Since I had the whole day off, I quickly made an appointment for Sadie with Dr George at the Sierra Animal Hospital. I got a 2:30pm appointment and was seen right away. I told the vet tech and the doctor about Sadie's behavior. While Dr George does not have the equipment to do a BAER test, she snapped her fingers in front of Sadie and she reacted to the noise. Her ears perked. She is not convinced that Sadie is losing her hearing. Her eardrums looked normal, but getting a clear look at them was not easy. Sadie whimpered and whined during the entire procedure and writhed the entire time. George had to get a second vet tech to help hold Sadie down. "German shepherds are so dramatic!" said George.
What she did say is that Sadie may have canine cognitive dysfunction, or CCD, the canine version of Alzheimer's. It's a brain disease that can only be diagnosed through the elimination of other physical causes.
I paid $350 for a complete blood and urine test. Getting that urine sample wasn't easy, though. The vet tech and I tried to get her to pee outside, with the vet tech scooping the urine with a soup ladle. Sadie was too nervous around the young man so I agreed to try later, during the walk, to get a sample. I've never had to get a urine sample from a dog before, but knew it would not be easy with Sadie: her butt practically touches the ground when she pees.
I drove straight to our walking grounds after leaving the vet office. Within three minutes of starting our walk, she had to pee. As soon as she squatted, I reached with my cup-holding hand behind her and between her legs and got a perfect aim right away. What luck! She didn't even flinch. I got an amber golden sample of her urine, enough for the test. I walked with that cup snugly in my left hand during the entire walk. I felt like I was back in the army supervising a urinalysis! I dropped the urine sample off at the clinic after completing the 2.3-mile course under 64F temperatures. Sadie showed no signs of disorientation today. She does have many more better days than bad days. We saw the two young coyotes again, but they kept their distance.
I ended up reading for hours about CCD. All the symptoms that Sadie was showing, that I confused with deafness, fit the same symptoms for CCD. The nighttime barking, the disorientation, the inability to recognize family members, the house soiling, all indicate possible CCD. I posted on my Facebook wall about Sadie's possible CCD and got some good advice from other dog owners, including getting Sadie a prescription for selegiline. The sooner CCD can be diagnosed and treated, the better the results. I went on Amazon and ordered one month's worth of Senilife XL. Prices for that product vary greatly among all the pet sites I visited tonight. I ended up paying $29.48 for the first month's supply. I'll wait for the test results before going any further. We have to rule out kidney or liver disease, thyroid problems, diabetes or cancer first. I should get the results later this week and I'll go from there what to do next for Sadie.
Wish I had known about CCD management for Sara and Sammy. Their last few months could have been better quality for them. While Sammy suffered from severe arthritis, the neurological downfall that last month was traumatic for all of us, and Sara surely had other issues due to her incontinence.
No comments:
Post a Comment