[Magdalen] Prayers for Milo - update

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

I was listening to a program a few weeks ago when an author/veterinarian
talked about his own experience with pets. He said that the animal does not
know about death. Every day is simply now, and so consideration of medical
treatment needs to take that into account. If the pet is not comfortable,
and medical treatment does not make them comfortable, they have no insight
into the possibility that they may someday get better. They merely suffer.
And if an animal is not having quality of life, one needs to consider that
an extended period of time in pain, with little likelihood of recovery is
not a hopeful period for them, but merely suffering.

I have had a couple of times when, looking back, I wish I had put the
companion to sleep sooner. He said almost exactly the same thing about his
own experiences.

The first pet I ever had, a black short hair, was losing kidney function,
and one day he went into a seizure without any warning. He lost his vision
at that time.  I adored him, and couldn't see clearly that the best thing
was to let him go; he was not getting better.

Having said that, which may have been too much as it is, I would say that
you are the only one who can tell when the right time has come to let your
companion go.  And when you make that decision, you'll probably want to
second guess yourself. Don't do it; we all do the best we can, and that is
simply all we can do.

I've been there, and your family is in our thoughts and prayers.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente

On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 1:33 AM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Milo holding on this morning...after he settled and stopped crying (Maddies
> Golden Hammock doing it's thing again!!) he had a quiet night, drank a
> litte water, even got out of the basket for a drink. Now he's in his
> favourite spot, albeit in unaccustomed luxury, basking in the sun. For
> Milo, a sunny day without wind IS "quality of life"...
>
> He seems to be able to get around, back leg is noticeably weak but he can
> bear some weight on it. Front leg that side also looks odd but it could be
> compensation.
>
> He showed some commitment to cleaning up a plate of plain cream yoghurt and
> even ate a couple of his Teckel dog biscuits - but I don't want to give him
> those because they'll make him thirsty.
>
> Chippy managed a night outside without too much fuss. Evan's come up with a
> solution: let's get another dog to be with Chipo outside and then keep Milo
> inside as a "chilled inside dog". It's not a terrible idea...Milo always
> was an "inside dog" until we got Chippy who couldn't be socialised to
> indoor living (I haven't space to list her crimes but will just mention a
> strong preference for secret puddles under beds and on bath mats).
>
> He loves to be outside, as long as it's not cold, but I'm worried he might
> fall into the swimming pool. I'm also wondering if my wonderful OT
> colleagues could help him - I can just see them setting out to make him a
> miniature splint (we don't have any OT's on this list, worse luck, but they
> are truly wonderful beings IMO).
>
> The diagnosis is puzzling: from what I can read up, Dachshunds are not
> prone to spinal stroke because their discs tend to harden. It tends to be
> larger, younger dogs. Probably a diagnosis of exclusion at this stage,
> because we don't have access to an MRI. It could be a small brain stroke?
> Must ask vet to check his blood sugar as well, and his teeth for an
> abscess, his teeth aren't great and he's already lost a couple to decay.
>
> What to do if he doesn't recover function but seems to continue basically
> OK...? Prayers for wise advice and for kind wisdom on our part
> are appreciated.
>
> Sally D
>
> On Saturday, 29 November 2014, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 8:51 PM, Christopher Hart <cervus51 at gmail.com
> > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > > Holding back tears as I share in your prayers for Milo.
> >
> > I was very sad as I read about Milo's distress as well. I'm adding my
> > prayers.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Scott R. Knitter
> > Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> >
>