I have been prompted to write this after reading the recent posts by Harry Mac and Tom D on the loss of their dogs .
Back in 2013 I wrote a post entitled An Undedicated Deer Dog which some may remember it was about Fritz who was actually my
wifes dog but due to reasons explained in the original post working him fell to me.
Not long after that post Fritz developed hunting Hypoglycemia a condition where a dog uses up all his glucose reserves while
working hard which causes lethargy ,disorientation and in extreme cases fainting Fritz was an extreme case he would suddenly just keel
over while working ,the only way it can be prevented is by feeding glucose regularly while the dog is active tried glucose tablets which he
refused to eat ,honey is a good source but proved difficult to feed to him while working.
My vet suggested a Mars bar broken up into pieces and fed throughout the day his reasoning being that a Mars is high in glucose
and has only a small chocolate content experimented and eventually settled on those bite size Mars pieces you can buy in a bag one of these fed every hour or so when working worked fairly well but did not stop the attacks completely he would still have one
Occasionally when he did have one it could last anything from a couple of minute to half an hour.
All went well until one day in 2017 when he suddenly keeled over without warning this time he was out for over four hours .
I decided enough was enough he was twelve years old and had earned his right to retirement and besides he was the wifes dog I
could not imagine having to tell her that her dog had dropped dead on a shooting day if he wanted to spend what time he had left in front
of the fire and partaking of the odd dram which he has always been partial to it was fine with me he had earned it.
Move on a year just before Christmas 2018 one testicle started to rapidly grow larger tests confirmed the worst it was malignant and he
would need to be neutered the operation was scheduled for shortly after Christmas.
The news was not good the cancer had spread and a much bigger operation needed at a cost of £750 considerably more than I had expected but not grudged he was worth every penny he had given me twelve years of his life helping me earn my income it was the least I
could do for him.
Unfortunatley there was worse news when they scanned him they found a shadow on his chest they wanted to do a biopsy to see if it was
malignant but they made it clear that if it was removal would not be possible, I said no biopsy !
He is still here ! He is fourteen now and in as good health as a fourteen year old dog can be ,the bu@@er has just drunk my coffee
while I have been writing this.
How much longer he will be in my life I don't know, but as I said in that post back in 2013 An Undedicated Deer Dog he may be with all his faults but he is my best friend.
Back in 2013 I wrote a post entitled An Undedicated Deer Dog which some may remember it was about Fritz who was actually my
wifes dog but due to reasons explained in the original post working him fell to me.
Not long after that post Fritz developed hunting Hypoglycemia a condition where a dog uses up all his glucose reserves while
working hard which causes lethargy ,disorientation and in extreme cases fainting Fritz was an extreme case he would suddenly just keel
over while working ,the only way it can be prevented is by feeding glucose regularly while the dog is active tried glucose tablets which he
refused to eat ,honey is a good source but proved difficult to feed to him while working.
My vet suggested a Mars bar broken up into pieces and fed throughout the day his reasoning being that a Mars is high in glucose
and has only a small chocolate content experimented and eventually settled on those bite size Mars pieces you can buy in a bag one of these fed every hour or so when working worked fairly well but did not stop the attacks completely he would still have one
Occasionally when he did have one it could last anything from a couple of minute to half an hour.
All went well until one day in 2017 when he suddenly keeled over without warning this time he was out for over four hours .
I decided enough was enough he was twelve years old and had earned his right to retirement and besides he was the wifes dog I
could not imagine having to tell her that her dog had dropped dead on a shooting day if he wanted to spend what time he had left in front
of the fire and partaking of the odd dram which he has always been partial to it was fine with me he had earned it.
Move on a year just before Christmas 2018 one testicle started to rapidly grow larger tests confirmed the worst it was malignant and he
would need to be neutered the operation was scheduled for shortly after Christmas.
The news was not good the cancer had spread and a much bigger operation needed at a cost of £750 considerably more than I had expected but not grudged he was worth every penny he had given me twelve years of his life helping me earn my income it was the least I
could do for him.
Unfortunatley there was worse news when they scanned him they found a shadow on his chest they wanted to do a biopsy to see if it was
malignant but they made it clear that if it was removal would not be possible, I said no biopsy !
He is still here ! He is fourteen now and in as good health as a fourteen year old dog can be ,the bu@@er has just drunk my coffee
while I have been writing this.
How much longer he will be in my life I don't know, but as I said in that post back in 2013 An Undedicated Deer Dog he may be with all his faults but he is my best friend.
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