As I write about the actual daily stress of dealing with a geriatric dog, particularly one with disabilities it might scare off the faint of heart and heart is the key word. You have to love your sweetheart with all of your heart to face the wear and tear it takes not only emotionally but physically. Especially if your beloved senior happens to be a larger breed that just amps up the physical demands making you more tired to deal with the emotional fallout of seeing your pet fail.  That being said if you are like me then there are no options but one, put one foot forward and carry on and when all else fails apples and cinnamon do the trick.

I keep saying to myself “Thank G-d my husband feels the same as I do” towards Molsie. When Molson was 12 after a particularly bad winter he seemed to be constantly falling down and appeared to be depressed. I couldn’t take him for a walk without coming home and bursting into tears. I brought him to my vet who made an assessment, recommending giving acupuncture a try as there was a local vet who specialized in acupuncture and had had some amazing results. My husband and I were game for anything and if Molsie was helped by acupuncture then wonderful.

In the mean time I purchased different supports for Molson and trying all of them tossed them out. I looked at my dog and tried to figure out what would help him, what would make a more comfortable support for him and one that I thought would be more comfortable for me. It didn’t bother me that it was made with material and tape and looked strange, it worked and so the Hip Hammock was born.

We went for about three months of weekly acupuncture sessions and while he didn’t seem to mind having needles put everywhere he didn’t seem to be improving. We started adjusting things around the house to make life easier for him. He stopped wanting to go down our wooden staircase, that was corrected by me carpeting them one afternoon. It’s amazing how good sticky carpet squares helped by a staple gun can look and more important work! Presto chango, as long as I was in front of him he came down the stairs with no problem or hesitation and going up the stairs well the old hands on the hindquarters support worked perfectly.

Jumping onto our bed was no longer possible so we had an engineer friend build him a wide ramp out of wood at a perfect angle for him to walk up onto our bed. Oh and I carpeted that ramp too! Molsie since the day he came into our home hopped onto our bed and has slept there every night since so leaving him to sleep on his lovely bed that I made for him to rest on during the day, not an option. Are you starting to get the drift?

It was time to admit the acupuncture was not working for Molson so we went into the surgeon’s office for assessment. It was discovered that Molson’s Hip Dysplasia was quite advanced, which at the time shocked the surgeon because Molson was not presenting himself to be as diminished in capability as his actual condition proved he should be. The Doctor thought his spinal nerve damage was more of an issue before the x-ray’s proved otherwise and of course because of age factor plus nerve damage surgery was quickly ruled out and pain management was moved to the forefront.

After performing all sorts of physical tests on Molson showing us exactly what he meant by spinal nerve damage involvement we were told to take him home, love him and expect certain things to follow as his conditions progressed. Loss of bowel control would be first because of the nerve damage in the sphincter muscle of the anus and later incontinence because of his conditions and the medications he was put on and then the obvious age factor.

We were both thankful that at least Molson would be comfortable and that as of yet no poo had been pooped. And my husband jokingly said but when he sees pee, then…

For quite a while with the help of his new medication regiment and huge benefit of his Hip Hammock usage Molsie got stronger, walked further, fell less and generally while not halting the aging factor regained mobility and strength in his hind quarters…

We moved into a large Victorian home and because of our beloved Molson’s disabilities and here I start to hold my breath because there will be those of you who think we are completely nuts we did the following things. We never moved ourselves into our lovely en-suite bedroom on the top floor although our bed frame and clothes went up there, no, we moved our mattress into the den and placed it onto the floor so Molson who could no longer stably walk the ramp could step up onto the bed. We put carpets throughout the main floor to help him get a grip, and runners where the wood was still exposed even throwing a carpet onto the kitchen floor, ugh!

