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All About Max

Max update Sept 7th 10:35 AM

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Well yesterday was a good day for Max in regard to his walking. We are definately seeing him use is front left paw correctly for some steps. Usually about 3 steps and then he knuckles (walks on top of foot, foot curled under). It’s much better than the constant dragging he’s been doing with it.

Yesterday he had some diarrhea and was incontinent x 3. He really tried to let us know, when he looks like he wants to get up and walks towards us, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not necessarily a warm glow feeling that he wants to be with us.. it’s usually a signal that he wants to go out and that it’s urgent and if we don’t move it, we’ll be in cleaning mode!

He slept upstairs with us last night and had one accident at 3 AM. M and I were sleeping and we woke to see him walking in the room, and we flicked he light on to find he had been trying to get to the bedroom door (which we close at night so he can’t fall down the stairs). Anyways we were able to clean him and the room up pretty fast (we are getting to be pro’s! We had the windows wide open and the fan going and this morning the room smells pretty good 🙂 It’s all good. We are just so happy to see him using that front left paw some… it’s hopeful.

I slept in this morning to almost 10 am, and came down to find him resting in the family room with Maurice, Karen, Dick and Nick.. so he’s not lonely! 🙂 I’ve got his bedding in the wash, but it’s no hardship for him as he has 3 beds.  He ate his morning pills, I had sneakily cut a slice in a piece of sausage and gave it to him, and he spit the pill out, but then when he  realized it still had part of the sausage smell on the pill, he ate the pil! Then he started licking the carpet where the sausage had been briefly when he spit it out with the pill…  I think he likes the sausage! It’s one way to get a clean carpet  lol

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Max update: Sunday Sept 6th 1:30 pm

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Max had a pretty good night. I didn’t sleep all that well even though I was in my own bed, I ended up drifting but waking every hour or so as he shifted or moved, I was worried he had gotten into an awkward position with his left paw … not to worry, he did great. No pee’s or poops during the night.

M got him up when he got up at 0600 and took him out and he pee’d.  still no poop today so I’m hopeful the diarrhea is slowing or over.. PLEASE let it be done!

Today was M’s day to do the grouse grind and he and Michelle completed it. M left the house to meet Michelle at around 8 AM, and about 8:20 Max tried to get up and come towards me.. I felt a warm glow inside thinking he wanted to be near me…   NOPE… he wanted up the 3 stairs to the kitchen area, and he hung a left and we walked to the door, and he promptly sat down at the top of the stairs, Waiting for Maurice!  I went to the front door and opened it and asked him if he needed to go out? he got up and we made it down 2 stairs and he stood their looking at where the car should be… Maurice wasn’t there.. so there was nothing for it but to wait.. so he plunked his rear down on the cement, and the vigil began… we waited for 3.5 hrs or so.. for the first 2 hrs each car that came by, he would lift his head and look… after 2 hrs, he didn’t lift his head any more.. he seemed sad..   I knew M was on his way home, but Max got up and turned to the house to go back in…  we went inside and to the top of the stairs, and M pulled in the driveway.. we had just gotten inside.  The neighbours were giving Max and me the fisheye as they looked at the pair of us sitting out on the stoop, but to heck with them.. 🙂

When M walked Max back into the family room, we saw him take 3 normal steps with his left front paw.. things ARE looking up, and we continue to marvel and the leaps and bounds our boy is making. GO MAX GO! Many thanks to those who are emailing or phoning to see how Max is doing, and who are reading our blog. We all appreciate your support.

Company is coming in 3 hrs or so, I’ve got a few more things to do around the house, will give another update tomorrow. We will try Maxie in our room again tonight, with the door closed so he can’t wobble out to the stairs and fall.  he was good as gold last night and today. I think he’s depressed when Maurice is not with him… as soon as he came home, all was right in Max’s world.
…Pam…

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Saturday Sept 5th 10:45 pm Max update

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Well we took him out and he only pee’d.. we are going to try and see how he does tonight sleeping upstairs with us, we gave him his pain med, he settled so well last night we are hoping that tonight he will do the same. We’ve not seen any Bowel movement yet today so hopefully the diarrhea is slowing.. we have pads upstairs in case,  if we catch it in time, fingers crossed! I know.. TMI (to much information) but it’s a part of what we are dealing with here.

Tonight, i broke down when he came back in the house, I saw him use his left front paw for a few steps, so it’s given me the lift I needed. I don’t know if it was sheer coincidence or not, but he looked like he was using it…

Anyways, he’s got his bed upstairs and it’s in the spot he usually sleeps in. I know I’m not really going to get much sleep tonight, but i miss being with Maurice and so we need to try this, it’s too hard the other way. So as a family, we sleep upstairs tonight! Wish us luck.

Tomorrow M and his friend Michelle are tackling the grouse grind, GOOD LUCK YOU TWO!  and I’ll stay home with Maxie. Karen, Dick and Nick arrive later in the day so thats nice we will be able to see them. 🙂 Life can sure change in a heartbeat, and this is one more confirmation that you need to live your life to the fullest because you never know when something like this can strike you…  well, enough of my musings, I’m off to join the guys upstairs.

…Pam…

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Max update post Vet visit 5:55 pm

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We took Max over to see his Dr , Dr Shawn Llewellyn at the Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital at 3:30 today for an assessment. Shawn checked him over, was pleased with his progress. He saw that Max was able to move his left hind, responds to pain stimuli quite easily on the hind leg, so it’s really good news. He’s not making big progress on his left front, but he’s still trying. The vet decreased his prednisone because we were noticing a bit of blood in his stool. Not good, prednisone can be so hard on the gut. He’s on sulcrate but it’s not enough so we are adding new meds to the regime.

