chunks of pinkish-white tissue

at the vet's this afternoon. He started her on antibiotics, gave her an anti-inflammatory to calm down the whole likely-infected area, and is sending the tissue to the path lab. I've got ten days' worth of antibiotics to continue. We'll figure out what ELSE needs to be done when the lab report comes back. I wish they'd started on the antibiotics yesterday, but I do admit they wouldn't have the tissue sample now if they had sent me home with pills yesterday.

Duchess is now in the bathroom, where I have taken up all the rugs, and she is, in vet parlance, "soiled". She's also obviously uncomfortable. I can't decide whether I want to bathe her because she'll be happier clean, or let her be because a bath is the last thing she wants to deal with right now.

I hope this is just a bad infection. A bad enough case could cause her to shed damaged bladder lining or urethra lining. The most obvious other possibility, sadly, is "a tumor" (I think my vet didn't want to say the C word).

Comments

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Oh, the poor little girl. I know how painful it is watching someone you love in pain ... and knowing they don't understand why it hurts makes it even harder. If it's any consolation, remember that animals don't suffer when they're in pain. A human in that condition would be terrified, thinking of the future ... how much longer can I stand this, am I going to die, what's really wrong with me, why aren't those antibiotics working yet, thoughts going round and round, on and on. Animals don't do that. They just deal with it.

Let me tell you a story. My friend Nancy had a sheltie whose leg joints started deteriorating when she was only 2 years old. By the time she was 5, Cinnamon's wrists and ankles (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/dog/label/anatomy/labelanswers.GIF) were completely gone, and the lower half of all four legs were attached to the upper half only by tendons and skin. They hung uselessly, and she got around almost like a seal, on her forearms and knees, with the lower parts of her legs flopping uselessly. She had to have been in tremendous pain, and it was heartbreaking to watch her flopping around, especially struggling to get up and down steps.

But you know what? Cinnamon was a very happy dog. Her tail was always wagging, and she loved to play, and have her belly rubbed ... and she loved to chase squirrels and romp with her "cousins" (Nancy's daughter's two big dogs)! She was always full of verve and joy, despite her handicap. When she was about 11, she lost her ability to walk more than a few feet, so Nancy got a little red wagon for her and pulled her around (they live on several acres) so she could be with them the way she always was. But to everyone's astonishment, after a few months, she started getting around on her own again! None of the humans in her life -- her family, or the vet -- understood why, but Cinnamon never questioned any of it. She just dealt with whatever came her way with aplomb.

Of course she was slowing down with age, and she died when she was 12 or 13, having lived almost all of her life with an enormous handicap. But she didn't know she was supposed to be "disabled," and she didn't appear to mind the pain. She just accepted her life the way it was, because she was a dog, and animals don't contemplate their condition.

So Duchess is not suffering, even if she's in pain. I'm sure she's not thrilled about being locked in the bathroom, but even then, when you're not there she's not worrying about it -- she just accepts it, because that's what animals do. Cinnamon was a tremendous inspiration to everyone who knew her, and I hope her story will inspire and comfort you too, along with the hugs and healthy thoughts I'm sending your way.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Animals have the whole Buddhist thing down, don't they?

There is a hopeful sign: after I cleaned up last night, the floor is not wet this morning. (There's litter sand all over it, but no urine.) If she's continent I can let her out of the bathroom. She'll need a real bath first, though.