Anyone who has lived with and loved an elderly pet knows it's like being on a roller coaster. Some days are good, up days. Some days are not so good, down days. And you never know what you're going to get when you wake up in the morning. But you just don't expect to get both in the same day....
The last thing I do as I'm getting ready to leave in the morning is to check on Angel, fill her food and water dishes, add more hay and give her a treat. She will downright beg for that treat if I forget or think she's sleeping and try to sneak out without giving her one. I don't think she sees very well and I'm not sure how much she hears but she ALWAYS knows when I'm in the room.
This morning when I went in, she looked like she was just chillin'....lounging on her side looking so cute. When I added more food to her dish, though, she tried to get up and just couldn't. Now, she's 11, which is pretty darn old for a Holland Lop. She's been pretty shaky on her feet for a while now--- but moves around her cage, eats and drinks well, and begs for treats. She might have a tough time getting to her feet, but always has. Today, not so much. I figure, maybe she laid down on her good side and that's why she's having such a hard time. I reach over and help her to her feet. As soon as I let go, though, she falls over. I stand there for 10 minutes, holding her up, petting her, trying to decide what to do. I am NEVER early and not very often on time. At this point, it's 20 minutes past when I should have left the house. I can't call a sub-- they wouldn't be able to get there in time. Heck, I'M not going to get there in time. I finally decide, after making sure that she's had some food and a drink of water, to head into school. I left with a heavy heart, knowing that I was going to have to make that call that every owner dreads. I figured she had most likely had a stroke. It's Friday, which means our regular vet (who sees all the animals, including the class turtle and lizard) is off. Of course.
After getting to work (3 minutes before the bell rang), explaining things to my partner teacher and our aide, and figuring out coverage, I call and get an 11 o'clock appointment with one of the other vets in the practice. (Thanks Cathy and Emily for all you did to help me out today!) I come home, get Angel, and head off to the vet. In the car, I open the carrier so I can pet her. While we're driving to the vet's, she starts looking around, eating treats, grooming herself (!) and testing the blanket for any edible spots. My mom met me there. When we checked in, I asked the receptionist if the vet would check Angel over to make sure I'm making the right decision. They lead us to a room. There's a table with a nice, soft blanket on it. I take Angel out of her carrier and put her on the blanket, expecting her to fall over. Instead, she sits there like the queen of all and starts checking things out! She's sniffing around, asking for pets, nibbling the blanket.....and then the vet comes in. I'm still thinking last hurrah...one final burst of energy. He checks her over and says, while he'll support whatever I decide to do, he really feels she's dealing with a reoccurrence of an infection she's had in the past and some arthritis. He says, he thinks medication can get her through this rough spot. We're talking, I'm trying to decide whether to put her down, and she's sitting there washing her face! He basically said, since she's responding when I come in the room, eating and grooming, he didn't feel it was her time. Now don't get me wrong...I was very happy about this news! It's just that, after spending all morning trying to wrap my head around one outcome, it was kind of hard to shift gears so suddenly.
So anyway, she's home. She gets 2 meds twice a day for two weeks. Hopefully, she'll respond well and she'll get more stable on her feet again (cause, while she does great on a hard surface like the table or the carpet, she's still having issues in her cage). And if, after all this, I walk in the room one day to find that she has gone in her sleep, that will be ok. Or, if she doesn't respond to the meds, and quits eating and grooming, I'll make that horrible call again. Either way, at least I'll know I won't have sent her before either one of us was ready.
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