Old dogs, revisited

Patience has been posting about her VOD (very old dog) which has led me to think about my guy. I don't have a very old dog -- but I do have a middle aged bordering on old dog with MMP (multiple medical problems). Darby was diagnosed with cirrhosis at age 5 (all that licker), and a heart murmur at age 7. Seven also brought spinal stenosis that has caused atrophy of his back leg. As eluded to in yesterday's post, he is old before his time.

Patience's old dog has had a rough week. Darby seems to be having a bad time, too. Perhaps, the stars are out of alignment and all old whippets are a bit "off" for this moon. Darby is lamer than usual, although seems not to be in pain. I read Laurie's post about her dog's last year, and sat here bawling (I think that is good for the soul, though). Recently, Darby has developed episodes of pure confusion. I hope that doesn't mean that his ticker is worse. However, 3 years ago when he was diagnosed with liver failure/chirrhosis, I thought he would be dead in 6 months. Eighteen months ago, I was agonizing over The Decision. But his eyes told me that is wasn't time. And he was right. The past few months have been very good. Rimadyl is miracle drug.

Today was warm. Darby went out and had a good roll in the hay. I love watching him enjoy things like that. I am confident the sun felt good on his bones. I would have joined him -- however, the evil allergies would have made me miserable, so I stayed inside in my filtered environment (please let the allergy shots work!).

Darby has taught me so much -- about unconditional love, about living despite the odds. I hope that Darby's recent slowness is just a blip on the radar screen and not a sign of the next decline. It is not my place to know whether this will prove to be a blip or a trend. It is my place to hug my hound, and be thankful for his very graceful presence in my life.