Rescue Journal

and of course..what night is complete without a crises or two.

Carol  ·  Mar. 23, 2010

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doris the morris

i have moved doris over to the house. she has been frightened by something..louise and i were wondering if somehow the activity of squeakers and hymie was upsetting her. i am wondering now if it is something else like her vison has suddenly deteriorated, or she has had a small stroke. whatever it is she is frightened so at night she will be over here with me and during the day she will be with louise.

anyway..until i figure it out, doris is not to go anywhere without louise or myself.

and...

tonight nina has had quite a significant stroke. she has forgotten she was upset because i stuffed her greedy little cocker face right away and now she is having a nap with a full belly. but she cannot yet stand and she cannot yet walk. i am hoping with some quiet rest tonight she will recover that by morning. keeping their anxiety down is half the battle. if they figure out they can't walk, their anxiety increases and their blood pressure goes higher. if however they just relax and go to sleep, their bloodpressure drops as their anxiety goes away and they are less likely to suffer an ongoing series of vascular blow outs.

this is why whenever any really old animal strokes (nina is close to 17)..it is imperitive that they think everything is just a-ok...(ie...never panic with them, never make a giant fuss, don't coddle all over them like they are about to kick off and die..it just reinforces they have a real good reason to be afraid.)
you can give them a baby asprin (81mg) if the vet says it is ok to keep their blood from clotting (if they throw a clot, it can lodge in the lung or the heart and then you just lost any hope of recovery,) and maybe give them a solid gold never refused special treat and don't let them see that you are overly concerned and watching them, (even if you are)

bright, cheerful, calm and peaceful that is what you want them to read from you.

nina the food freak

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"dear god..if i ever have a stroke, can you please ask carol to feed me to make me feel better?"

(photo by big air photography)

Comments

Maggie

When I took Doris out for her little walk to the end of the driveway on Monday night I mentioned to Laura how she kept trembling off and on. She peed and pooped just fine and she trotted along but kept having the tremors.

Jenn

such a perfect photo of Nina ... hope you feel better. I think food "freak" is the understatement of the century ... more like food Freak-out

Mauro Salles

It is similar to the work of a nurse, is'nt it? I do not know much about it.