June 1 PM
Ken went in to see Daemon this evening. The dog is being totally spoiled by everyone at that facility. He’ll probably weigh 300 pounds when he comes home! Yesterday afternoon Dr. B had Linda call me to say that Daemon’s limbs were now stiff instead of flaccid, and he said that to him that was a good sign. So if it’s a good sign for Dr. B it’s a good sign for me. Hoping for continued improvement!
June 2
When I visited Daemon in the evening of June 2, he was bright and alert, quite happy to see me. He was lying sternal and could move his left front leg very well, and the others (at least two of them) some. Hard to tell, since he was down in a cage. We played a shaping game: he’d move a foot or leg and I’d “yes” and feed. He caught on very quickly and was twitching and jerking his front legs and feet quite actively. He kept slamming his paw on my right hand(oh boy do his toenails need cutting!). Very sweet pain indeed.
Having him there at VSRP with friends was comforting; communications were easy and information easily obtained – and I knew they were all spoiling the old guy to pieces. Read more…
Daemon at VSRP, looking happy and feeling some better, thankyouverymuch
Daemon will be 13 on July 1, 2010. Under normal circumstances, that’s plenty of cause for celebration. But with the recent complications to Daemon’s life, it’s more than special.
On Sunday morning, May 30, I got up at 5 AM and let the dogs out of their crates and into the yard. Daemon was lying on his side in his crate and didn’t move. I ascertained that he was indeed still among the living and surmised that he was sleeping in, which he sometimes does. However, by 6 AM with all the shuffle of letting the other dogs in, he still hadn’t moved. When I checked him out I discovered that his front legs were being held rigidly and his rear legs were relaxed. Manipulating his front legs caused him to cry out.
I commenced to drag him out of the crate, which also caused him to whine. Movement of his neck was painful. He lay on the floor, totally still. I called the Emergency clinic. I had no idea what I was dealing with but knew it was bad and it was far beyond anything I could deal with.
I got Ken out of bed; he found a board, onto which we loaded Daemon and carried him to my van.
Long story short, Daemon was found to have a tetraparesis (muscular weakness affecting all four extremities, also called quadriparesis) of spinal origin. Spinal x-rays showed no gross abnormalities. Other diagnostic studies suggested were a myelogram and an MRI, but I demurred. Read more…
Fri - Sunny, 58 - 87 Degrees
Sat - Partly Cloudy, 61 - 86 Degrees
Sun - Scattered Thunderstorms, 60 - 80 Degrees