Thank you guys for the kind words. I've been dealing with all the feelings and emotions about losing Bijou, and its been incredibly tough. It's nice that there are people who understand and can empathize in a way I guess. I so badly didn't want to go through with it and I didn't want myself to think I was giving up on him, but I had to be realistic at the same time. It really hurts me that the progression of it, when he was first showing noticeable signs and was soon after diagnosed, to how he was near the end, it was much quicker than I could ever be ready for. I was thinking years not months before it got really bad, especially cause I had him on medication. But in the back of my head I knew that that was possible just with all the research I've been reading on it. I read tons and in a way it gave me comfort just to understand it a bit better, and it also explained the excessive water drinking he was doing. I saw 3 vets and none of them tied it to dementia, and in Bijou's case they probably should've. Oh well. In his case it wouldn't have lead to an earlier diagnosis so it doesn't matter. That was happening at the same time as other stuff.
If there's one thing I want people reading this to consider and learn is to really pay attention to small changes that can happen with senior dogs. In Bijou's case it was becoming withdrawn socially and also far more sleeping during the day than usual. For years he was already sleeping lots, and then it became even more. I wish I didn't just assume its old age that was causing the excessive sleeping and the social withdrawing. I should've taken him to the clinic right away and quizzed the vet about dementia and really had the vet consider that possibility at that time. Maybe then I could've started treatment, be it medication or what have you at that time. Cause, in Bijou's case, that's what happened first before the barking, pacing, excessive water drinking, etc. It just makes sense to me that treatment at an early point will likely lead to the best outcomes. And obviously preventative measures are quite important too. It seems it's always in hindsight that we feel we can understand a situation a bit better. |