Gone to the Rainbow Bridge

On November 3, 2010, I made the very sad decision to send Samba off to the Rainbow Bridge. Her condition had deteriorated significantly over the last few months. She was barely able to get up much less walk around. At times, she could not even raise her head. Her mental state also deteriorated where she could not sleep through the night due to probable discomfort from not being able to change position. It was very heart breaking to see her have so many bad days, and so I made the decision to end her daily suffering. I will miss her very much as she had been my devoted friend for 16 years. On the bright side, she will be with her buddy (previous dog), Basel, at the rainbow bridge.

Last Acupuncture Appointment / Disappointment

Samba had her 6th and last acupuncture appointment and I really did not see any positive results, other than fur growing back on her tail. She had rubbed off a portion of it since last year and it's been bare since. The holistic vet supported my decision to stop acupuncture treatment. Samba is getting weaker where even her front paws are not working too well. She often can't even prop herself upright when in a down position. I'm now grabbling with whether to go back for physical rehab at Scout's House. After all, she is 17 years old, and it's been an extremely costly venture both financially and time-wise to keep her going. I would like to try to give her some physical therapy at home with what I've learned, but finding the time away from my family responsibilities has been difficult. It especially has been hard the last couple of months as she is now not able to sleep when it is nighttime and my husband and are are sleep deprived. I think she has doggie dementia.

I made an orthopedic bed for her with a folded memory foam topper, but she doesn't seem to like staying on it. Since she usually acts up when it is bedtime, we have been having to put her outside in the garage so we can get some sleep. She eventually does fall asleep. I'm trying out melatonin to get her relaxed and "Senilife" to try to deal with her doggie dementia. I may also try DogtorRx / Humanofort. Sleep deprivation undermines everything I've been trying to do in dealing with her immobility.

Samba is not able to get up on her own due to her weak front paws, but once I get her up, she's able to walk around a little bit but will inevitably fall again. She's not able to use her wheel chair, and I may try to convert it to a quad. I wonder if all this is also too much for her.

Acupuncture and Wheel Chair

Samba has gone through 5 acupuncture appointments with no visible signs of improvement. She is not able to get up on her own without assistance, and because she can't move much, we have had more frequent accidents. Her holistic vet says that it takes 4 - 6 sessions to see results, so I will give it one more session.

Last month, I purchased a used wheel chair (Walkin Wheels) for her with hopes that she would be able to walk more often without my assistance. She didn't want to move once she was in it, so I pulled her along by the harness to get her going. Later, she developed a very severe rash on her right side (the shape of her front harness), which I first thought was neoprene allergy. After discussing this with her vet and the manufacturer, we decided that there was something on the harness that caused this since it was only on one side of her. The manufacturer was nice enough to send me a new front harness and suggested that I put a t-shirt on her before trying it again once her skin is healed.

Samba is 17 years old and life has been a daily challenge for her. For now, I have to focus on healing her wound with daily baths with a special skin shampoo (Malaseb), epson salt warm compress and Silvadeen dressing. I think her body is trying to heal as I see fur regrowing. We are also dealing with her very frequent heavy panting at bedtime and into the night. The vet thinks it may be anxiety or metabolic heat (something like heat flashes at menopause). So I have a fan for her by her pad. Speaking of pads, she doesn't like 'cushy' any more as it is too difficult for her to get up. I made her an orthpedic bed by buying a memory foam topper from Target, folding it in half and using a cover I made from a flannel sheet. She stays on it when I try to get her to sleep at night.

Another idea why she is so anxious and panting so much at nighttime ("Panic Attack") is possibly due to dementia. I'm trying Senilife to see if I can get her brain to function better and calm down at nighttime, as my husband and I are now getting little sleep. At times, we cannot calm her down and so we have to leave her out in the garage so that we can get some sleep. Not only is this stressful for her but for me and my family too. We haven't planned many vacations due to the special care she needs. Luckily I found a great doggie boarding place in San Francisco, High Tail Hotel, who is very sympathetic towards senior and special needs dogs. We managed to fit in a trip to Disneyland during spring break.

I realize that I will never be able to 'fix' her and I can only try to make her as comfortable as possible. I just wonder how tolerable it is for her.

Changing Approach to Dealing with Deteriorating Mobility Condition

After a total of 18 physical rehab sessions between Scout's House and VSA in San Mateo, I have determined that the benefits are only marginal. At $95 a pop, this has been a very expensive venture. Samba's condition has been a roller coaster. At best, she can get up on her own to get a drink of water or dog food as well as go to the side area of the house to do her business on her own. She may even be able to walk around the block if she is inspired. At her worst, she cannot even get up at all which means I may find her in the same position that I left her in the morning with either poop or urine for me to clean up.

I feel that I gave physical rehab a really good try as at one point, I was taking her weekly. I have convinced my husband to build her a wheel chair (modeled after the Walkin Wheels), so stay tuned.

Most recently, I discovered a 'hole' on her underside which neither her vet or I can explain. I spent another $500+ to get her stitched back up. The vet thought it might have been from the rubbing from her harness, so I haven't taken her out for a walk for a few days until her stitches heal. Life in general has not been pleasant for Samba as she's not able to get up, she falls easily after I get her up and I cannot help her move around during the daytime when I am at work.

Her condition is deteriorating, and I have decided to take an Eastern approach with acupuncture. I feel that this is Samba's last chance to improve her quality of life as she doesn't have too many good days now.

Update (7/12/10) - Samba has had 2 acupuncture appoinments and I do not see much improvement in her mobility, although she did have one good day where I managed to walk her around the block. In fact, she has begun having difficulty going to sleep by heavily panting for hours as we all try to go to sleep. That has meant sleepness nights for my husband and me. The acupuncturist prescribed herbs to relax her muscles, thinking that it may be muscle spasms. She has just began taking the herbs, and I hope it will work fast. I will give it 2 more appointments to see if this will work. If not, I will just try to give her regular exercise (by using a home-built wheel chair) so that she keeps limber.

Change of Diagnosis

In December, 2009, I brought Samba to a neurologist in San Mateo. To my absolute surprise, she said that I was told that she didn't think Samba had Degenerative Myelopathy - shock #1. I asked why she thought so and she said it was because she was in pain. That was shock #2. I felt so bad that Samba had been in pain for this last year since I thought she had DM.

We then proceeded on a path of pain management with Tramadol and aggressive physical rehab. It's been a roller coaster ride as she sometimes is so limp she cannot stand up and other times, she can get up and do walk around somewhat easily. I guess I have to always keep in mind that being 16 years old, Samba is living on borrowed time, and as long as she is not in pain or depressed, that's as much as I can ask for.