| The last year or so
of his life was hard on him and our family. We
couldn't figure out what was wrong with him but we
knew something was seriously wrong. He was drinking
large quantities of water many times a day and of
course, had problems staying dry in the house due to
the large quantities of water he was consuming every
day. He was manic about getting water which was very
odd. This past summer, I found him crying in pain at
the top of the stairs where he normally slept during
the day when I arrived home. He had apparently
fallen down the stairs during the day.
He began wandering
around the house all night long, pacing & whining.
He became more and more unresponsive, failed to come
down to greet us when we arrived home, showed little
interest in anything other than eating and drinking
water.
One morning I went
down to the kitchen at 3:30 am to find him standing
there in a daze staring at the back door, then
looking off to his side at the oven. He had no idea
I was standing behind him. It was very strange and
these incidents continued to become more frequent.
My vet ran several blood and urine tests in an
attempt to rule various conditions out and finally
he asked me if Lakota seemed Senile to me. I said
Yes, he had been like this for quite sometime now.
Lakota was suffering from a medical condition known
as canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS)
also known as Doggy Alzheimer's Disease.
I looked up the
condition online since I had never heard of it
before. I found a checklist used to determine if a
dog might have the condition and was shocked to
discover that Lakota had every single symptom. It
became obvious that he was in an advanced state of
the disease which is irreversible and progressive.
After many
consultations with my vet, dog friends and my
family, we determined that it was time to prepare
ourselves for the inevitable. Lakota had a pretty
good week playing periodically with the Pods in the
evening, greeted me at the door a few times with his
tail wagging and seemed happy to see me. He hadn't
done anything like this in many months. Then last
night, he was having a bad day. He was unresponsive,
unhappy and wouldn't come down off the stairs again
without heavy encouragement. After he came back in
from going potty, he lied down in the kitchen and
gazed up at me with very sad eyes. It was time.
This morning Lakota
and I went to the woods and had a very long walk
together. He hasn't been able to go for walks in
nearly a year because he is unable to get into the
van any longer plus he is unable to get up and walk
for the rest of the day when we return home. Today
was a bright sunny, crisp day with a slight chill in
the air. We walked where ever he decided he wanted
to go and when he stopped looking rather confused
and unsure, I encouraged him to return with me. On
our way back to the van, he stumbled and nearly
collapsed on his knees twice. His body and mind have
let him down which reinforced that this was the
right time for him.
He died peacefully
and calmly in my arms about 11:00 this morning. He
enjoyed a long active life with a family that loved
him a great deal.
He will always have
a warm place in our hearts. |
