Happy Birthday, Dubby-Dawg

Yesterday was Darby's birthday. He turned NINE YEARS OLD. He's doing well. Four years ago, we went into liver failure. The vet told me it was likely cancer, but given his young age, recommended a biopsy. Sure enough, it wasn't liver failure. He had significant liver scarring ( source unknown) and a bacterial infection in the portal system. He recovered -- his liver functions have been stable, but whenever we do labs, each time, his platelet count it lower, which tells me that probably, the liver scarring is worsening. After the episode of liver failure, he never quite recovered, but with time, he has slowly gotten better....he's just slow.

Every time I take Darby to the vet, some other problem is diagnosed. He has a very bad back-- probably some sort of disc issue, but because of that his back legs are slowly atrophying -- one worse than the other. He also has a severe heart murmur. Occasionally, the back pain flairs. A few months ago, I was concerned because it became so severe that he couldn't get up, and was obviously miserable. I believe that it is our role as guardian of these animals to make certain that they don't suffer unnecessarily. However, even though I was picking him up to take him outside (causing pain), his eyes were always bright. Today, he is doing well on his dose of Rimadyl. He runs slow zoomies. He even gets up on the couch to sit beside me, something he doesn't do when he is feeling poorly. He occasionally finds a nearly spent toy and wacks the tar out of it (Darby always liked to take rope toys and shake them so that they bang HIM in the head). He was the gentle alpha of the pack. With time, Gabi has taken over that role. However, when Darby is feeling good and wants in on a little Fun Police action, Gabi lets him.

Darby, you have been the best! Sorry I didn't realize that the name "Darby" was unisex applied primarily to the female side these days. May you have many more happy, pain free days!