Tuna Fish Tuesday!

I asked Bill one time what he wanted for dinner, and his joke answer was Tuna Fish.  Since it was Tuesday, it kind of became a family joke about Tuna Fish Tuesday.  We had tuna casserole tonight, and then I realized that it is in fact Tuesday.  So I guess I'm right on time!  Actually, Bill's not a big fan of tuna.  He'll eat it, but it's not his first choice.  I could probably eat it every other meal - the alternating meals would be spaghetti.

We have a serious concern about Fraiser.  Last night, he woke us up about an hour after we went to bed.  He was barking and growling (the serious bark), and he refused to hush.  We both got up, and there was nothing at all that was a concern.  Everything was safe & secure, but the dog was antsy to say the least.  After a while, I dragged him by the collar and tossed him into the garage.  I had just enough time to get back to the bedroom when he started barking again.  I went back to the kitchen and yelled at him, which shut him up.  For about a minutes.  I yelled "NO" as loud as I could and he got quiet.  But I could still hear him moving around in the garage, so after a while I just brought him back in.  I figured that if I could hear him at the opposite end of the house and over the fan, Lovely Neighbor could also hear him.  He eventually (after a while) got quiet, but then Bill heard him about 4:00 this morning so he just let the dogs out.  Two or three times lately, he's done something else:  growled.  But there's nothing there, he's looking at the wall or their blanket and growling.  The serious growl, not the play growl.  I've also been wondering about another thing:  when he looked up at me the other night, I wasn't totally sure if he saw me - or recognized me, which is a bad sign.  That was the first thing that happened when Tagalong # 1 developed schitzophrenia, actually.  But the next thing to happen with that dog was that he definetely did not recognize me - in fact, he attacked me.  Twice, the first time the vet wasn't sure and the second time there was no doubt so we had to have him euthanized.

I called the vet this morning.  After being up most of the night and literally too tired to even think, we both called in to work.  The vet opened at 8:00 and I called them shortly after that.  The tech talked to the vet and then she called me back.  After a long discussion, we think that Fraiser's probably getting a little senile.  It happens to old dogs just like it happens to old people.  He could very well have the beginning of a cataract in one eye or age-related vision loss starting.  When he's barking in the night, he's probably waking up and then not really sure what he sees since it's dark.  Since he didn't act like he wanted to attack me when I wasn't sure about his vision/recognition the other night, I think that is probably what it is.

At this point, we aren't doing anything.  There isn't really anything that can be done.  If his vision becomes a serious problem, or if he does get senile to the point that he's not functioning well or has much quality of life then we'll have a decision we don't want to make.  But we aren't there yet.  But we will not let him suffer in the slightest.  He's also got some spots that could well be more cysts/tumors coming up, over his ribcage on one side.  I originally thought that they were bb's, like the one by his ear, but bb's don't grow and these are.  We will not put him through another surgery, should they become a problem like the one on his leg was.  We will probably have to cross that particular bridge with him, but not yet.  And hopefully not for a long time.  In the meantime, we're going to continue to spoil him rotten.

We have two options regarding the nighttime issues.  One, a small lamp in the living room left on all night so he can see.  Two, medication.  We're going with option # 2, and we'll use benadryl.  I've had to use it before on a dog that insisted on eating whatever weeds she could find and having her whole face swell up and it is recommended as safe for dogs.  It makes them sleepy, just like it does people.  We're supposed to give him the dose the vet suggested about an hour before bedtime, but since he's been waking up about an hour after we go to bed I'm thinking that it will be closer to bedtime.  Maybe about 30 minutes before I think we'll be going to bed.  I just hope that he's quiet tonight.

I was going to talk about some other stuff, but I'm too darn tired.  And I also forgot what I wanted to say, but I think the fact that I have only had a couple of hours of sleep since yesterday are a good enough excuse.