When is the right time?

Getting the timing right... 

Getting the time right is a task we do on a daily basis without thinking too hard about it. Sometimes we are early, sometimes we are late. But when its your dogs life in the balance, this time has to be the precise moment, not too early but also not too late. We have been in conversation with our vet Laura, who is mentioned in a lot of our blogs, about Sheba's life and when the right time is, but unfortunately that answer is never going to be a simple straightforward one. Laura has known us for a few years now, looking after our other pets Arthur, Cedric and some of our hamsters also. She is the only person other than Jen that I trust with Sheba and we feel that is so important as she's involved in so many of her life decisions, care and treatments.

Today Sheba's day started not that great and she found basic tasks such as walking and drinking a huge effort. After taking her to the vets and seeing Laura, who agreed with Sheba not being her usual self, we decided bloods would be a sensible option. People who know me know I despise taking tablets and in my whole 26 years of life I've not taken any tablets. Sheba however is on 10 tablets and medications which worries me a lot. I like to treat her as naturally as possible to ensure the medication contraindications are minimalised.

 

The most important thing to myself and Jen is giving Sheba a dignified, pain free death as possible. It will never be an easy decision but we would never keep her alive for our own selfish benefit. I can say when she does eventually pass that we tried everything possible for her,

and she was the most loved dog in the world.  After receiving her blood results back today and having a noticeable decline, we are still not going to give up on this beautiful girl and going to see how far we can take her with the medications. If Sheba was consistently unwell and was deteriorating each day, the decision would be so easy. However Sheba is like day and night on an hourly basis and this afternoon she has gone back to the dog we know and love, running around the garden and chasing her brother Arthur.

Moving forward with Sheba we are now going to stop her anti-convulsant medication and try her on a new boosting medication to see if we can maintain the quality of her life. As mentioned previously when Sheba is well, she truly has the best dog life in the world. Knowing we have the full support of our vet and knowing they are there when Sheba needs fluids or just to reassure us makes us feel so much better and we are so incredibly lucky. Tomorrow is a new day and we are hoping Sheba will have the best weekend in the sunshine!...

Sheba Dramatics

Sheba dramatics of the day!




As mentioned in our first blog, Sheba is susceptible to Seizures and they have been becoming more frequent as the time goes on. Sheba is currently on 10 different medications and she absolutely rattles! I keep a detailed record of all her medications, Heart rate, respiratory rate and other observations so we can notice differences in her presentations.

Today I went into our vets to get Sheba's anti-sickness medication ordered. I left her in the car for approximately 3 minutes and in this time she had managed to climb onto the front seat and was in mid seizure when I got back to the car. She appeared unresponsive and floppy so I quickly picked her up and ran back into the vets with her. She was seen immediately by one of the vets and she came round quite quickly as per usual. This however does not make it any easier in the slightest and by the time we had gotten home, she has already had another seizure in the car and I was ready to have a breakdown! Sheba takes everything in her stride and came home as if nothing has happened, ready for her breakfast after her busy morning!


Luckily we have had a more settled afternoon with her falling asleep with me and both having a small but very well deserved nap. She sleeps right next to me in bed and usually falls asleep with me singing to her. Yes she is incredibly spoilt and is treated like a new born baby, but we really don't know how long we have left with her, therefore making every day count.

Welcome to the world of Sheba

The life of Sheba... :-)

The background of Sheba and where we are today!

So we have decided to set up a blog for our beautiful 16 year old Jack Russell; Sheba. we want to record all the amazing things she does to make us smile and laugh on a daily basis, but also the times we have to leave her at the vets and make tough decisions regarding her little life.

So firstly a little bit about how Sheba ended up in our family. We saw an advert on Facebook saying a dog free to a good home; which will later come back to haunt us as there is definitely nothing free about this dog!!! We already had Arthur who was 11 months old at the time and it wasn't an easy decision. We thought this beautiful elderly dog could end up in very incapable hands, so at 11pm on April 1st 2016, little Sheba was dropped off to us and she instantly became our family. From day 1 me and Sheba have had the best bond imaginable and now we are almost inseparable 3 years later. People laugh at us and say where there is a Rebecca there's a Sheba not too far behind!

We quickly got to learn that Sheba hadn't been mistreated but more over loved and had been fed sweets and foods not really suitable for a dog by an elderly gentleman who had dementia and had tried his best for her. Straight away we started her on a more appropriate diet and got her walking up to 3 miles per day. These were the early days and since then her health has declined and she now can walk up to about 3 or 4 miles per week. we are both participating in a charity walk in September which is 6 miles, this will be an incredible achievement for Sheba!


Sheba is a little monster dog who likes to keep us on our toes! She has Kidney disease,
abnormalities in her abdomen, thyroid issues, and just recently started to have seizures amongst many more undetected  conditions. Does this stop Sheba from doing anything she likes? it certainly does not! She is the rule setter in our home and what she wants, she gets.

As this is the first post we can not leave out the people who allow us to have Sheba at home with us comfortably. Our vet Laura, there really are no words that describe how much this girl means to our family. She has given us something that no amount of money could ever buy, a dog who is in minimal pain and is managing incredibly well. She has given Sheba back a life that she's possibly never had before and for us that means the absolute world. The diagnostics, the treatments, the comforting words, the ups and the downs, the numerous phone calls and appointments, we are consistently greeted with top class care which makes our life so much happier. The vet team as  a whole have taken Sheba's care to a whole new level. We are there so often all the staff are now Sheba's 'Aunties' and she absolutely adores each and everyone of them. Not to mention the fusses and cuddles she gets from her favourite Aunties.. Aunty Rachel and Aunty Danni! Rachel and Danni not only provide Sheba with amazing care and attention but they have been an incredible emotional support when I'm flapping about Sheba, and now I don't see them as a client care co-ordinator, but as a friend. We will never be able to thank them all enough for their hard work each and every day.



This picture is very significant to us as the first picture is on the first day we had Sheba and the second picture is a few weeks ago. We can tell in her eyes how happy she is and what a different dog she has become. We try to give her the best life possible and right up until the end she will always be the centre of our lives.