Senior Saga

(My elderly brother Claude)

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  Obviously, the world usually revolves around me, but sometimes even I have to step aside and let someone else take the spotlight.  This past week has been all about my older brother Claude the Husky.

Claude came to our family in May, 2008.  My parents don't know much about Claude; they adopted him from the shelter.  According to the shelter people, Claude ended up there because his former owner brought him in to the shelter, said "It's not working out" and signed him over.  The SPCA folks tossed Claude (then called Prince) into a carrier and took him to an adoption event planned that weekend at a craft show.  My daddy violated his own No More Dogs policy and adopted Claude on the spot.  I must admit, Claude was indeed a very handsome man in his day.  Our vet estimated that Claude--named after a couple of professional hockey players--was about 4 years old or so.

(Claude in his prime and in his element.)

Claude has never been a real people pleaser; he likes the periodic scratch on the ears or pat on the head, but he's just not crazy about physical contact.  We call Claude the old grouch because no matter what touches him--person, fellow canine, dust bunny, etc--Claude will shout out and growl.  He's never been violent but he just wants everyone to know he doesn't enjoy being touched.   As a result of his aversion to touch, Claude doesn't sit well for grooming, tooth brushing or nail trimming as you can well imagine.  (FYI, if you ignore Claude's griping and do actually touch him, he just gripes more but never nips or bites.  Some of the little kids in the family just go on and wallow on him anyway and he gets over himself.  Claude does actually love the babies in the family and will guard them while they nap.)

Over time, Claude has developed a few health issues.  A few years ago, Claude developed lupus.  Lupus is not common in dogs but Siberian huskies are prone to the disease.  Lupus in dogs can cause their nose to become ulcerated and crusty.  When Claude stays out in the sun too much, his nose gets all ugly and scabbed over.  He rubs his snout on the carpet to get rid of the scabs and he has a hissy if anyone touches his snout.  For the past several years, Claude has had increasing trouble with arthritis in his hind legs.  

A couple of years ago, Claude started to have severe problems with his rear end.  He can no longer jump into the back of the truck and on a couple of occasions has actually had what appears to be paralysis of his hind legs for a couple of days at a time.  Claude has trouble walking around when we go to the dog park; sometimes he tips over because his gait is impaired by his arthritic joints.  The past few months, Claude has become a little incontinent--he drips a little pee while he's sleeping.  Claude takes medicine for his hips and his pee problems.  Claude gets a little confused sometimes; my Aunt Cathy thinks he has dementia.  Sometimes he forgets which side of the door to go to or forgets where the food bowls are kept.

Last week, daddy took Claude for a well-needed teeth cleaning.  The vet gave Claude a sedative to calm him and she did blood work before the procedure.  This showed he was anemic and the doctor couldn't do his cleaning.  Unfortunately, Claude didn't respond well to the sedation and we found he was having another episode of his rear end paralysis.  So mama and daddy have been babying Claude, helping him stand up, carrying him around (no small feat since Claude is a big boy.)  Claude has recovered somewhat but is still having trouble dragging his ample hind end off the floor when he sits down.  He is taking meds for his anemia and for pain and the vet will be doing more diagnosis once the acute problems are better controlled.

I'm sorry to see Claude feeling badly but it does bother me that mama and daddy are all involved in his care so much.  Hello!  I'm not getting the attention due me and that's a problem of epic proportions.  

Claude's problems are pretty typical for an aging dog.  Such things as joint problems, cognitive problems, poor dental health, and incontinence often plague the senior dog.  Since we don't know so much about Claude's history, we don't know exactly how old he is, but believe he is at least 10.  For a large breed dog, this puts him well into his senior years (a small breed dog like a chihuahua would be just reaching seniority.)  If you have a senior dog, you need to be sure to have him/her regularly seen by a good vet who will help manage those declining health issues as long as possible.    

Mama and daddy give special consideration to Claude because of his age and failing health.  He gets fed on a different schedule from the rest of us dogs so we don't annoy him (I'm rolling my eyes about that one.)  My parents have bought special beds for Claude's joint comfort; he enjoys those and also likes to sleep on old quilts my parents put down to keep him from leaking pee on the carpet while he naps.  Claude sees the vet more often than us younger dogs--while I like attention as any corgi should, I'm okay with his getting this extra vet care; the vet sometimes sticks dogs with needles and puts thermometers in unspeakable places so she's not my favorite person!

My mama says caring for Claude and his special needs wears her out.  But she also calls him "my old love" and is gentle with him and makes sure he gets to enjoy squeaky toys before my sister Lucy de-squeakers them.  Even earlier today when Claude accidently head butted mama while she was trying to help him go outside, she didn't hit him or yell at him.  Daddy makes sure Claude gets his medicine as he is prescribed and loads him in the truck for vet visits even though it makes daddy's clothes hairy when he goes to work.  All this makes me feel very safe and loved--I know my human parents will always treat us dogs with love and respect, doing what is best for us.  We don't have to worry about being put out when we get old and sickly and don't function as we did in our youth.  Mama and daddy value the love and appreciation they are given by more mature dogs, even when we don't demonstrate it so well, and we trust them to do what is right for us as long as we live.  

That's it for this week, folks.  Take care of yourselves and make sure you love your family, canine and human, even when it gets difficult.

Love ya, 

Lily the Corgi

(Even old and not so healthy, Claude is still a pretty good brother--and I'll deny I said that if you tell him.)