29 October 2007

Don't forget to wave at Timmy!


This week we're going to try and get Timmy's med adjusted to make him a little happier. He isn't so happy now. He lost pretty much all the hearing he had in one fell swoop. His cushings is acting up and he's disoriented. He can't figure out where the door is, so I know he has to go out when he just stands there at a wall staring at it.

He perks up when you go and pick him up. Since he can't see so far, I wave at him a lot. Hello Timmy! The reason I look so haggard is I stay up with him in the middle of the night a lot, find him wandering, put him to bed and lay on the floor with him for a while so he isn't scared. I think his new life is a little scarey for him. Maybe it's like when I got him and we lived together on the packing crate for a bedroom in the corner of our studio. We didn't sleep nights then either, because around 3am every morning the janitor shuffled thru the buidling and rattled his keys and opened up the broom storage locker outside my studio door. He would get out the broom, and go have a cigarette in the front of the studio, then lock it up and move on. He looked like a demented ax murderer and we were too scared of being busted for living in there to show our faces out there. Timmy would bark at him every single night when he heard those keys and always did have a thing for guys with keys on a big chain. I don't think the janitor ever heard him, I am pretty sure he was deaf. Or had aspbergers or something.

I realized why me and Otterpop turned so fatty fatty 2x4 don't fit thru the kitchen door. We were walking so slow. For the longest time, we still all walked together. All 4 of us dogs, then when I got Gustavo all 5 of us. And we've been walking slower and slower and shorter distances and shorter distances and driving places like the beach. So now we all go on a teensy, tiny walk around the block REALLY slow that is perfect for Timmy and the smallest members of the team are like jumping off the ends of their leashes they are so put out from being slow, then I take them back, distract Timmy with a bowl of food and then go off on the race walk with the others that makes us skinny maybe in a few weeks and them feel all right and exercised and potential cyclocross dogs with abs and leg muscles. Until I started doing this, I didn't realized how slow I've been walking to walk Timmy speed.

So you know. I'm doing all I can without being too invasive. He has to get blood pulled this week but the benefits should far outweigh the needles if we can get him remedicated right. His vet Kathy has a little girl that rides with me and is one good doc. I just try to let him think his life is as normal as possible, give him as much pain meds as I think he needs, and sure don't grumble about not sleeping nights anymore. I just don't know how long he has. I hope a whole lot longer. Every day we have Timmy is a good day.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

here's to remedicated meds for a happy timmy. he's such a cutie in that pic...

Anonymous said...

oops...forgot to say that was me! tash

debnull said...

I second that sentiment. I am sending good, light-filled thoughts for Timmy...

Unknown said...

Personally, I've found that a beer and a Vicodin make life seem good and happy. Maybe you could ask Kathy the vet if that would work for Timmy? (And maybe Timmy would share with you, so you don't have to wait for a friend to go to the dentist.)

Here's hoping for a good med-mix and many, many more good days for you and Timmy!

team small dog said...

Yes, we are basically trying to find a beer and vicodin type mix for Timmy but one that he can stay on and not walk into walls. I'm going to take him on a shuffle around the block right now and see if that works up an appetite because he stopped eating food today, which is a bad sign.

The thing about the Cushings is it just turns the dog into a chemistry project because if it's meds aren't at the right level they get another disease called Addisons. And they both kill em eventually. Luckily Kathy the vet loves chemistry so she is trying real hard.