This photo of Tilley mid catch was taken at the age of 15, after living with Vestibular disease for two years.
Funny this title phrase came to mind this afternoon as I was pondering several blog topics. Some days I just feel like writing, and today is one of those days. Earlier in the day my keyboard was not working which had me scrambling to figure out the cause. I changed the batteries, nothing. I updated my drivers (I’m pretty computer savvy), nothing. So I changed the batteries again and presto, fixed. It’s the little things. So happy to have my keyboard back, now I want to write.
I want to talk about the health issues we often have to deal with when we live with dogs. Over 42 years I’ve lived with many dogs; each and every one of them have had some sort of health issue. Some of the health related problems were genetic, while other were just luck of the draw.
Whether you got a second hand dog, rescued, got one from the person down the street or went to an amazing breeder who does genetic health testing, there are no guarantees in life. Shit happens as they say; and when you bring home that little bundle of fluff, there is no crystal ball to tell you how life with this dogs is all going to unravel.
One thing I will say is that with each dog in your life, comes an education about some sort of health issue. You may have heard about some of the things that might happen; and then there will be the ones you’ve never, ever heard of. Here are some of the health stuff we’ve had to deal with, just with our most recent dogs.
Jessie (Jack Russell Terrier) - severe autoimmune disorder, that nearly killed her. After much research we discovered that her autoimmune problems were most definitely caused by over vaccinating. (Lesson) Then as she aged, severe dementia.
Tilley (Standard Poodle) - ear infections (lesson on ear plucking correctly) constant uti’s (lesson on natural supplements), vestibular disease at 13 years of age (I’d never heard of this before it hit Tilley, big lesson and share with everyone) and then cancer of the spleen that took her from us at 16 years of age. (Huge lesson on full torso ultrasounds after the age of 10 which Elsa just had done.)
Luke (Standard Poodle) - epilepsy from the age of 3 years with Grand Mal seizures (tons of research done and huge lesson as far as chemicals and stress in our lives), then Liver cancer which took him from us at the age of 14.5 years. (Full body torso
Elsa (Standard Poodle) - Spinal stroke at 8 years of age which has left her with a bum back leg, accelerated onset of rigidity and lack of fluidity in front appendages caused by spinal stroke. Late onset of uti’s caused by incorrect private part structure.
Riggs - nothing yet…he’s only 3.5.
This is just my last five dogs, it happens. If you have a dog who lives a long and wonderful life, ailment free…you are very lucky and an anomaly. Like us, health issues can happen at anytime, even if your dog comes from genetically tested parents.
I recommend k9 guardians do research; when a health issue arises, arm yourself with knowledge. The more you learn, the better. Because we lost two of our dogs to a ruptured tumor, we will now do annual abdominal ultrasounds from 10 years on. We do not over vaccinate, feed real food and watch for the slightest signs of anything being off, both with mental and physical health.
When Tilley was hit by Vestibular, I’d never heard about it before so I dug in and learned everything I could. I read that many people euthanize their dogs thinking it was a fatal infliction, this is why I share so often. She lived 3 years with it, learned to live in a crooked world and did amazing until she was 16 years of age when the cancer got her.
There is no guarantee in life, all we can do is our best. When we know better, we can do better, research, research, research. And share, tell your stories, let others know about what happened to your dog, knowledge is power.