Helen@helshounds.co.uk +44(0)7356 072133
Isaac’s Story
Well, this is not going to be easy to write, and I’m sure that there will be parts of this that are hard to read, too.
Isaac is a bit of a Heinz 57 dog. I guess we could have done DNA testing, but it wasn’t widely available when he first came to us. He is like a…. Well a kind of long legged terrier?
Anyway, I seem to be getting off topic.
Isaac was found in a school yard in Spain by a friend of ours who was living in the area at the time. He was a few weeks old at the time, we think and being attacked by the children. He was taken to a rescue organisation but unfortunately due to the high number of street dogs in the area and the demand for the rescue’s services, Isaac was due to be put to sleep.
Our friend stepped in again and adopted him. Isaac lived with them until he was around 5-6 months old.
Our friends made the decision that they were going to move home to England. They arranged homes for the collection of dogs they had gathered by this point. Some were re homed in Spain and others in England.
Those dogs who were being brought to England needed to go through quarantine to get their travel documents.
Isaac wasn’t originally due to be coming to us, but unfortunately, as he was entering the country, the family who had agreed to give him his forever home changed their mind. They had cats and didn’t think it was a good idea.
After a frantic shopping trip and some quick organisation, we met Isaac the following day. He was mine from th,e moment he curled up in my lap. Granted there were a few other incidents that meeting, but nothing we couldnt deal with we figured.
So we brought him home. Now I’ve talked about the trouble we had with training in the early days already. Isaac has brought us some laugh until it hurts moments, many if you don’t laugh you’d cry moments and so much love and affection..
Now, if you will stay with me, I would like to jump ahead a bit. Ok, well, a fair bit.
As Issac got older, he seemed to be in excellent health for such an old man. Hes always been a little overweight so when his weight dropped back down to his “ideal” roughly 9kg, no one was overly concerned.
He has a bit of arthritis in his back legs, his hearing is going, and his dental hygiene leaves a fair bit to be desired. But for his age, healthy.
That is until the end of last year (2023). One day, he just wasn't well. It was clear that something wasn’t right.
We made the decision to take him to the vet. Our local vets were not entirely sure what was happening but thought it might be something to do with his heart. Perhaps he was experiencing heart failure.
Isaac is not the biggest fan of the vets and wouldn't tolerate the oxygen they thought he needed, even with some gentle sedation, so he was brought back out to me in the reception in the hope that he would chill with me.
So, the fat dog and I relax in the reception, doing some people-watching for a while. The vet takes him back to try and get an ultrasound of his heart.
Does Sir Newton comply? Does he heck! They try but struggle to get a good image.
On consideration, we decided it was for the best to take him to the emergency vet, where he would hopefully be able to see a specialist.
Isaac was kept in the hospital overnight. They said, from what they could tell, his heart looked ok, but there was fluid on his lungs.
The following day, Isaac goes under anaesthetic for more detailed imaging to try and figure out what is going on. They also took some samples of the fluid on his lungs.
My heart sank when the phone rang hours earlier than expected. Something was going on.
All I could think was please let him be ok.
There was some scarring on his lungs, but more concerning, they had found a mass in his abdomen and wanted to know about his bowel habits and if he had been vomiting.
It must be one of the worst feelings in the world. Someone is telling you that your pet is sick, seriously sick.
When I got a full report later on and got to talk to a vet in more detail (when Isaac wasn't asleep on the table), it turned out that he had a sizeable mass between his small and large bowel. Given the location, his age and recent weight loss, the chances are it is cancer. The big C.
We can try and get biopsies to confirm, but sticking a needle in a tumour doesn't seem like the best idea to me. We could try and take it out, but there is no promise that he will wake up from that surgery.
The bottom line is we have decided to do nothing about the cancer, given everything.
We treated his pneumonia, made him more comfortable, and decided that we would keep him going until we couldn't keep him happy and comfortable.
Another point of this post
I also wanted to talk to you about when diarrhoea isn’t actually just diarrhoea.
Loose stools can be caused by constipation, too, and do you know what is one of the leading causes of constipation? Intestinal tumours!
So, when diharroea is totally liquid, maybe a bit slimy and mucosy, when you dog is still having to strain and only managing to pass a bit of this liquid it could be “over flow” which is as disgusting as it sounds. It is also time to get your dog to a vet. While there are many natural remedies for constipation in dogs, such as pumpkin (dont hold me to this, I have never actually tried it), you need to know what you are treating before you treat it. And severe constipation may need more robust treatment than you can do with home remedies.
The point of this post!
Now, you are probably wondering what the point of sharing all of this with you is. I mean, yes, the act of writing Isaac’s story is cathartic for me; it's almost like if I can just get enough of him down on paper, so to speak, he will live forever.
But that is not the primary goal here. I am writing this to remind you how important it is to keep up with the vet visits for your old boys and girls, even if they seem healthy. I want to tell you to watch out for signs, for weight loss, for appetite changes, bloating, vomiting, dihorrhoea, pain and discomfort. anything out of the ordinary really. As disgusting as it may be, check your dogs poop for signs of blood.
I am telling you to get your young dogs happy to go to the vet and happy to be examined. You don't want to need an entire veterinary staff to give your pupper an x-ray, as funny as it is to tell the story.
Isaac update
Ok, so it has been a while since I posted this article; I think it's about time for an update.
It's March now; Isaac turned 15 officially this month! 🥳🎁
But monday he gave us a serious scare, we thought it might have been his time you know. He seemed to loose his balance, he was so wobbly he could hardly walk. its thursday as I write this, and I can say he’s doing better. He’s still quiet and wobbly but getting better.
It has come to the point now where we are weekly assessing his quality of life.
For us, we feel that if he is in pain that we cannot manage, or he is not interested in things going on around him, is getting no enjoyment from life, doesn't think about trying to dart through the gate if given half a chance, that's when it’s time.
I told him, he needs to tell me when hes had enough and I will sort everything. It will kill me, I know, but it’s the last thing I can do for him, the last kindness I can give my friend, my very loud friend.
However, for this week, we are just going to keep on going, he might only be able to urinate on things on his left side (if he cocks his right leg, he falls over), and perhaps he can only do half a circle when getting comfy, but he's still going!
It’s May…. We are still going strong!
So, despite the implication that Isaac wouldn’t see Christmas 2023, it is now May 2024 and we are getting him more anti-histamine!
I don’t know about you, but I am beginning to think someone made a mistake somewhere!
He is pretty much totally deaf and the rest of the time he employs his old man terrier selective hearing to do what he wants, he also appears to have a slightly scrambled brain, his doggy dementia appears to have been working double time.
All that being said, can bounce around like the puppy we first met, jumping and barking for everything!
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