Shawna, Shawna!

The x-rays taken Saturday were negative and Shawna proceeded to get worse. So much so, by Sunday evening she could no longer stand on her own legs and her head appeared in a permanent twist to the right.  She had not eaten or drunk since Thursday although the vet had injected saline solution to make sure she wasn't totally dehydratred.  

By early Monday morning, I could not stand to see how poorly she was doing--unable to use her legs, unwilling to eat, barely able to lift her head.  When the Vet's office opened, I called and made an appointment for 8AM to put Shawna down.  After all, she turns 17 in December. Mary and Ingrid agreed to join me at the Vet so they came to the house and we headed to the vet together.  

Our long term vet, Diane Wiese, was on duty. Diane also takes care of Mary's cats so we would be among friends. I carried Shawna into the exam room, the technician had me sign the papers and then Diane joined us.  We were all very sad and Diane said she wanted to do one last look before she got the injection paraphernalia. As she looked at Shawna, she asked about her eyes. They were rapidly twitching from left to right and back again.  Diane stepped out, got some inspection instruments and checked Shawna very thoroughly. I said the twitching had started Sunday and, by the way, here is an iPhone video of her walking on Sunday before her legs totally gave out--Shawna was simply walking in circles.  

Diane views the video then says, "I think we are looking at Old Dog Vestibular disease.  What that means is that Shawna will be fine in 7 to 14 days."  

Say what? 

I immediately did an iPhone search to find results like this one. Click here. 

Ingrid and I did time trades from our jobs while we took care of Shawna Monday. By Monday night, Shawna was eating a chicken-rice-carrot dish that Ingrid had made. Just a tablespoon or two at a time but the fact is, she was eating!  The vet told us we should force food down about every two hours to make sure her intestinal tract was functioning.  Force, heck, it was more like feeding a vacuum cleaner.  That dog was hungry!

Here legs were still not working and her head still had the twist to the right but she did manage to scoot her body out of the bed during the night. I found her about five feet from the dog bed on the floor.  Amazing considering her legs are virtually useless.  

As of this AM, Shawna "produced!" Hey, it was messy but it was a great event. Her intestines are working!  

Now it is the "Tincture of Time" to allow her to recover from the affects of the disease.  Shawna is clearly fighting hard to get better. She is eating, drinking and doing her best to get the legs working again. The attitude is so much better than it was just 48 hours ago.  

If all goes to plan, by this weekend she should be very close to full strength again and by the following weekend back to normal--except for a slight head tilt if I understand the write ups correctly. 

You go girl!