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Posted by Kowens on January 23, 2003 at 12:01:11:

I really need help with this one.

First, a little backround on my Sparky. He is 11 1/2, and has been the BEST dog in the world. He rarely barks, he never runs away, good with the kids, and never, ever, goes potty in the house.

Until now.

About 1 year ago, spark started going downhill. His arthritis started acting up and he no longer wanted to take walks, or sleep under the bed like he used to. About October, I noticed he was not eating his food. He would still take table food, but seemed more listless and thinner. After thanksgiving, he was eating nothing. I took him to the vet, and he went from 71 lbs in Sept (his last checkup) to 61 lbs. So, the vet took all these x-rays and could not find anything really wrong. He did find sparky had alot of stones in his bladder, but as long as there was no obstruction, that was okay but something to watch. Well, about 3 weeks later, sparky was vomiting, and would go outside for hours. He had an obstruction caused by the stones.

He had to have surgery on his bladder and they removed over 50 stones. He will need to be on medication for the rest of his life to prevent the reoccurance.

Well, when he came home, he had incontinence and started urinating all over the house. He hasn't stopped, even though it is better, he cannot hold it for that long anymore and now that he has "marked" his territory, he just goes in the house. Besides, it is really cold outside and his arthritis hurts too much.

He wasn't eating, and still losing weight, so the doctor has him on all kinds of steroids to boot. They are helping, but he has to go to the bathroom even more.

Other than that, all he wants to do is lie around. He doesn't do much else. My son, who is 14 months, cannot go near him becuase he wants to pounce on spark and sparky will growl because he is hurting.

So, is it time? I love sparky so much and have just dumped 2000 bucks into his recovery, so I am just not sure what to do.

he has become another baby and I am not sure if he will get better. Meanwhile, my house is trashed, it reeks of urine, and all sparky does it laydown (he has good days and bad days), go out to pee/poop (when he makes it) and eat.

What do you think? Please help. sorry so long.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Is it time? (LONG) Petsr4life 01/23/03 (0)
• Re: Is it time? (LONG) Netti 01/23/03 (0)