When Samson arrived at the rescue/shelter, he was very thin, had heartworms, several large fatty tumors, little hair on his backside and broken teeth. No one expected him to live long. There wasn't a kennel available for him, so he had to fight for his blanket. He was considered 'not adoptable'. He came home with me to spend his last days in peace and comfort.
That was 5 plus years ago. The tumors were removed. He got lots of good food and extra vitamins so he gained 20 pounds and his hair grew back in. He learned to stop jumping 6 foot fences if he wanted a soft bed and steady diet. He became a sweet, but stubborn, member of the family.
A few months ago, he started having panic attacks when he heard thunder. Then it developed into separation anxiety. He would tear up the gates and woodwork while I was at work, trying to get to me. Medication helped, but I wanted to know why. So I contacted Nancy, the pet psychic.
Nancy saw a gentle, older dog who sometimes was confused. It was like having a hole in his thinking processes. He didn't mean to destroy things (or pee on my artficial plants), but he was scared that he wasn't in control of his mind. He didn't realize that the plants he was watering weren't outside.
In the last two weeks, the panic attacks have turned into actual attacks. His roomie, Scruffy is not safe no matter what he does. Scruffy can't walk into a room or come in from outside without Samson snarling, growling and pinning Scruffy to the floor. Samson doesn't hear me when I yell at him to stop and will snarl at me if I try to pull him away.
I went back to Nancy to find out what's going on. At first she had trouble contacting him. What she found saddened me. Samson can't hear very well anymore and his vision is usually a blur. He's most upset because his sense of smell is fading fast. He has occasional spurts of normalcy, but most of the time he's clueless about where he is or what's going on around him. Therefore, he attacks first. In other words, he has a serious case of doggy Alzheimers.
Samson's quality of life is not good, and Scruffy is showing signs of being traumatized. And the cats stay in their room to avoid Samson's snarls.
On Wednesday, we will visit Dr. Kelly and Samson will begin the trip to the Rainbow Bridge. I will miss my big guy. We had some good years. Nancy said after he gets to the Bridge his mind will return in about a week to ten days. I hope he remembers only the good times.
Mary
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Originally Posted by Ginger's Mom
The last 5 + years have probably been the best he's ever
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