Bailey doing poorly

Well, it’s only been a bit over a week since I started this blog — I thought it would be helpful to hear about other older 3-legged dogs, but Bailey has sadly gone downhill quickly. I think he is in more pain than I realize, as his walks have gotten shorter and shorter. Today, I stood on the sidewalk with him for almost 45 minutes after we went about one block. He has always loved his walks, and even on the daily Deramaxx, this interest has waned in the past 10 days. In addition, his anxiety has gotten worse — he caused more destruction yesterday, and even though I worked 1/2-day today, he was on Alprazolam, but three hours later when I got home, he was panting (with the air conditioner on), drooling puddles, and dilated eyes.

In fact, I did a list of “pros & cons” and realized that the cons far outweigh the pros. I have always told myself that I wouldn’t let his suffer, and I don’t want to wait until he is unable to lift himself up to consider putting him to sleep. In addition, seeing his anxiety is ever more heart-wrenching.

The vet thinks that perhaps the prozac isn’t working (only been on about a week), but I don’t know how I feel about trying another medication. He is only calm now when he is on the Alprazolam, and sadly, I’ve even had to use Acepromazine over the 4th, which another sad thing to see.

It is difficult with the 3-legs, to really ascertain how much pain he could be in, as a 4-legged dog can compensate with the other legs to help hold up a bad hip/leg, but Bailey can’t do that. I think the fact that he doesn’t enjoy his walks says quite a lot. He eats about 1/2 his food lately, and I even left a kong with cheese in it (one of his favorites), and he didn’t touch it.

He has had an excellent life — and I want him to be able to end it humanely. this is an awful decision that I’ve never had to make before, as Bailey is my first dog. I will talk to the vet today, but I have already decided that I won’t put him through more tests, nor does he have a good quality of life by being drugged most of the day.

I guess I’ll write more later, but I had to get this out. Thanks for listening!

Bailey: 10 years old — tripod for 5 years

I’ve had Bailey since he was a puppy. He got cancer in 2005, in his right shoulder joint. I found a great group on Yahoo that helped me make the decision to amputate, but all was in in favor: young age, very good health/weight, and no cancer had metastacized, so we went ahead with the surgery. I opted not to do the chemo.

Bailey has had an awesome life over the past five years! He moved across the country, lived in a new house with stairs that he has no problems maneuvering, and he LOVES the winters here in PA, with lots of snow. He definitely has husky in him. But he is a big dog — 85 pounds, and the amputated leg was the front right, so he definitely has had a harder time on his other three joints!

His vets now actually wonder if the tumor was caused by something other than cancer, given his cancer-free life so far.

Anyway, it’s been tougher for Bailey over the past month. He is more tired, and has developed some anxiety — mainly separation anxiety that has been difficult to deal with, as he is destructive. He has chewed quite a few pieces of furniture so far. After a couple of visits to the vet, there isn’t any discernible physical issues, so we have him started on Prozac for the anxiety and Deramaxx for the pain.

I sure wish I had a way to know how much pain he is in! His activity level has dropped more than half (walks are very difficult, as he can only do about 2 blocks — and I have to make it 1 block away or one block back, unless I want to sit and let him rest for 20-30 minutes!).

I wanted to just keep track of how he is doing. I always thought that Bailey would not have a lengthy life-span, given his large size, in addition to the strain on his body from the lack of one leg. I think we might be getting to the final lap, but who knows how long it will take. I just want him to be comfortable. I wish I didn’t have to leave him home (he does have a dogwalker) when I go to work, but somebody has to pay the vet :).