Corgi on wheels!
Chester the Wonder Corgi has a number of things wrong with his hips and back legs. He has dysplasia, he has arthritis, and he has a neurological disorder that is slowly, but surely, paralyzing him. It makes his back legs cross over each other. Up until this week, he was doing well, able to right himself -- most of the time -- if the crossing started. This week, it's not so easy for him. Sometimes, it's impossible.
He is full of life and love, and I know he has many more years. His heart and lungs are in great shape, he's down to 15 kg (only another 2 to go), and he still loves to play and still loves his own food and begging for anyone else's. There is nothing wrong with him except what I mentioned above. He is very stoic about the pain I am sure he must be in, but it kills me to think of how much he must be hurting. So we're thinking about investing in a wheelchair.
Sure, it will take getting used to. At first, I was in denial, I couldn't face that he was aging. He is, but I realized that age is not why he needs one. Lots of dogs have to have them because they've been hit by cars. I have made peace with it, especially since I can imagine him running with abandon again, and being much happier on our walks. And, in a way, it's cool. Corgi on wheels! He'll be our own little Professor Charles Xavier! A little X-dog! To remove some of the stress and pain will probably enable him to live longer. And that's what I want.
I keep having nightmares about him dying or about the vet telling me I have to put him down. Total strangers who pass us on our walks often say that I am cruel to keep him alive. It's unthinkable to me to kill an animal who has so little wrong with him. Look at his eyes in the photo - all that life and love cut off because he can't walk normally anymore? That's not just cruel, that's sick. If these same strangers said that about a human? We'd think they were Nazis. Then again, we have to acknowledge that, for the most part, the French and French society don't deal with the handicapped in a mature way at all. The government is years behind other countries in making buildings accesible, in providing translators for deaf children in schools and at events and so on. And how ironic is it that both sign language and Braille were invented in France? I could go on all day, but won't. The point is, it shouldn't surprise me that total strangers here think of euthanasia before they consider a wheelchair as an option.
We're researching and we'll be going to the vet soon to discuss it with him. I am terrified, of course, because of the many nightmares I have had in which this same vet tells me I should put Chester down. In reality, I can't imagine those words coming out of this man's mouth.
He is full of life and love, and I know he has many more years. His heart and lungs are in great shape, he's down to 15 kg (only another 2 to go), and he still loves to play and still loves his own food and begging for anyone else's. There is nothing wrong with him except what I mentioned above. He is very stoic about the pain I am sure he must be in, but it kills me to think of how much he must be hurting. So we're thinking about investing in a wheelchair.
Sure, it will take getting used to. At first, I was in denial, I couldn't face that he was aging. He is, but I realized that age is not why he needs one. Lots of dogs have to have them because they've been hit by cars. I have made peace with it, especially since I can imagine him running with abandon again, and being much happier on our walks. And, in a way, it's cool. Corgi on wheels! He'll be our own little Professor Charles Xavier! A little X-dog! To remove some of the stress and pain will probably enable him to live longer. And that's what I want.
I keep having nightmares about him dying or about the vet telling me I have to put him down. Total strangers who pass us on our walks often say that I am cruel to keep him alive. It's unthinkable to me to kill an animal who has so little wrong with him. Look at his eyes in the photo - all that life and love cut off because he can't walk normally anymore? That's not just cruel, that's sick. If these same strangers said that about a human? We'd think they were Nazis. Then again, we have to acknowledge that, for the most part, the French and French society don't deal with the handicapped in a mature way at all. The government is years behind other countries in making buildings accesible, in providing translators for deaf children in schools and at events and so on. And how ironic is it that both sign language and Braille were invented in France? I could go on all day, but won't. The point is, it shouldn't surprise me that total strangers here think of euthanasia before they consider a wheelchair as an option.
We're researching and we'll be going to the vet soon to discuss it with him. I am terrified, of course, because of the many nightmares I have had in which this same vet tells me I should put Chester down. In reality, I can't imagine those words coming out of this man's mouth.
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