Old man Ruff had a very bad weekend.

For the last five days I was deeply worried about old man Ruff. He was having great difficulty standing up and walking without assistance and worst of all, he had stopped eating. Here is a chronological record of the events that I posted to my friends on Facebook. It started with a visit to the Vet's office Thursday morning.

Ruffin gave me a major scare this morning. I took Bess and Ruff out for their morning pee as soon as we all got up. Ruff seemed a little slow in moving but he did everything outside the way he always does. But when we came in instead of coming out to the kitchen for breakfast and a drink of water he laid down by the front door and went back to sleep. 

It is just so much more noticeable when there is an abrupt change in behavior for him to do something so out of the ordinary. Two hours later I woke him up to check on him and took him out again. When I brought him in I took him out to the kitchen and he wouldn't drink any water. This was very unusual because he drinks tons of water and pees every couple of hours. I even thought he might be Diabetic. 

I decided he needed to see the Vet so I got him into the mini-van and took him to our Vet at Noah's Ark. He got to see his favorite Doctor and had some tests done. And while one of the girls was hugging him he got his nails trimmed. First the good news was he was not Diabetic. His Glucose was 105. He had normal temperature and weighed 131 lbs. He did have some puss when they took a urine sample and along with the blood tests we'll find out the lab results tomorrow. Dr. Matt put Ruff on some Tramadol for arthritis and Cephalexen for the UTI infection. And as soon as we got home Ruff had a big drink of water.

UPDATE on Ruff. Thursday, February 1st.  He ate his dinner. And drank more water.

Ruffin Update. Friday, February 2nd. Doctor Matt from Noah's Ark just called with the test results. EXCEPT FOR THE URINARY TRACT INFECTION EVERYTHING IS GOOD.

In fact the news is better than good. When Ruff was developing the brain tumor a year ago Doctor Matt ordered a series of blood tests due to extremely elevated liver enzyme scores that indicated Cushing's Disease. The test done yesterday shows the elevated enzyme levels have gone down two-thirds from what the were a year ago. So his health is better than it was.

Update on Ruffin. Saturday morning February 3rd. Ruff had a good night's sleep and went out this morning to pee. I gave him three Cephalexin and two Tramadol pills with a large spoon of peanut butter. He did not eat any breakfast but he had a big drink of water and he went back to sleep in the kitchen. Last night he had a poop and pee outside around 1 AM before we all went to bed.

As an afterthought, the only thing I am worried about at this time is Ruff sleeping as much as he does but Dr. Matt told me he deserves to sleep as much as he wants because he so old.

Update on Ruffin. Saturday, February 3rd.
5 PM, just boiled a chicken breast in some water with a chicken bullion cube and Ruff would not eat it. After it cooled down I put a chunk in his mouth and he spit it out.

Now I'm getting a little worried. Letting everyone on my Facebook page and people from around the world have been sending prayers.

Update on Ruffin. 11 AM Sunday morning February 4th.
Ruff had a good night's sleep, got up this morning and he had a big drink of water. Took him out and he did a big pee. Back in the kitchen I got Ruff to swallow two of Cephalexin antibiotic pills along with a large tablespoon of peanut butter for his UTI. He did not eat any breakfast.

Ruff then went back to sleep. Since he is sleeping so much and not walking around he doesn't need any pain medicine so all I will be concerned with is the UTI and his water.

Update on Ruffin. 2:30 PM Sunday, February 4th.
Ruff had another big drink of water and I took him out and he peed. Came in and make a small cheese omelet in a frying pan with melted butter with 2 eggs and a handful of grated sharp cheddar.

At first he wouldn't eat it and when I put a spoonful in his mouth he spit it out. Then I noticed how he arched his tongue up to the roof of his mouth when I opened his mouth and put the spoon in. So I took a small chunk of the omelet and when I opened his mouth again I forced his head up and dropped the piece in the back of his mouth and held his jaws closed and rubbed his throat to make him swallow. It worked.

I repeated this until he ate the entire omelet and when he was finished I showed him the plate and he licked it clean.

Update on Ruffin. 3:30 PM Sunday, February 4th.
I think I just saw a miracle.
I was in the den and I heard one of the Rotts loudly drinking from the water dish in the kitchen. I went to look and it was Ruffin. First time in two days he got up to go for drink by himself.
I went out and took the roast pork I made earlier and had sliced up and he ate a piece of it out of my hand. I fed him the rest of the roast piece by piece and he ate the whole thing. It was a small one person sized roast but I think his tummy is starting to feel OK. Thank God.

Update on Ruffin. Sunday night, 10:30 PM (after the game)
Took Ruff out for a pee about an hour ago. Ruff also managed a small poop which is a good sign since his stomach has been empty for two days and the only food he ate was this afternoon.

Update on Ruffin. Monday 10:00AM. February 5th.
Everything is back to normal.
Last night I started to see some improvement in Ruff's ability to stand up and walk without assistance. When we were at the Vet's office last Thursday Dr. Matt thought Ruff had some signs of arthritis. That led to him getting the Tramadol. Ruff got two pills Saturday morning but when he stopped eating I stopped giving it to him.

This morning Ruff was up on his feet before I was. I took him out and he did a pee and a poop and came in and had a big drink of water and ate a half-can of dog food. After breakfast Ruff was walking around the house all by himself. Just a few minutes ago he walked into the den, just like he always did, but something he hasn't done since last week. 

Thank you God and thank you all for the prayers.

It is so good to hear the soothing sound of Ruff's soft snoring behind me again.