11/22/2010
Friends,
Last spring we started noticing that Kopol was struggling to have a bowel movement, in every other way he seemed healthy and normal. We figured this would pass because he has a habit of eating bad things from the trails and then getting sick. As time passed he wasn’t improving so we took him in for a checkup with blood and stool work. Nothing turned up in the stool but in his blood were signs of ehrlichiosis or canine tick fever and his thyroid also showed signs of dysfunction. He was put on thyroid medication for life. Several weeks later we had more blood work done to see if the ehrlichiosis was still present; it was, so we started him on a long term dosage of antibiotics, which he is still taking. Nothing has changed; Kopol still struggles to have a satisfactory bowel movement which never comes. His stool is small and runny. Lately he has been trying to urinate with little to no discharge.
Last Friday 11/19 at 7 am we gave Kopol 4 tablets of Acepronmazine so that he would be sedate during an ultra sound and x-rays. This drug took Kopol to a point where he was basically at a point of “functioning unconsciousness,” he was so messed up and it took him 48 hours to recover to “normal.” Even in his stupor at the vet’s office Kopol made every attempt to get/give love from anybody in his vicinity. He lay on the floor and when he sensed anybody approach “thump, thump thump” went his happy tail and he made a groggy attempt to roll up onto his feet. At this point in our relationship I realize the extent of this boy’s incredible sprit and was attempting, as he always has in everything he does, to give 110%. Of all the times I have wished for Kopol to be sedate I now, never wish to see him ever again the way I saw him this past weekend. I also took a good look at myself and realize the impatience I have had with Kopol over the years is a lost opportunity to be a better person. Going forward I see myself getting closer to the person I want to be thanks to the lesson(s) Kopol has taught me. I would ask him to forgive me but I know he has never failed in his love for me. He’s always loved me and showed me so, 110%.
The ultra sound showed no stones in his urinary track so the vet went on to x-rays. For the last couple weeks Kopol has not only struggled to urinate but had started to dribble urine. What the technology tells really, is nothing. We still don’t know why he struggles to eliminate waste. We got a clear picture of an enormous bladder which the vet drained and was causing the incontinence, the urine was spilling out. We also saw some fusing of a couple vertebrae and as the vet put it “his hips are in magnificent shape.”
Kopol is 12 years old, that’s “old” for a large dog. He looks so good, healthy and strong but when he tries to eliminate waste we are reminded there is something terribly wrong. The vet speculated he might have a tumor growing in his spine which is disrupting the data moving to and from his brain. Wishful speculation is that the tick fever or a super strong strain of giardia is causing his problems and the antibiotics will bring his body functions into check. No matter how strong and healthy he may be, at 12 he is approaching the end of his life, and whatever amount of life he has, it won’t be enough. Right now he lays inches away, living in the present, he looks comfortable and pain free, his eyes forever on me. I, on the other hand, do not stay in the now and conjure up a vision of my future which makes me break down in tears. We have chosen not to put Kopol through any more tests and take each day as it comes. The vet showed me how I could help him urinate by pressing on his bladder. This seems to be working, his bladder is not filling up but we realize this is only a temporary fix. An empty bladder will help keep him comfortable and may buy enough time to see improvements.
If I am selfish, as I was with Casper and Buddy, there will come a time when Kopol’s sprit fades and he stares at me with empty eyes. I have promised my good friend that day will never come.
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