Poor Reeses

My sweet little pups are getting old, and I hate it! It's so hard to watch your pets age, and not be able to do the things they used to do. Reeses is almost 14, and Oreo is almost 13 years old. Over the past year, they have declined a lot. They have both lost their hearing, they can't get in and out of the car anymore, Reeses has trouble with arthritis, and has to be on medication for that and her thyroid, etc., but considering their ages, they are still doing pretty good.

Reeses recently had a spinal cord stroke, and it was the worst thing EVER to watch! 😔 It was very traumatic for me, and I did not handle it well. I basically cried all day. I came down in the morning to let them outside and feed them breakfast. Reeses gets up very slowly these days, but she seemed off, and even worse than usual. She tried to go down the back porch stairs and fell all the way down them. When she tried to get back up to go to the bathroom, she tipped over half way through going pee. She had no idea what was going on, and neither did I. I got her back into the house and back onto her bed, but it was quite an ordeal. She ended up not being able to move. She couldn't get up at all on the first day. I had to move her food and water right by her, and hold her up if she needed to eat or drink. We would put a beach towel under her stomach, and hold onto both ends of if when she had to walk or stand; basically we were acting as her back end for her. This allowed us to get her outside to go to the bathroom. She didn't seem to be in pain, so she didn't understand why she couldn't walk. She kept trying, and would fall so hard. It was terrible to watch! This was on a Friday, and the vet was booked until Monday. The first day was very rough! On Saturday we noticed she could shift positions, and even walk a very short distance, although it usually ended in a bad fall. It was definitely her back left side that she didn't have control of. She got a little better each day, and by the time Monday rolled around and we got her into the vet, she was walking on her own, and doing a ton better. She would still fall over if she tried to walk fast, or if she tried to shake or sneeze. Once we found out what it was, we read up on it, and realized she could make a full recovery. It just takes 3-5 weeks. It's been two weeks, and she is back to her two mile walk each day. She can do the back steps on her own now, and seems more steady on her feet each day. She still has to brace herself to shake her head, or when she sneezes, but she is doing so much better. I am so relieved! I know it's coming eventually, but I was just not ready to say goodbye to her yet. She has been my little buddy for 14 years! Poor Mark had to deal with Reeses, and his basket case wife. It's the worst part about owning animals, and I truly don't know how I'm going to handle living on a farm. This experience proved to me that I am not cut out for this, yet I'm going to do it anyways. The short time we get to have our little fury friends is still worth it, and better than not having them at all. I am gonna have to find some way to toughen up before we start our farm life though. 😅

Oreo was so worried about her bestie. She was sweet to keep Reeses company when she couldn't get around.