it’s been a while…again, so we figured an update was due 😊
Nora continues to thrive as a senior pup. Her zest for life has taken zero hits in spite of the normal age related ailments that is to be expected in a senior tripawd.
She still goes to hydrotherapy regularly, and it’s truly been amazing to see her confidence in the pool grow to where she now jumps into the water and swims all on her own. My face hurts from smiling every time we leave the rehab facility. It’s taken some time to get her to actually enjoy the water – so yes- it is possible to do hydrotherapy with a dog that’s not a big fan of water. It needs to be done slowly and carefully in the beginning. Even though she didn’t love her first sessions, she was relaxed and able to take things at her own speed. The benefits we’ve seen to maintaining musculature and ROM with the swimming is absolutely amazing. She also gets stretching and massages by the therapists while in the heated pool.
We also use the Assisi loop daily at home, and we’ve noticed a big improvement in her muscle tension between hydrotherapy sessions.
She also loves massages at home. The rehab therapists showed us how to use an electric blanket on lowest settings for 5 minutes before doing light therapeutic massage.
Last summer, Nora’s cat brother and best friend, George, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of liver cancer. It was devastating. Only 6 months after we had to say goodbye to our oldest cat, Kai. The difference was that George wasn’t sick….at all. The growth was palpated on a routine checkup, meanwhile at home he was eating well and eating paying like a kitten. We followed up with a CT scan and biopsy that confirmed a large growth on his liver.
initially they thought surgery would be curative and George went into surgery where they successfully removed the entire tumor with clear margins. George bounced back from surgery in record time, but further biopsies showed a grim prognosis. Cholageocellular carcinoma. The prognosis was 3-6 months even WITH chemo. Normally that would have given me the answers I needed. I never want to prolong suffering. However, George still wasn’t showing any signs of illness AT ALL. At home he was eating, playing (he’s more active than my 5 year old cats) – no vomiting or diarrhea at all. So I made the choice to fight and we started chemo. 7 months later, he’s still doing great. Acting like his normal self. Handling chemo like a trooper. We know his particular cancer is aggressive and that it most likely will come back, but as long as he has full quality of life and shows no signs of giving up – neither will we. Nora has been George’s chemo buddy. Riding with him in the back seat to and from chemo appointments. George was always her ‘thunder buddy’ and comfort cat during fireworks and thunderstorms, so Nora is returning the favor.
We feel so blessed to have such amazing animals in our family ❤️
Attaching a few videos displaying Nora’s love for food/treats. She is pure joy!