What To Do Now? ----Max

[Kayos and Havoc]

I am lost. I have no idea what to do next. I love Max very much but I fear I am losing him. On the other hand he has spiraled down before and bounced back.

We have done some extensive testing on him this week and the results so far say he is fine. We are waiting on thyroid tests, dexamethasone suppression tests and some more adrenal gland tests. His xrays show nothing, the ultra sound shows nothing. On the bright side is spondylosis is no longer active as his spine has fused totally. His chem panel and CBC are totally normal. He does have a bone spur on his right hip causing him pain

He is losing weight, he is eating well. He is lost, we know he has CCD. I bumped him today by accident on his right side and he screamed in pain.

He has had some loose stools off and on but this week has been ****. He has had explosive diarrhea all week, We have been cleaning it off walls, floors, furniture etc. This afternoon Joe went to get his hair cut and he had no sooner backed out of the driveway when I heard Max walk up and down the hall once. I went to let him out and as soon as I went into the hallway I could smell it. He had defecated all over the house. I spent an hour cleaning it up. It was on the walls, the kitchen table, the wash machine, the dryer, the baseboard and rugs. He gives no warning, just walks around pooing everywhere, we do not know why. I have cleaned up 4 times today. We let them out last night and 30 minutes later Max had done the house in.

I cannot deal with this much longer. We are not sleeping at night as he paces, whines and cannot settle. All medications have been stopped and we are fasting him per the vets order. We are to give him anti-nauseu medication to try to stop the diarrhea.

He is also peeing in the house. It is as tho he has lost his mind and has no idea where to potty.

Have you ever walked out in the ocean and felt the ground gradually slope under your feet? And then all of a sudden it drops off to deep water? I feel that way with Max.

He has given us scares before but he bounces back. This is the worst one and I am afraid I am losing my dog. The vet feels this may be dementia, we know it is , but are not doing anything else with meds til we see test results. The vet did say we may start Aninpryl next week depending on the tests.

Just venting.... and being very upset right now.

Unfortunately Max will be outside tonight. I hate that.

[Riley's Mom]

How very heartbreaking for both you and your dog. I hope your vet can help him very soon.

[WiscTiger]

OH Kathy,

Hugs to you and Joe.

Do you think it is possible in his confused state all the Vet stuff stressed him out and that is what is causing the diarrhea. I could see him being sensitive to touch also from stress. I know it was beyond your control but I don't think he actually took the move well at all. I think the poor guy is just so confused he doesn't know what he is doing. There is also in humans with Alzheimer's a thing called Sundowners Syndrome. http://www.ehow.com/how_2085505_diag...-syndrome.html

I think there can be a big parallel between humans and dogs.

I am sorry that Max isn't doing well at all.

Val

[3K9Mom]

Kathy, I'm so sorry. I have had days where I just want to curl up in the fetal position because I'm cognitively and emotionally paralyzed and don't know what to do with my seniors. Sometimes, I think all this medicine and technology is a curse more than a blessing; it seems we learn what isn't wrong, but not what IS, much less how to fix it.

I wish I could offer some information or insight. But I have none. Please know, though, that your friends in the PNW are keeping you in our hearts. You and your pack never really left us.

[Skye'sMom]

Kathy;

I can only say that we all know the care and love you have for your Max. You know him best - more meds may help, but is his quality of life suffering?

You will make the best, most loving choice for him.

I have been so fortunate that my 3 seniors (2 dogs and a cat) that I have lost this past year all took the decision out of my hands. One went in her sleep, one stopped breathing while we were at the vet's for her heart and 1 when we pulled into the parking lot.

I have also been where you are and I am consoled by knowing that my dog, Seiko, was becoming so unhappy and not herself and I had to think only of her. I knew when she looked at me that it was time.

Get some rest, and look at Max tomorrow - he may tell you it is time.

[Barb E]

Originally Posted By: 3K9MomI wish I could offer some information or insight. But I have none. Please know, though, that your friends in the PNW are keeping you in our hearts. You and your pack never really left us.

I could not have said it better
x1,000,000,000.50

[GSD10]

Kathy, I have been following your other post on Max and was really hoping that you and your husband would hear some postive news from the vet soon and that Max would bounce back for you.

I just saw his picture in the Senior picture thread, what a gorgeous boy Your heart break is felt very clearly, take care.

Ruby

[LisaT]

I'm so sorry Kathy

The cognitive stuff doesn't seem to explain the diarrhea, unless it's just stress? But that explosive diarrhea to me sounds medical.

Doesn't help with the cognitive stuff though. I'm so sorry that Max is slipping away -

[Kayos and Havoc]

I too am sure the diarrhea is medical but we can't find anything wrong with him. He is not getting anything right now except the anti diarrhea stuff crushed in a little bit of wet food. He has not had anything to eat now for 24 hours. Tonight I will feed him some boiled rice and chicken.

I have to go out side and see what is in the dog run. I did not check it as I let him this morning through the garage. The garage was clean.

It would kill me to put a dog down that was fairly healthy but just not able to function in his head anymore. He has been growling that the other dogs but not at us. When that starts I would have to think seriously about this. Right now I think he is going to pull through this.

[Cassidy's Mom]

I'm so sorry Kathy. We went through the downward spirals and bouncing back with Cassidy several times, and it's so hard. I remember just when we thought it was that time, she'd get a little better.....and then just when we thought maybe she'd pull through or at least stabilize, she'd start going down again. It was very draining, we never knew if we were doing the right thing for her.

And Sneaker had the bowel issues too. Earlier she'd had sporadic episodes of diarrhea that were cleared up with meds, but eventually that stopped working. When we first put her on it she was stopped up for 4 days! I was worried because went from diarrhea to nothing coming out at all for days on end. She ended up on that drug (can't remember the name, but it was a large pill that was sort of orangey brown colored) full time, but still had diarrhea. She was 14 years old and her mobility was greatly reduced, and I think she also started losing the ability to know when she had to poop. She did try, and would sometimes have an accident in the hall on the way to the door to go out. But having not much advance notice of her need to go, coupled with the fact that it was hard for her to get up from the floor and that she didn't move very fast when she did make it up, meant that we were cleaning up after her often.

I remember one particularly bad time when she got as far as the garage (fortunately!) but exploded in diarrhea right before she got to the dog door, and then slipped and fell in it. It was all over the garage floor, and her too, so Tom got her in the tub while I mopped up the floor. Another time she had horrific diarrhea on our bedroom floor at 3:00 in the morning. After that, if we couldn't get her to go before bedtime she slept in the garage. I felt bad about that, and most of the time a short walk partway down the block and back would take care of things so we didn't have to do that often. When she first started having trouble getting herself outside fast enough it was reasonably firm poop, which I could deal with. But scraping runny poop out of carpet in the middle of the night was just not something I could do all the time and still function at work the next day.