Dog and such

The wife is asleep on the couch and the dog is on her pad and there both will stay until one or the other needs to go potty, at which point my spouse will rouse and stumble to the john, but the dog will require assistance. I will have to carry it out to the yard, put on its harness and lift her so that she might approximate walking on her own.

The vet told us it was Idiomatic ("Old Dog") Vestibular Disease. Think of it as being so disoriented that the world appears to be on a 45° angle. She has a nystagmus, which no doubt complicates the situation.

We've just finished day two of carrying her around, feeding her by hand and giving her water via a syringe. According to the vet, while this disease comes on quickly (overnight!), it may take a month or more for it to resolve itself. They don't know what causes it and therefore there is no cure (not that those two things always go hand in hand).

We had a cat die a couple years ago due to another type of vestibular issue, a parasite, and the wife is therefore in association mode. If you knew her and her attachment to these animals, you would understand how traumatic this is for her.

I'm being a guy. My pain is reserved, and when not, only for my wife in these situations.

To mention anything about my trip next week to Illinois would be selfish. In fact, it is on hold until we see significant improvement. And the notifications to Illinoisans, while begun, will be timed to that improvement. But right now, things look grim.

Not for me, mind you, for as I say, I'm being a guy, but to varying degrees for those expecting my presence, and with my wife's current state, for the dog. Between the two of them, it is uncertain whose misery is greater. It is also a quality of life issue, although different for each: emotional pain that seems to be unrelenting with the demise of three beloved pets in the past two years and an aging animal who has been under the knife three time this year.

It is times like this I am glad I was raised as a farm kid, yet —and this wasn't always so, so it's not always easy— I am also grateful to have learned that a guy can also give comfort and show love.

On a lighter note, the electrician that came today told us of the yuppies up north who all seem to have fly fishing gear mounted somewhere in the house.