Well, here's something for "That Guy" to chew on:
You know all those urinary problems with Kirby? Remember he's got kidney failure probably cancer....? Well, Kirby still seems to be feeling better, he's following me around outside when I do my chores, wagging his tail more, digging in the garbage more (I know, not usually a good thing, but in this case I think it is....) and all in all seems to be feeling better. But still not able to go through the night without an accident. Every single morning I have to clean up the floor in the laundry room. But I know Kirby doesn't have much time left, and that's just how it is going to be for now.
I'm lucky that for this week, anyhow, "That Guy" seems to only be lurking in the background...DH has been trying to do more around the house to help, being more considerate and less selfish....not quite "normal" DH, but doing pretty good.
But...
Last week, Sarah, our 14 year old blue heeler dog (that's her in the picture--the white kitty next to her is Que-Queek, he died two years ago of kidney failure) started having accidents in the house. LOTS of them. Everywhere. Mostly in front of the door, but some of them were like she knew she had to go, but couldn't get herself up and to the door in time, so there was a trail....anyhow, it's been pretty bad. So I brought her to the vet yesterday. And after $250 worth of tests, here is what we found:
All of her blood work--kidneys, liver, white count, blood sugar, thyroid, etc., are fine. Absolutely perfect, and probably better than you would expect in a 14 year old dog. But....her urinalysis proved otherwise. They did a test called "specific gravity" and it was way low. The vet believes Sarah may have a disorder called "
Diabetes Insipidus". It's not regular diabetes, but it's where a dog (or a person) can no longer concentrate urine. Which means that there is a lot of drinking and a lot of peeing. Supposedly this is caused EITHER by a lack of a certain hormone, or the body's inability to respond the hormone. So we may be able to try treating her with the hormone, but the vet says he hasn't really seen good results. Not much else we can do. Not life threatening, unless she doesn't have access to water, because she can get dehydrated very quickly. The vet recommended that Sarah become an "outside" dog.
We are going to have one more test on Friday to determine "for sure" whether she has it. We have to take away her water Thursday afternoon and they will check her urine on Friday to see if the specific gravity has changed at all.
I'm really lucky that "That Guy" has only just peeked in occasionally to let me know he's still around. He did get upset with the peeing until we knew completely that it wasn't Sarah's fault. Then he seemed to accept it. And today, I told DH that "Every time I think about starting to get Sarah used to being an "outside dog", I get really sad. I hate the thought of that. But I also hate the thought of all these accidents." Then I told DH, "I completely understand if you want to start leaving her out more, I am just having a hard time with it."
And DH said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. She's old. And she's been an inside dog all this time, and we can't explain to her why she has to live outside. Maybe I can tear up the carpet in the entry way by the door and put some linoleum down. I don't think I'm going to be able to make her live outside either."
I'm afraid to even think about what "That Guy" would've said, but I know it wouldn't have been that. This is part of what is so confusing about the bipolar. I never know which guy I'm married to that day. This guy is the one I married. Too bad I'm stuck with the other one, too.
Well, here's something for "That Guy" to chew on:
You know all those urinary problems with Kirby? Remember he's got kidney failure probably cancer....? Well, Kirby still seems to be feeling better, he's following me around outside when I do my chores, wagging his tail more, digging in the garbage more (I know, not usually a good thing, but in this case I think it is....) and all in all seems to be feeling better. But still not able to go through the night without an accident. Every single morning I have to clean up the floor in the laundry room. But I know Kirby doesn't have much time left, and that's just how it is going to be for now.
I'm lucky that for this week, anyhow, "That Guy" seems to only be lurking in the background...DH has been trying to do more around the house to help, being more considerate and less selfish....not quite "normal" DH, but doing pretty good.
But...
Last week, Sarah, our 14 year old blue heeler dog (that's her in the picture--the white kitty next to her is Que-Queek, he died two years ago of kidney failure) started having accidents in the house. LOTS of them. Everywhere. Mostly in front of the door, but some of them were like she knew she had to go, but couldn't get herself up and to the door in time, so there was a trail....anyhow, it's been pretty bad. So I brought her to the vet yesterday. And after $250 worth of tests, here is what we found:
All of her blood work--kidneys, liver, white count, blood sugar, thyroid, etc., are fine. Absolutely perfect, and probably better than you would expect in a 14 year old dog. But....her urinalysis proved otherwise. They did a test called "specific gravity" and it was way low. The vet believes Sarah may have a disorder called " Diabetes Insipidus". It's not regular diabetes, but it's where a dog (or a person) can no longer concentrate urine. Which means that there is a lot of drinking and a lot of peeing. Supposedly this is caused EITHER by a lack of a certain hormone, or the body's inability to respond the hormone. So we may be able to try treating her with the hormone, but the vet says he hasn't really seen good results. Not much else we can do. Not life threatening, unless she doesn't have access to water, because she can get dehydrated very quickly. The vet recommended that Sarah become an "outside" dog.
We are going to have one more test on Friday to determine "for sure" whether she has it. We have to take away her water Thursday afternoon and they will check her urine on Friday to see if the specific gravity has changed at all.
I'm really lucky that "That Guy" has only just peeked in occasionally to let me know he's still around. He did get upset with the peeing until we knew completely that it wasn't Sarah's fault. Then he seemed to accept it. And today, I told DH that "Every time I think about starting to get Sarah used to being an "outside dog", I get really sad. I hate the thought of that. But I also hate the thought of all these accidents." Then I told DH, "I completely understand if you want to start leaving her out more, I am just having a hard time with it."
And DH said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. She's old. And she's been an inside dog all this time, and we can't explain to her why she has to live outside. Maybe I can tear up the carpet in the entry way by the door and put some linoleum down. I don't think I'm going to be able to make her live outside either."
I'm afraid to even think about what "That Guy" would've said, but I know it wouldn't have been that. This is part of what is so confusing about the bipolar. I never know which guy I'm married to that day. This guy is the one I married. Too bad I'm stuck with the other one, too.