"Happy" 2012.

I wish I could say "Happy 2012", but there isn't anything happy about this year for us so far.

You may remember from my last post "Charlotte's  Diagnosis" that Charlotte has something called Cushing's Disease.  It's very hard to diagnose and is diagnosed often too late in most cases.    Originally, we tried holistic treatments, as spending thousands of dollars on treatment for a 15 year old dog was just not a sensible option for us.   We used Cushex drops by PetAlive.   For the most part, they seemed to be working.  After about a week she seemed happier, healthier, and she wasn't showing the typical symptoms of Cushing's (bloating, frequent eating, drinking, and urinating, etc).  We were very hopeful.  But the truth is, this was just a mask.  The underlying problem was still there and was not officially being treated.

In the past 2 weeks I've noticed she has lost a lot of weight.  She went from having that big pot bellied look (like a pig) to looking more like Chelsea now- very lean and almost boney.  Her hair is starting to thin out much more (her tail almost looks like a rats tail now from losing so much hair).  She sleeps a lot more than she used to.  I'm noticing that her appetite isn't what it used to be either, which is saying a lot for Charlotte.  She won't touch the dog food, but will scarf down a bowl of rice and even eat Asparagus (something she didn't even like to sniff a few months ago).   She also has constant diarrhea and when she walks she looks funny because her back legs are very stiff.  She also shakes a lot.  Not sure if she is cold or in pain though.

Last night we had a "scare".  I fed her some rice trying to get her to eat something that may help her tummy.  Well, she ate it so fast that she looked like she started choking or something.  Then after about 30 seconds she just fell over and I started freaking out.  A few seconds later she got up, started sniffing around and eating more food.  I thought maybe she was having a seizure or something but it could have just been excitement (both Chloe and Charlotte do this weird thing when they get excited- their body stiffens and they look like they are going to vomit but they begin making this "honking" noise.  It's strange...).   Well, from there she just went about her usual business eating, drinking, bathroom, sleep.   She has been fine since (except for vomiting the completely undigested 2 day old asparagus and one day old rice, which I find strange).   My grandmother made a comment that maybe she had a stroke.  When I looked into it more I read that a stroke is very common for dogs with Cushing's.   It's another sign of the "end stages".

My grandfather passed away on March 6th.  His symptoms in the last few months of his life were eerily similar to Charlotte's.   We still have no official diagnosis on what my grandfather had, and no autopsy was done, but from what we watched him suffer through I know one thing- I don't want to put Charlotte through any unnecessary suffering.  We know that in the end she will suffer as we've been told the end stages of Cushing's often result in seizures, stokes, heart attacks, and/or internal bleeding.   The question is how many or which one will finally result in death.  Sadly, with this disease there won't be any peaceful passings in the middle of the night.   We know what we have to do... we're just trying to muster up the strength to do it. 

Here are some of my favorite photos of Char-Char when she was healthy & happy.