Gizmo was really sore and not wanting to walk the day after his physical therapy and was even whimpering a bit. He had a vet appointment to follow up on his UTI so I had to get him to move despite his protests. Not only has it not cleared, but they detected two bacteria now so they put him on a longer dose of antibiotics. We did get him up for a short walk in the cart after the appointment and he was enjoying it, and Gizmo was very excited to see the dog from next door. His legs do seem to be moving a bit better, but I still wouldn’t say it’s good. We’ve also started to notice that he’s losing fur on his stomach – maybe just from the harness and cart rubbing it, but we’ll keep an eye on it.
Colin pointed out that we’ve been talking a lot about Gizmo – how to make the decision and what arrangements to make – but we haven’t talked about me. After his Otis passed, Colin couldn’t stand to be in his house (he actually moved in with me that day and spent a long time cuddling Gizmo). I’m already having a hard time with Gizmo still alive but not able to follow me around the way he used to. I’m going to be a mess when he’s fully absent. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’ll need to think about how I will cope. We took a walk to the farmer’s market for a change of scenery and some fresh air, and it was nice. I ran into a friend who has two Berners and got to love on them.
In the evening, Colin was helping Gizmo up to go to bed while I was working in my office. Gizmo made it clear he wanted to come into the office with me so Colin brought him in and helped him onto the bed by me. It certainly made me smile.
The next day was uneventful. He was struggling to pee so it’s a good thing we started the antibiotic. He wouldn’t eat his food, but took some chicken. The mobility and use of his legs seem marginally better.
He had his next chemo session on July 19, 2024. He was groggy after the session, but this sedative they’ve switched to is working much better for him. He peed on himself while he was there, and he had gone right before we left so it must be the UTI. We cleaned him up, and he ate later in the evening. Otherwise it was an uneventful day. At this point, an uneventful day is good. As long as it isn’t a bad day, I’m choosing to be optimistic that the new meds can work and we might be able to get him walking again.
