It has been a while since my last posting. The real reason is that Olive has gotten much older and less active so that there is not as much to write about her.

I hosted Easter Sunday foe my family; this time we had a total of ten guests plus Olive and myself. That was the biggest Easter gathering at my house since my parents and uncle died. It was good to have my cousin Donna’s daughter Lisa here on a visit from England where she is now living with her husband Chris. My sister’s daughter Katie and her husband Andy were also here with their daughter Juniper. It was a good day.                                                      

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Shortly after Easter Olive seemed to have trouble walking. A visit to the vet and she was diagnosed as having a case of vertigo! The vet told me it’s fairly common in older dogs. The vet prescribed an over-the-counter product for seasickness in humans called by the generic name meclizine, sold under the brand name Bonine. The vet also saw some signs of a urinary infection, took a urine test which confirmed that Olive had it, and prescribed some antibiotics.

After a week the vertigo cleared up, but Olive still seemed to have trouble walking, walking in an awkward manner often crossing her hind legs. Another visit to the vet, and we were referred to a veterinary neurologist. I managed to get an appointment for Olive at a full-service veterinary hospital about a half hour away, the same hospital where Olive had her back surgery a few years ago. In fact the neurologist was the same one who performed Olive’s surgery last time.

The neurologist recommended an MRI, which required me to leave Olive overnight. The hospital called me the next morning to tell me that Olive had gone through the MRI just fine. The neurologist herself called me later in the afternoon.

While the MRI showed a few minor issues, including a couple of slightly swollen disks (not the one that was corrected last time), there was nothing seriously amiss. There were no issues with her brain, so at least I know that she didn’t have a stroke. The staff did not think that Olive was in any pain other than her arthritis.

It is possible that the combination of vertigo and the urinary infection set off her sudden difficulty with walking. Some muscle atrophy was present that has been developing for some time. The recommended treatment was rest and lots of TLC.

I took Olive home and the poor thing was thoroughly exhausted. We barely got through the front door and she dropped on the rug and stayed there for several hours. As recommended by the hospital staff I gave her some canned dog food instead of the dry kibbles I normally gave her; to my surprise she gobbled half of it, fell asleep, then woke up a half hour later and finished almost all of it. Clearly, she had just gone through a brutal 28 hours.

Although her crate (with a comfortable pad to sleep on) is in my living room, I got her bed from upstairs and brought it down to her favorite corner of my dining room for her to sleep on. When she finally got up the strength to move, she plopped onto her bed and stayed there the night. Not wanting to let her think I was abandoning her; I slept on my living room couch that night so that she would know I was nearby.

Today she did as well as I would have expected despite some terrible weather. She ate about half of her breakfast and seemed to be getting around the house ok. She was able to get out back to do her business and come back in, though she clearly gets exhausted easily. Twice she had to plop down and rest before going back into the house.

It’s a matter of waiting and seeing now. My hope is that Olive will be able to move around the house (even if she cannot negotiate the stairs up to the bedroom level), be able to get out back to do her business, and not be in pain, then I am good with it. I don’t want her to suffer.

Olive resting in her favorite corner of the dining room.

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On a more positive note, I have long wanted to create a page in this blog of Olive’s canine friends around my townhouse complex. I don’t know whether I am spelling all of the names correctly (people tell me their dog’s names but rarely spell them).

Here are a few of Olive’s friends.

Apollo

Apollo is a very friendly dog, younger than Olive but has known Olive since he was the new puppy on the block. The two seem genuinely fond of each other

Beauty

Beauty is a very shy dog. His people tell me that Olive is one of the few dogs that she Beauty seems ok to socialize with. I guess Olive just knew how to not come on too strong.

Brady

Brady is much smaller than Olive but the two seem very fond of each other. 

Donner

Donner lives in the building next door with frequent visits from his energetic cousin Mocha. Mocha is an escape artist and frequently gets loose, sometimes showing up on my back deck looking for Olive to play with. Olive likes both dogs, but Mocha can be a bit much at times.

Mocha

Lexi

Lexi was initially full of the puppy energy that sometimes gets annoying to Olive. As she has grown she has calmed down considerably and both look forward to seeing each other during morning walks.

Remy

Remy also lives in the next building, next door to Donner and Mocha. At first I was told that Remi did not get along with Donner though he did with Mocha. It seems, however, that the two have resolved their differences and now get along well.

Olive and I frequently encounter Winter and her human during walks. The two will usually sniff each other in a friendly way, then immediately move on.

Winter

Although Lenny has passed over the rainbow bridge, I had to include a photo of him courtesy of his people. Lenny is a cattle dog mix and was the first dog in this complex that Olive got to know. The two were immediately friends, so much so that Lenny's humans and I used to joke about He and Olive being boyfriend and girlfriend. After Lenny died, Olive would often look to the unit Lenny lived in as we passed it by on walks, wondering where Lenny went to. I regarded Lenny as the nicest dog in the complex. No doubt that the two will someday be playing together again on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Lenny