Heartbroken

Info and update on Aspen.  

On Friday, May 9th we took Aspen into the vet because we had noticed that he was very tired, barely eating or drinking water, and he just looked very very sad.  He wasn't moving much or barking, very rare for him.  They weighed him and since November he had lost 20% of his body mass.  A 2 year old pyraneese should be about 100-120 lbs and he was all the way down to 72 lbs.  SCARY! They gave us some Clavamox (an antibiotic) to give him and we would know the lab results in the morning.  

His labs came back with very low and disturbing numbers with everything pertaining to his Kidneys and we were told that he has a very severe kidney infection, possible kidney damage.  So we gave him his antibiotics 3 times a day for 10 days and we was showing signs of improvement.  He was barking again, jumping up on the fence to say hi to walkers walking by.  He was eating and drinking again (not as much as we'd like) and he wasn't sleeping all day.  He was definately starting to look like himself...not 100% but getting better.  

This past Monday, May 19th Chris took Aspen in at 8 am just for a follow up appointment to restest his labs and to get more antibiotics (amoxicillin) and both Chris and I were sure that he was getting better and that his Kidney infection was going to be almost gone.  Chris called me about 1pm later that day and told me the heartbreaking news... 

Aspen's lab results did not improve they actually came back worse than 10 days before.   Aspen has renal displaysia, basically kidney disease.  It is something he was born with and most puppies with this don't survive past 1 year.  It is hereditary and common in Great Pyraneeses'.  The vet told us that he has a 1 in 10 chance and that there is really nothing we can do.  We can try a 3 day IV flush but she said it wont cure him, it will just buy him time.  She didn't give us a time frame either, it could be days, weeks, a month.... it just depends on how his body can handle it.  The bad thing is we know that Aspen has a high pain tolerance and that worries us that he will fight through it despite being in miserable pain.  

-The game plan-

We are in disbelief and in shock.  Its been an emotional week.  The timing of it all is awful.  Chris and I are expecting our second baby boy anyday and our dog could die anyday.   I am trying to stay as calm as I can but my hormones are going crazy and I find myself battling a mix of emotions right now both happy and sad.  This is our first dog together and it just sucks.  We bought Aspen to grow up with Kaden and we knew that someday (when Kaden was like 10-12 years old) we would have to deal with this sort of thing.  We never imagined only 2 years later.  Aspen is so young, he deserves SO MUCH more time.  Anyway, we will be giving Aspen his amoxicillin 3 times a day for as long as we can.  The vet said we just need to make sure that he keeps eating and most importantly drinking water.   Somedays he eats no problem and other days he wants nothing to do with it (I hate those days).  We will keep a close eye on Aspen as we do not want him to suffer.  We are taking advantage of the time that we do have with him and we hope Wesley is born sooner than later so that he can meet Aspen and we can all have time together and make memories.  

Aspen is a one of a kind dog.  I have had many dogs as has Chris and Aspen is just something special.  He is this huge friendly polar bear of a dog that everyone in the neighborhood knows and loves.  He is beautiful and truly a big part of this family.  He can never ever be replaced.  We don't know how much time, I don't know how he will be 2 weeks from now but we will keep you posted.  One thing I do know is that he is going to be a fighter. Till the end. 

12 weeks old

12 weeks old, Kaden 6 mo.

1 year 

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 1/2 years

1 1/2 years 

2 years and 4 months