Happy to report that Marv’s appetite appears to have returned. He is eating dry and wet food. In fact when it was time for our appointment this morning, he buried his face in a dish of treats and was crunching away as if to say “sorry I’m busy, could you reschedule?” Silly boy, of course not!
His teeth are in great shape, which is one of few things he has that are in great shape. No ulcers, broken teeth and low to little tartar. That’s the dry food working it’s magic. His breath is still horrible. He has lost a significant amount of weight. He was last at the vet a year ago and weighed in at 12 pounds. Today he is down to 7 pounds. I’m not happy about that but old age and a thyroid problem can lead to that on top of his IBS (Irritable Bowl Syndrome).
He doesn’t have a heart Murmur and his heart and lungs are in great working order, as evidence of his howling. He was rather chatty at the vet. The pain pill I gave him did help him relax but he still did his howling over night so once again I didn’t get a good nights rest.
We did blood work to check on his Thyroid plus all of his metabolic levels, there could be something at play. I felt it was money well spent despite the fact it is pricey. The results hopefully should be back tomorrow. For now he is on Vitamin B12 that will help with appetite as well as cognitive function. Apparently if an animal or person gets low in B12 it will make you act strange.
Bottom line is we don’t know what is going on. This could be simple depression and the fact that there has been a change in the household. While I don’t feel he and his mother were close, only Marvin truly knows how he felt for his mother. I mean it’s his mother and I am sure he had love for her even thought they didn’t interact much/well once he was an adult. This could also be geriatrics and his thyroid. Most of the symptoms he has do correlate to a Thyroid problem and while I was giving him a weekend pass on his medicine, that is not something I think I will be doing going forward.
The B12 is injectable and he got his first dose today. I will give him one for the next 3 weeks. It’s water soluble meaning what his body doesn’t absorb he will pee out. So there is no risk involved. I can continue to give him a pain pill at night to help minimize the vocalization and we will develop a new plan based on the blood work results.
I am working from home and have been upstairs a few times. He has started howling again but it’s for a short period of time and then he stops. Gator also does the same thing. As if it’s not bad enough for problems with Marvin, Gator now is limping. I hope her foot is asleep and that she didn’t cause an injury, I don’t want to go back to the vet at all. I’ve spent way too much time there and my wallet and I both need a big time break. Speaking of cost, I made it just over the threshold and was able to finance todays visit for 6 months with no interest. I can afford to pay cash but why, when I can hang on to my money, earn interest and pay this off at the same time. I will have this and momma’s final bill paid for in a couple months, provided there are no other unforeseen circumstances. Everything for sure will be paid with in the 6 month time frame because interest is something I earn and not something I pay.
Wow my emotions are all over the place. I was depressed and anxious this morning. This afternoon I was relived and tired. I have had problems talking today and mixing up my words as well as forming some thoughts. All of which is a sign that as I say I am exhausted. I need rest, relaxation and lots of it. Some good sex would probably help but I don’t think that will be happening.
Here’s hoping that my troubles are at rest for a while and that I can recuperate quickly. I’m working from home tomorrow only because I don’t want to leave him alone. I did have the TV on this morning and that seemed to help calm him, so I will probably do that when I go back to the office on Monday. I mean it can’t hurt anything and U-verse will power the box off after 4 hours so I will come home to a screen saver, which is perfectly okay by me. So long as he doesn’t start his howling after the TV goes off.
Thanks for checking in. I look forward to hopefully a quiet and relaxing evening, with Marv & Gator by myside.
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