We Love Lucy

The news about Lucy is not good.  Not good at all.  At first we thought a strained muscle was the reason for her lameness.  But as the day progressed, it became apparent she also had foot drop in that leg.  My doctor husband checked and she had no reflexes in that leg but full range of motion did not elicit any pain or discomfort.  The veterinarian had told us previously that there was weakness in the muscles of her left eye, causing the eye to recede a bit.  She speculated it might be a brain tumor.  She did not feel (and we agreed) that we should put Lucy through the tests (especially since it would mean substantial travel), that would be needed to confirm the diagnosis.  Further, at her age she would not be a suitable candidate for brain surgery.  You can see from this photograph that the left eye looks smaller.  That is because the muscle that "pushes" the eye forward in the socket is weak.  Fortunately her vision seems fine.

So this new semi-paralysis of the right leg is likely the result of a spread of the tumor to the spinal cord.  There is really nothing reasonable that can be done except to make as many accommodations as we can to make life a little easier for her.  So we moved her food and water dishes upstairs to the laundry room and blocked the stairs down to the den so she will be living on one floor.  We have a lift support to use when she starts to have more difficulty getting up or walking outside.  We put boots on her rear feet.  The primary reason is to protect the dropped foot from scraping on the pavement when she goes outside.  Another big benefit is that it gives her better traction on the hardwood floor.  Finally, it does give some support to the foot and makes walking much easier for her.  In fact, when we take them off for periods to air out her feet and massage them, she clearly wants the boots back.  We do passive range of motion to the leg so it won't become stiff.  We have reduced her rations so she doesn't gain weight now that she is so much less active.  And we don't leave her alone since she clearly is anxious if no one is visible.

And so we are sad.  But we are also realistic.  We know that unfortunately loving a dog almost always means outliving that dog.  We have much for which to give thanks.  We are delighted that she is not in pain and she is adapting fairly well to the changed physiology.  We will do what we have done with other dogs.  We will love her and care for her and she will let us know when it is time to go to the Rainbow Bridge.  We have no timeline and she may remain stable for quite some time.  We certainly hope so.

Lucy seems to love the boots.

And speaking of boots...our little granddaughter loves them.  Not the toddler-sized ones but her mother's boots.  Many of them come up well above her knees when she tries them on.

Violet loves the boots, too.

Our son says this next photograph clearly indicates that they need to start looking for a pre-school for the gifted!

Don't worry, Violet.  I often want to hide my head too.

Today's quotes are for all who are caught up in the polar vortex:

"The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches."
e e cummings

"Cold!  If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd have frozen to death."
Mark Twain

And isn't it a sad thing when elementary school children have to send drawings to educate the President of the United States on the relationship between global warming and the polar vortex?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYONE

WARM-UP IS ON THE WAY!