Worries

I hate being worried about things.  My husband thinks I tend to worry too much but I can't help it sometimes.  This week I am worried about our sweet, old dog, Fly.  She is about 13 years old and it's really starting to show.  I've taken her to the vet twice in the last month and they haven't found anything major with her but she just seems to be deteriorating rather quickly.  She has bad arthritis and we got her some joint supplements and anti-inflammatory that helped.  She ran out of the anti-inflammatory two weeks ago and I can tell that her back legs are really bothering her again.  She can barely get up sometimes and she spends most of her day laying/sleeping in the same spot because I think it bothers her too much to get up and down.  Naturally, the vet's office won't automatically refill the prescription so it looks like it will vet visit #3 later this week.

Sad Fly

She's also been breathing really heavy, especially this past week.  I've read that this can be a sign of congestive heart failure so I'm worried about her. It can also be a sign of pain or discomfort so I am hoping it's just a flare up of her arthritis and a cortisone shot or perhaps some more anti-inflammatory will help.  I also noticed that she hasn't eaten her dog food in the past 2 days but I'm hoping it's because she's finishing up an antibiotic right now that may be upsetting her tummy and it's nothing serious.  She still has a strong interest in what we're eating and readily gobbles up any and all treats. We just had a house guest as well so she may have been distracted or bothered by that.  However, she seems more lethargic and sad lately so I don't know what to do.  Perhaps its just the natural progression and her little body is slowly wearing down.  It's so hard to watch them when you know they aren't happy and aren't feeling well but there's nothing you can do.

Perkier Fly a few weeks ago

We're also getting ready to go out of town and I'm terrified that she will pass away while we are gone.  I was going to have my parents watch her but I decided yesterday that I couldn't put them through having to deal with something like that if it did happen.  So, I booked her at her usual kennel, which is also part of the vet's office.  The staff at the kennel and the vet  know and love her to death.  That gives me a little comfort knowing she will be in good hands and has immediate access to her usual vet.  Poor thing.  Nothing you can do except pray for their comfort when they get so old.  Makes me sad.