Worried About Sprocket

I'm really worried about my old boy. Sprocket is 15, and while he never had any actual hip dysplasia (thankfully), he's just getting so elderly that some joint degeneration is inevitable. He has some spondylosis in his spine and very little movement in his pelvis. When your movement is restricted like that for so long, you lose muscle and get weaker. This is the case with my silver-and-golden.

Tom called me right after 3:00 when he got home. He came in the house to find Sprocket all splayed out in the kitchen, frog-style, and unable to get up. The poo beside him indicates he'd been struggling to get up, for who knows how long.

We will begin blocking off the kitchen. The slate tile floor is cool and appealing, but he just can't get any traction on it. He is the reason we haven't gotten laminate flooring throughout the upstairs. Even with throw rugs, he'd have an even harder time getting around.

While he has been on various immune support supplements, joint supplements, and an herbal pain product, I had resisted giving him any prescription pain medication until it seemed I had to. I don't like prescriptions of any kind, and those NSAIDs are very hard on dogs' liver and kidneys. But a couple of weeks ago I started him on one, but only at a half dose for his size. I guess I'm going to have to increase it. I'll also address the weakness, but above all I don't want this sweet dog to be in pain.

Tomorrow he will come to work with me. He's been having chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, and it does help, but his condition is slowly progressing. Now we're going to try electroacupuncture, which Dr. Vet-Friend Two says is very good for pain relief and muscle stimulation. While he's here, I think it's time for a full blood panel (in light of the prescription pain meds), possibly some current x-rays, and a complete reevaluation of his supplement regimen. We have some new products that I think might be useful, as his situation changes.

I have an extremely hard time wrapping my head around the idea of euthanizing a dog just because the rear suspension is going. Cancer, organ failure, loss of cognitive function, maybe... but when he's still so bright and happy, still so fully in the here and now, and otherwise in such good health, that's where I run into problems. Sprocket is so much more than just legs! But the reality is he has to be able to get around to some extent, and not be in constant pain. He's 80 pounds, so it's not like he's a Maltese that I can pick up and tote about.

If the electroacupuncture helps, he'll come once or twice a week for a while. We've had a wild grey fox here for a month or more, as a favor to the wildlife rehabilitation people. He was hit by a car and had a shattered pelvis and rear limb paralysis. He had surgery to repair the pelvis, but had no sensation or movement in his rear legs. After a few electro treatments, he now has sensation and movement from the knee to the hip. We're hoping future treatments will restore feeling and function clear down to his little foxy toes.

I know nothing will make my Sprocket-Bopper young again. But if I can keep the pain at bay and allow him to retain enough function to get around fairly well, we can keep him with us a while longer. I don't want to be selfish about it, but I can't let him go unless I know I've done all that is within my power to give him. While Ozark was with us when we still had Ripley, Sprocket was Ripley's buddy and is in many ways my last link with my heart dog.

Sprocket has been with us since he was four, so that's ten and a half years. He's the only dog that has been truly equally Tom's and mine. We adore this old guy, and want what's best for him. Sometimes, though, it's hard to know exactly what that is.

I'll let everyone know how he does.