Lulu 11 y.o. Pom has gone over the Rainbow Bridge to meet Jojo

Hugs to you and Jojo

Glynda,

The "guidelines" are so moving. I am sorry you are in this place at the moment with Jojo but I know and trust your decisions. I do hope it is just a little hurdle and you will have much more time to show Jojo how loving this world can be.

Jenny

Dear Gylnda,

Today is a very sad day for all of us when we hear Jojo is not doing well and what you may decide.

My heart and prayers are with you and for you.

Love,
Addy

My heart is with you, Glynda.

(((((hugs)))))
T.

Ah dear sweet Glynda I send you my heart and every bit of strength I have. Hugs to both you and dearest Jojo. Kim

Hi Glynda: I have just read through the thread about your little ones from the day of your joining the forum. I must say that I got as far as the "angel hospice" guidelines and just lost it. Number one just started the tears flowing. I feel so much for the heart and soul of my dogs, as do you--I see this so clearly now. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication not only to your own dogs but to the dogs of so many others. Because of my faith in your expertise I really duked it out with my vet yesterday about the timing of the stim test, and insisting we go 48 hours from stopping to get an accurate reading. He did agree but only because I came across with great decisiveness and a bit of humor ("You'll have someone to blame," I quipped, "if something goes wrong.") I will be posting more about our plan for toby's loading which is to start 2nd week of march based on vets I most trust at our local clinic being on-call, covering weekends, etc.. I so thank you, and all the other forum members, for the insights and love felt through the posts. I thank you all for the light. We have exhausted our local specialist possibilities and I am committed to working this through locally....I believe God has a plan for my journey with Toby, and that from start to finish (which of course I hope is far off) it is in his hands. This is how the core, the soul of me feels--the personality worries and frets constantly about somehow being an agent of anything harmful to this beautiful little dog he has allowed me to care for. Blessings to all from Linda and Toby.

Oh Glynda ... sending hugs to you and Jojo.
Angela and Flynn

:( Jo-Jo trusts you completely. Sue

Thank you everyone for your beautiful and kind words. I don't believe Jojo is in continuous pain but then, he can't tell me where it hurts. I watch him closely these days and find myself in tears a lot. In the last several months, despite having cortisol under control, his behavior has taken a turn for the worst. Gil will no longer pick him up for fear of being bitten. If I don't baby talk him and pick him up with perfect placement of my hands behind his front legs, he will bite me. He has never liked to be picked up around his abdomen but it's worse now. I've had two vets check him out for stomach, liver and any other problem that could cause him pain in this area and they were unable to find anything. He's always been a grump but he's much worse now. If any of the dogs go near him he snarls and snaps at them. He's not as tough as he thinks he is because he went after Lola and she fought back and cornered him. He was screaming like a girl. :D His gait is stiffer and he rarely holds his tail up anymore. I've asked the IMS about his head bobbing and he thinks it's because he's missing so many teeth, he's trying to keep his tongue in his mouth. He also has TMJ which is painful for him so he has to have very soft food at all times. He's been doing the head bobbing for a very long time but it is becoming more exaggerated and a constant thing. The only way to get him to quit is to pick him up and love on him. It breaks my heart to watch him. At least once a day, he'll be walking across the room and will let out a yelp and run away with his tail between his legs. I've had him checked for luxated patellas and his knees are fine. I think it's his arthritis flaring up. I have just started him back on metacam so we'll see if there is any change. He is becoming more withdrawn and rarely asks to be held anymore. Despite a great diet, good control of cushing's and omega fatty acid supplements, his coat is really brittle and very dull. His eyes are also bad again.

If he weren't so darn happy to see me fixing meals and if he didn't get so excited with momentary bursts of energy and excitement when we are going bye bye in the car, I'd not be so torn. He is due for another stim next month so I'm going to have a full senior panel and thyroid panel done to rule out any other underlying issues. If we can't find anything there, I'm going to discuss the possibility of checking just his estradiol levels. I don't believe I need a stimulated specimen so I can just have the blood draw done and sent to UTK. I think I'm going to have all of this done at my local gp vet, as the cost will be a fraction of what the IMS would charge. I will then gather all the results and make an appointment to see the IMS. I'm not ready to give up on my baby boy until I've done everything possible for him and have talked to the gp vet and his specialist about his quality of life.

Glynda

Dear Glynda!
Many hugs from us too. I know this is probably the worst place to be and my heart goes out to you. It sounds as if JoJo is still giving you moments of pleasure to you and you to him. Each one of those moments are precious and memories onto themselves. We are waiting anxiously for your test results. In the meantime, please feel the white light, energy and prayers we are sending your way.
Love,
Carrol