Senior Wellness Exams-Ping and her Liver

Last week Ping and Tubby had their senior wellness exams.  We do them every six months and they get their blood work checked and get looked at for lumps and bumps and any problems.  Once a year we also get their thyroid checked.   


Thankfully Tubby 







is looking good and his blood work is perfect.  He even withstood the indignities of a prostate exam since the vet said it was an important for an "old man." (I still cant think of Tubby as an old man even though he will be 11 in March.)


Ping



did less stellar.   Unfortunately her blood work showed slightly elevated liver enzymes.  It was only a slight elevalation of about 2 points above normal, but I am a worry wort.  Ping's vet recommended we just try some supplements for now (Marin and Denosyl).  The supplements are a bit pricey, coming to about seventy dollars a month!  (Imagine what it would cost for a large dog, Ping only weights 14 lbs!).   The worst part though is that Ping needs to take the Denosyl an hour before eating and on an empty stomach!  So now she has to wait an hour for breakfast, as do the other hounds since we have to be fair.   This is definitely taking some getting used to and the collective opionions seems to be that by 6:30 am starvation is setting in.  As a slight plus, Ping does get to take her Denosyl in peanut butter and she loves her PB.


Ping gets her blood work checked again in 6 months and if nothing has worsened we will just continue with the supplements.  If anything gets worse we may do an ultrasound of the liver but I am hoping that wont be necessary.  Ping is 8, will be 9 in May, which I don't consider too old.  John and I see her as about middle aged.  If anyone in blog ville has any tips about a healthy diet for the liver I would love to hear them.   Ping eats honest kitchen grain free and grain free kibbles and our vet seems to think that is fine, but Im a nervous nelly!

In Memory of Bingo-Old DogsAre The Best Dog

 

 Right around this time three years ago Bingo game into our lives.   We fostered him for a local pug rescue group and then adopted him when it became clear he was not a candidate for permanent adoption.  Bingo had cancer (a slow growing kind), partial paralysis of his back legs, and he was incontinent.  Even so he lived 2 and a half good years with us, passing away (with our vets help) in November of 2010 when he went into liver failure.  The most defining characteristic of Bingo was his sweetness, he was an all around sweet boy, but with a side of grumpy old man ( he barked loudly for his breakfast and dinner  whenever he felt it was taking too long, it always reminded me of an old man yelling at a waitress in a restaurant).  Loyal and loving to the end, even when he could barely walk he would scoot his way to the door to greet us when we got home from work.   Bingo really embodied the message of the above book, Old Dogs Are Best Dogs  (which is an absolutely wonderful book that every dog lover should read.)  I got it for Christmas two years ago, here is a picture of Bingo, Tubby, and Ping enjoying story time:

 

Personally I believe all dogs are the best dogs (young and old) but there is no reason an older dog cant make a fabulous companion.   There is also no excuse for tossing aside a friend of 12 years, as Bingo's previously family did, when his health worsened and his care became more difficult to manage.  I am not someone who believes that everyone needs to rescue their dog, there is nothing wrong with reputable breeders, and I have decided my next dog will be a puppy from a good breeder BUT I do think every dog lover should think about welcoming a senior into their home (at least once or twice), you save a dog and you enrich your own life in return.  

Bingo's story  is a very happy one.  I miss him, but I am not sad that he passed away because he got two quality years in a loving home.  Years he most definitely would not have had if the rescue group had not taken him in (he was in a high kill city shelter).   The below pictures show what a wonderful time Bingo had in his retirement home (and what a wonderful time we had with him).