Molsie has only ventured onto the second floor once and that was during the first week we moved because he was in search of me in my studio. He got enough power into his hind quarters and pushed himself up that long staircase. With my daughter watching in horror, I picked up Molsie who is more than ½ my weight and I started to giggle half way down the stairs because Molson must have realized that he and I were both perilously close to death if I dropped him. So he held himself stiff as a statue as I tried to regain my composure, regain my breath and quit visualizing myself falling down the stairs crushing both my dog and my skull at the same time. Molson has never ever ventured up those stairs again…thank G-d!

We raised our backyard around 8 feet so Molson could walk out the back door onto the lawn…won’t even go into that story right now!

I have become an expert at catching the slight twitch of his tail that signals a poop is on the way and scooping it onto a Kleenex and into the toilet before it hits the ground or Molson realizes what has transpired. Or even more disconcerting doing the quick poop scoop and dash while having our guests guessing why I just flew out of the room. They probably think I have just made the biggest fart and yes I never say fart, but since the smell is so strong at that moment, fart is what they are going to be thinking. And I will admit it is better in my head sometimes for them thinking that I have a gas problem than them knowing our dog is pooping regularly in our home.

We have protective sheets in mass quantity on our bed and his day bed just in case one escapes while he is sleeping. My washer and dryer are constantly going and it is a full time job although I have to say I have recently learned how to stimulate his bowels and help him poop (his thankfully perfect poos) en demand so he rarely has an accident anymore and if he does, well then we are covered.

And now we come to the part I have dreaded, the part my husband jokingly said “but when he pees…” our Molsie has become incontinent since midsummer. When the first accident happened I held my breath to see my husband’s reaction. And bless his heart he was more concerned for Molson’s sense of shame and embarrassment which they do feel.

Adjustments have been made and will continue to be made. Washable incontinent pads are placed wherever Molsie lies with a sheet covering them to keep them in place. It generally happens when he is getting up and then the pad and sheet are whisked into the washer. And ever the quick learner if he pees while lying down he gets up right away and waits for me to change his linen, wipe down his inner thighs and tummy with a wet cloth and then dry him and then comfortably resettles himself with a look of “thanks, much better”.

If Molsie sits up on the bed at any time of night, I get up with him and help him to the back door and onto our raised lawn praying he doesn’t have an accident before he hits the grass, the rate is 50/50. I no longer sleep through the night I have a stack of rags at the ready, soap, water and vinegar, prepped for a cleanup. Piles of freshly laundered pads and sheets carefully placed. Generally the hum of the washer, drier or both can be heard in the background.

I had to take Molson to the vet’s office this week because he pulled out his duclaw nail and even though I had put on antibiotic it looked enflamed. I dreaded bringing him to see Dr. Gilmore because there were words I was afraid might be said that I wasn’t ready to hear. I do my check list everyday and the checks are still on the good side but will his vet give the same assessment. First off he saw that Molson has lost weight over the summer, second that his dysplasia has worsened and then when I said right off the bat Molson is now incontinent he said “I know I can smell some urine on him”.

All three of us sat on the examining floor as Dr. Gilmore listened to his heart and lungs and checked him out. And amazingly enough came to the very same conclusion that my husband and I have, he is in pretty good shape for a puppy his age with his problems. He still looks happy and engaged, his eyes still have a sparkle and he is not in pain. And then my tears came, half from fear of what I might hear that day and half from sheer exhaustion. When I said I want him when the time comes to pass away in his sleep his Doctor smiled and said that probably isn’t going to happen that way because his heart and lungs sound so strong, though when reminded of his nearly 15 years of age he said maybe.

What he did say was I will know when the time is right and if I said to him the time was right tomorrow I should realize that I have given Molsie a good two more years than most people would.

The only thing I know for sure is that the time isn’t right and if we happen to have guests coming over I will cut some apples and cinnamon and cook them in the microwave. I will then run around every room including the entrance of our house to cover any scent of urine I haven’t managed to wash away and if by chance I have to do a quick poop dash I will apologize for my gassy faux pas when re-entering the room and sit quietly by my carefully placed bowl of apples and cinnamon.