I took another half day off to take Jimmy-dog to the vet. He had two appointments today, first at our regular vet for blood pressure and then to the surgery consultation. They took 5 blood pressures and some were normal and some were high. I'm beginning to wonder if their machine is broken. The surgeon was not happy with the grainy ultrasound images that the other vet sent over so he had his own technician check the tumor. Good news is it isn't invading the vena cava yet. Bad news is with Jimmy-dog's heart murmur, the surgeon does not think he will survive surgery. He would be willing to try surgery with an anesthesiologist which adds another $2k on to a $3-5k surgery with no guarantee that he will survive or that is will fix his issues. The cost is high but I had to think, if the surgery was free would I go for it? No, the odds do not sound good.
The surgeon suspects that the weakness in his hind limbs is from a different issue, a degenerative disk in his spine and it may eventually cause paralysis. He came to this conclusion after feeling Jimmy-dog's spine and at one point Jimmy-dog yelped and turned to bite him. So, I think we should focus on treating his symptoms. His lack of mobility is his worst problem at the moment. It has improved with pain medication. Maybe there is more they can do to help him with pain management.
So, that's the Jimmy-dog update. While I was in the vet office it was pouring rain outside. I emailed the tenant in the mobile home and asked him if the gutters that we put up last Saturday were working. He said they were 98% good. It was so hot on Saturday that we just tacked the gutters up and he was going to add more gutter hangers later on. He hasn't finished yet. I even got my nephew to get up early on a Saturday to help hang gutters by paying him $10 and hour. He is saving for an Alienware computer for gaming AND homework. We only put gutters on one side of the mobile home, approximately 60', but any water collection will help. Next step, gutters on the small shed, the barn-shed, and the green house. The water tank that we connected to it was filling up. It only holds 125 gallons and I told him that he should transfer the water to a larger tank now because we are supposed to get another storm tomorrow. When I was there on Saturday, I noticed a new stain on the ceiling. That means water leak. That's another thing for my to-do list. I don't have to do it myself per-se but I need to go out there and show him where the roof patch and tools are and perhaps supervise because I don't want him falling off my roof or anything.
The back storage room where the cats used to be has been invaded by a mouse or mice. That just kills me because we worked so hard last year to clean everything. My tenant offered to bring two mouser cats that he had at a friend's barn. I said an enthusiastic yes. Maybe these cats won't disappear like my cats did. So, now I need to organize the storage room again and remove anything that can be knocked over by cats chasing mice. I want the cats to have easy access to all hiding places. At first the mouse invasion kept me up at night thinking about what they could be ruining but now I have accepted the situation as helping me downsize. After all, that was my goal for this year, right? Get rid of stuff so that I can sell my house and move in to my tiny house after my nephew goes to college next year. I just hadn't planned to tackle these jobs until it was at least in the 80's again. But, mice wait for no one and I must go save my stuff and my sanity and get those chores done now.
8 comments:
You're planning on moving into a tiny house? So cool. They've been my obsession for years now, even though it turns out I like the idea of them more than the reality.
Best of luck with the roof and the mice.
So very sad with Jimmy-dog but I think maybe its nicer to have him happy and treat his pain than to put him through things which will be hard for him as well as dangerous. Sad times :(
Sorry to hear about Jimmy-dog's condition. An orthopedic bed (DIY version: breathable sheets over deep egg-crate foam) may help. Did the vet say whether steroids might help?
My plan is to do a shed conversion. I have the 12x30 shed but not the time or money yet. I'm cheating though since my plan is to use the mobile home for extra storage. Now that I have a tenant in the mobile home, my plan will have to change a little but that is still 2 or 3 years out.
Yes, I do think surgery would be hard on him and wouldn't fix his back. He has too many issues. I'll just try to make him more comfortable now.
That's a good idea. I bought him a big bed from Costco last year but he prefers the thin bed probably because he doesn't have to step up to get on it. An egg crate would be nice and low. I haven't talked treatments with my vet yet. I thought she would call but maybe she is waiting for me to decide about the surgery.
Sorry to hear about you Jimmy-dog's health issues--that's always hard!
Yes, it's these choices that are the hardest. I need to see into the future!
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