Monty …. facing old age

This is Monty.

Monty is a Blue Roan, CockerSpaniel/Bichon Frise cross….. a classic “designer mongrel”.  He has been hard work from the moment we got him.  He has behaviour quirks, tends to bark too much, chews his feet when stressed, freaks out if we change stuff in the yard, gets into the bin, chews up knickers and bras, can open doors especially if there is chocolate involved, and is generally very naughty.   His nickname has always been “Monstorboy” for very good reason.

But …. he is adorable.  Tony fell in love with him as soon as he saw him in the pet store cage.  We were looking for a small dog, something like a maltese.  The shop assistant convinced Tony that Monty would be small, lap size ….. as you can see he isn’t.   He is really really intelligent, with a great understanding of both language and hand signals.   He loves the vet (yep weird), and doesn’t flinch with injections.   Thanks to the bichon genes, his coat is incredibly soft, almost suede like when he is shaved, and if I let his coat grow out, he turns into this lovely black and white puff ball.   He snuggles up, sneaking a lick to your face, and then looks away guilty.    Tug of war involves lots of growling and pulling, but he lets go the minute I say “mine”.  And there is nothing funnier that a fat 40’something woman playing chase through the house with a dog….. and he cheats by running under the kitchen table.

Monty is 10 and a half years old.  Back in 2007 he was limping, and we had his hips xray’ed.  In addition to all the other “shoddy breeding” issues he has, is hip displaysia.   We moved to a low set house, changed his diet, and set about changing our lifestyle so that he didn’t stress his hips.   We just couldn’t face subjecting him to serious surgery, and really, couldn’t afford it.   And really, we did well.  He has had a happy and pain free time.  We expected a couple of years before we had to do more ….we got 6 years instead.

This last 5 weeks have been hard.  First came pain, yelping when he tried to move suddenly, or when someone bumped him.  He stopped jumping onto the lounge or bed, and really baulked at going for a walk.  And then the limping started.  We visited the vet, and the assumption was his hips had finally started to show the damage, and he was started on a course of injections.   But we had no real response ….. and then last week he started to get very wobbly.  He can’t climb stairs at all, and he regularly has his hind legs flop out from under him.  After losing Peppy to bone cancer I feared the worst.  X-rays show damage to two discs, plus a mysterious “mass” on his spine, which may or may not be a tumour.  And we are home now with steroids, and other medications, hoping to lessen his pain and make things more comfortable.

So what now?  I had expected a slow gradual decline with arthritis over years, to be managed with medication and gentle complimentary therapies.  But this is unknown………..  Do we pay for an expensive diagnostic test on the mass?  How will we know when enough is enough?  Will he tell us?  Will we be strong enough?  I don’t want to face these choices ….. not again.

Update****  I came home at lunch time today, after an urgent call from Naomi.  Monty had lost all control of his back legs, unable to walk, and in a lot of pain.   A trip to the vet confirmed what we expected.  Either the herniated discs, or the “mass” on his spine, has done enough damage to cause paralysis.  The options were investigations, and then spinal surgery, with very little chance of a decent recovery.  I couldn’t do that to him.  So we said goodbye and he went to sleep forever, with us holding him.  Our vet owns a farm outside of town, thats where he is going to be buried.   Very sad right now, but we will survive.