Also we mentioned the pain med situation. He’s ordered tramadone I think the name of it is, and we are just going to give him one at night to help him calm and sleep as he seems to be more antsy at night. I think we are going to take him  upstairs with us tonight to sleep and hope he has no diarrhea upsets and if he does, that we can take him in our bathroom as it’s got a vinyl floor. we all need to get a good night sleep and it’s worth a try.

Today is another day, and while we have not seen great improvements today, he’s holding his own. He did vomit earlier today, but the poor bugger had eaten some of my cooking, so who can blame him?

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Max update Thursday 5:54 pm

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One of the vets from Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital called today to check on Max. I told her what we had been observing over the last 3 days since we saw our vet Shawn… she said that this gave her good reason to be hopeful, the fact that he is correcting his hind foot when he knuckles and then corrects to walk on pads.. that it shows he’s feeling his foot at least. She said that this sort of thing sometimes takes months, not days.. and that it could be a slow road to recovery but that she has seen dogs some back from being totally imobilized to walking again. She gave us hope when she told us that.

Also, I called the Abby SPCA today to talk to Alicia , the gal there who loves Max so, and wanted to keep her updated as to whats happened with him. She was not in, but I gave our ph# etc and she called while I was on the phone with the Vet, so I found her message and Maurice called and talked to her.

Alicia, you are welcome to come by anytime to visit Maxie..  heheh he might bark at you though.. you know how he is! 🙂  He’s had a quiet time of it the last few days doing mostly laying in the family room by the fresh air and door, or just outside on the cement pad, on his sheepskin bed…

We are doing ROM (range of motion) exercises with his limbs and the left hind leg shows no stiffness, but his left front leg is stiffening up and so we are going to double our efforts and do his exercises more often.. we want to try to keep his limbs limber and not go stiff as a carp!

We are expecting houseguests in a couple of days, and I’m not sure how Maxie will react to them, but we will take it day by day.  He will not be left alone to struggle or flop around. Either M or I will stay with him.

Last night Maurice was able to get more than 2-3 hrs sleep and I had a solid 6 hrs so we are both feeling alot better today, we were going on fumes there for a bit, but feeling stronger today! 🙂 For me, today has been a day of hope. When we were eating dinner Max stood up and balanced on 3 legs and drank water.. he’s not able to walk on 3 legs by himself, but just the fact that he was able to stand and balance on it, made my heart sing. THAT is courage.

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Thursday update; 3:10 pm

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Max has had a decent day so far since I’ve gotten up. Maurice said that Max seemed in pain when he tried to move him, and was crying a bit, I’ve seen that too, but then he settles, so it’s hard to know if it is frustration or pain that he’s having.

A big victory for Max today was he was getting restless and trying to get up, and Maurice got him to the grass and Max was able to hump over and have his poop! It’s the little things in life that make us smile. It was loose and watery but he’s on meds and I suspect that’s the cause of it. We are giving him things he’s used to eating, his crunchies and his human food, so nothing new there. He’s taking water so we are thankful for that, keeping him well hydrated.

I am so very very impressed with how Maurice has taken to being Max’s nurse. He’s totally amazing with him, and it brings tears to my eyes just watching the love between them. This is a hard time for us all, but Maurice has been Max’s rock, and mine.  We continue to watch for the small improvements and celebrate those.

at 3:20 I looked up and he had moved a bit, pulled himself forward, and I went over, he had peed on his bed, but that might have been my fault as I didn’t see him move, I was writing this post.. 🙂  we’re all cleaned up  now, on a new bed and his sheepskin bed is in the wash.. it’s all good. 🙂

…Pam…

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Max update Wed 4:39 am

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Max has had a pretty restless night, it’s been difficult as he’s been whining and I am not sure if he’s crying because he’s frustrated and doesn’t know what’s happening or if he’s in pain, he’s relaxed at the moment. I had to get M up to help get Max outside to try to pee as he has not done a thing since his catheter this AM around 9AM, and it’s now 4:40 ish… not good. He’s drinking, we’ve been able to give him a big bowl and  a half of water. He’s eating, and that’s good. He is trying to walk, so his spirits are still good. He stood beside me tonight balancing on his hind leg and leaning on the chair, but the limb with the biggest deficit seems to be his left front paw.. it’s almost contractured looking and we have to keep straightening it out and doing range of motion with him, which we have been doing alot. We are also taking him outside every 2-3 hrs to try to get him to go.. but nothing yet.  🙁   He’s alert and looking around.. he crawled over to where I was sitting and has gone to sleep now.. Maybe he just wanted to be closer to me but I suspected his gaze was at the kitchen and that he wanted more food.. so I gave him more metical canned hypoallergenic… he settled… finally at 4:40 , he settled for a bit.

Maurice and I are not used to looking after a dog that is this seriously ill, and he requires 24/7 watching. We do not want him to injure himself and fall downstairs or into things… it’s really hard to watch him struggle and fall. Hard to try to figure out why he’s crying… I know he’s our fur baby, but it’s really ripping us up to watch him like this. I hope we see some improvement soon. Maurice is going to do the day shift so I am sure he’ll put in a report/update.

hopeful signs: good appetite, drinking water. trying to get up , looking around, now wagging his tail when we come over.

disturbing signs: contracture in left front paw, left sided paralysis, has not pee’d or pooped. 🙁  I think he has a fever…his nose feels hot, as do his ears, and he’s panting. I’ve got fans on and the door open.. and MY hoodie on so I don’t freeze!

We want to thank everyone who has called and emailed us. It means alot to us to have friends and family  like you that care about our boy. Thanks alot everyone. We are clinging to our vet’s advice (Dr Shawn Llewellyn) from Scottsdale Veterinary Hospital) advise to wait and watch and see if he gets his strength back, if the steroids will help him. We want to give him the chance, he’s a great dog and deserves the chance.