Over the last week or so, my lovely 13-year-old dog
Sophia has been affected by alarming health problems, and I'm trying desperately to save her.
For ages, she has has been afflicted with a "running nose": that's to say, a daily effusion of greenish mucus from her nostrils, which has never seemed to worry Sophia and which I simply wipe away with absorbent paper. The veterinarian has explained to me that this mucus is no doubt an external symptom of some kind of serious internal problem. Unfortunately, this superficial symptom doesn't indicate automatically any kind of effective medication. And it's a fact that none of the several products suggested by the veterinarian have succeeded in stopping the mucus effusion.
A week or so ago, things became more dramatic when Sophia started to lose her appetite. The veterinarian put her on cortisone tablets, and this seemed to produce a positive reaction. Since yesterday, though, Sophia has refused all food, no matter what appetizing products I've offered her. Worse still, she refuses to eat additional cortisone tablets. So, this evening, I'm terribly anguished...
It's all very well to say that she's an old dog, and that her time is up. Fair enough. But I'll be devastated if and when she goes. Sophia is Gamone, and Gamone is Sophia.
If it's her time, you have to let her go.
ReplyDeleteAm thinking of you and Sophia. She will never fully leave you until you have no more memories of her.
Take heart! Be strong!
Annie
ReplyDeleteThanks for your compassionate words. For the moment, I've succeeded in getting Sophia to swallow her tablets, crushed into powder and washed down with warm water. And she has suddenly reacted positively by eating raw eggs and pieces of apple. Last night, she even devoured a pork bone. She's quite alert and capable of following Fitzroy and me up the road and back. She has even stopped coughing up stuff. But she refuses to eat any of the meat-based dog products I put in front of her. Tomorrow morning, I intend to see how she'll react to raw minced steak and eggs. Above all, there are no apparent signs of suffering, and she dozes off deeply from time to time. So, we'll see how the situation evolves...