Just because I am an atheist, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the power of prayer and good wishes. I grew up with a fundamentalist Baptist mother, so really, I understand more than most people assume. I am not an atheist who scoffs religion. It just isn't for me personally. I admire people with faith and believe that the comfort it gives people is a wonderful thing.
I am asking everyone to please pray for or send happy thoughts to Molly. A healthy, normal dog will freak out if you move a chair two inches, and will spend time following you around, "Mom, you moved that. It's not where it goes any more. Will you put that back? I don't like the change, mom, fix it..."
An Addison dog has no functioning adrenal glands. I know I have mentioned this many times, and I am sorry for that. However, as I have said, stress can kill my dog. It can be good stress, it can be bad stress. It can be stress from something I am unaware of, such as if the neighbors get a new dog and Molly obsesses on that. If a dog stresses over the movement of a chair, imagine what Molly is going to go through with the entire home moving. She has always lived here. Other than walks, she rarely leaves the property. She doesn't like me to vary the walk route.
I will have to keep her right with me all through the move and watch for signs of stress. Luckily, Molly is one smart little cookie and if she is able, will tell me when she needs her medication amped up. If I give too much, I will have a freaked out, wild, hyper eating machine who pees every 20 seconds uncontrollably. If I give too little, her eletrolyte imbalance will shut her body down. Her potassium will go up, her sodium will go down, she will dehydrate, and eventually refuse to eat or drink, and could die.
As long as I am vigilant enough as her external adrenal glands, she should be OK. A trip to the emergency vet is highly possible. That would stress Molly even more, of course. The last time she went inside a vet's office she had seizures. She is now treated on the sidewalk outside the vet's office, but that wouldn't work if she needs IV hydration.
As far as the cat - well, she is 19 years old. I will do all I can to make her comfy and happy with the move. She might be happy also not to have to deal with stairs any more. Baby is very skittish for a beagle, but will probably go any where I go, and after initial stress, will probably happily bark at the two golden retrievers behind us for the next ten years straight.
Me? I could use some good thoughts too. I haven't moved in 30 years, but I think I have the basics down. Wait until the last minute and rush until you pass out, right? The process starts in about 75 minutes.
11 comments:
god bless you and your little family. I hope everything works out for you. Try not to worry. I think you and your pets will be very happy at the new place.
you know you have been in my prayers all of you:) let me know how it goes ok
Deb
Of course I'll keep Molly in my prayers!
Missie
Poor Molly....now I am going to worry about both of you, all day! Yes, you have the moving thing down, quite well! LOL! Jae
I just said prayers for all of you. Tell Molly that Aunt Terra loves her!
Terra
Prayer sent right to you, & the whole gang! Rose~
I just found your journal as I am dealing with an Addison's Disease Basset Hound (Orville) who also added seizures to the mix. His current medications: Percorten shot every 28 days, daily Prednisone, daily Phenobarbitol (for the seizures).
Orville was diagnosed (almost too late, nearly died when he had an Addisonian Crisis) with Addison's about 2 years ago. The once a month Percorten shots and daily Prednisone seemed to the do the trick. 1 year ago, July 4, 2005, he started having seizures. They have been mostly, almost exactly, 9 days after getting his Percorten shot. I am about to head to the vet now to switch from the monthly shot, to a daily dosage of Fludrocortisone (the generic form of Florinef tablets). It is actually (gasp!) cheaper for me to go to the tablet, IF I order them compounded (custom made) online ( the retail is only available in 0.1 mg, my dog, at 75 lbs, needs 1.5 mg, which would be 15 pills a day, very expensive!, instead, I can order them in 1.5 mg pills, for about $1 a day :) from islandpharmacy.com ).
My thoughts are that the shot works well for most, but not for my dog, he needs a more stable dosage instead of the peaks and valleys he gets on the shots...can't hurt to try, the seizure episodes have been truly awful for all involved the last three months: approx 12-16 hours of about 8 seizures, valium helps him sleep but doesn't stop the seizures. THEN, and this is the worst part, almost 3 days of crying, pacing and pure misery for all...pure he!!.
Will keep in touch and update you, perhaps even start my own journal for Orville so others can benefit from our painful learning experience (seems nobody knows much about seizures and Addison's).
Keith / Orville
It worked didn't it? :-)
I hope everything went smoothly and Molly took it all well. She has a powerful ally in you....I know you were making her one of your primary concerns.
I'll be watching for an update. In the meantime.....enjoy settling in.
Suzy, Hope Molly's Birthday was a happy one! Even though I'm not online much anymore, you and your family (which includes your dogs, of course!) always have my best thoughts. You're an incredible Lady, Suzy, and I hope everything works out for you!
Best wishes,
Debi
"Something things are true whether you believe them or not."
A great quote from a great movie.
Prayer works, but not maybe for the reason that some people think it does. But it does work, and I am holding your sweet Molly close in my heart right now.
I wish I could lay hands on her. My vet calls me Dr. Doolittle and once had tears in his eyes when we were working on an animal together. He said he had never seen anyone do with an animal what I did. ( A wild deer calmed down and let me hold her until he could put her to sleep.) I think it is a survivor thing--knowing what it is to be a prey animal...
anyway, can you tell I can't sleep and am writing too much?
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