Health Care Crisis

These past several weeks we have been having a sort of health care crisis

here at the farm. 

You know it's a crisis when the dogs take more medications than the humans!

But, such is life with aging canines.

With the adoption of our 15 year old Hickory this summer,

we inherited obesity, bad teeth, and a myriad of eye problems.

Then a couple of weeks ago Hickory began to decline rapidly.
Following a tick bite, she became very ill.
So, we put her on doxycycline to treat Lymes disease,
in case that was what had made her ill.
Within a few days she was back to her chipper old self.
Yesterday, I noticed a bubble on the cornea of her eye.
She already has cataracts, and most likely glaucoma.
I put ointment in her eyes several times each day.
I imagine she will eventually be blind.
For now, though, she is happy
and accompanies me to the barn each day,
riding shotgun in the gator.

Sadie is our 7 year old Bernese Mountain Dog.
She had a cancerous tumor a couple of years ago,
so we monitor her closely.
This summer it was apparent that she was gaining weight.
A blood test showed that she was hypo thyroid.
So, twice a day she received her thyroid medicine.
Recently, she has had urinary frequency,
so now we are giving her antibiotics twice daily for a
urinary tract infection.
She also takes arthritis medication each day,
without which she walks with a limp.

Maddie, our 5 year old Newfoundland began wetting her doggie bed
at night recently.
Doctor Becky (Hubbs' sister and our vet) told us that in large
breeds such as her, senile incontinence is a common problem.
Now Maddie takes a medication twice a day
to improve her bladder tone.
It seems to be working.

"Vit-e-yum time" is medication time.
The dogs love this time because they take their pills coated
in peanut butter.
Yummy, yummy treats!

Those of us who love having dogs in our lives eventually realize that
those beloved friends are with us such a precious short time.
We watch them grow from puppies, through adolescence, into adulthood
and eventually into old age....much more quickly than we would like.

It is a difficult thing to watch your best friends begin to fail.
We do what we can to keep them happy and comfortable,
knowing that in the end we will have to say goodbye to them.

We do whatever we can to love and care for these precious souls
who give so much in return, and pray that we can keep them
in our lives for as long as possible.

I must admit, if it weren't for the love and care of Dr. Becky,
we would not be able to have all of the critters that make our
lives so much richer!