...December thank God. We had the first new snow last week already. #TGID is all I have to say. We had a rough November here. People in my family were between jobs, the car broke down and needed a new alternator and battery and Jerry woke up last Sunday and couldn't walk. So... more vet bills on top of that.
Jerry
I can handle it all except the thought of losing Jerry is unbearable. Luckily the vet put him on steroids and he will get a little better in the short term. His spinal cord is being pinched because of a bad disc. He was not in a lot of pain except when he twisted the wrong way once or twice. He could not walk or move his hind quarters and his left front leg at all for about 5 days then on Thursday I put a towel under him and used it as a sling to try to help him get up and try to walk because he was scooting and dragging himself with one leg to get to the door. He wanted to go outside. He's such a good boy. I also got him up during the day and he could stand in one spot with support for a few minutes at a time.
baby Jerry
Thursday evening he stood up on his own and started taking wobbly steps. He's getting his balance back gradually now. Good news but bad news comes with it. The long term prognosis is not good as his back and discs will get worse with time even with surgery. CT scan or MRI is just too expensive and the cost of this type of surgery is out of the question. Besides the expense, pain and recovery time, it will not solve his problem in the long term since he already has back problems and is 9 years old.
So, to prolong his life and give him a good quality of life, he has to lose weight, take supplements with chondroitin, glucosamine and fish oil. He might have to take meds also and it will get worse over time. But he's doing alright today. He doesn't like having to eat less because he's a foodie but he's gained so much weight from eating the dry cat food that he can no longer get to. I give him three little dog food meals a day now with low fat treats.
I'm certain that whatever time we have left will be good times and we will enjoy them one day at a time and try not to worry too much about the future. One day at a time will be enough. Jerry is thoroughly loved and he knows it.
