Rescue Journal

managing the disability issues surrounding extreme aging...

Carol  ·  Jun. 16, 2010

sounds pretty important. it seems like it would require intelligence and good planning...well lets not get too fancy here...if you want a deaf dog to "hear" you with their eyes instead of their ears...sweetly and gently poke them with your finger so they turn around and look at you. if you want a blind dog to follow you...clap your hands and talk to them so their ears can actually find you.

but every so often if they get old and wrecked enough...a new disability pops up that needs some kind of intervention...like this morning, dealing with a new type of incontinence.

max is one of the LONG dogs with kind of short legs. so when he leans in to have a long pee, his urine shoots forward and puddles around his front feet. he also has severe upper spinal and neck arthritic disease. we keep him feeling comfortable with a very good combination of anti-inflamatories, muscle relaxants and pain meds. BUT..his neck is still quite weak.

so there is max this morning, emptying his overful bladder all over not only his front feet but around his chin which he is comfortably resting on the floor.

sigh..another not rocket science solution...max needs a foot and face wash after he pees.

we like to think extreme senior rescue is glamorous...we like to think we are knowlegable and highly skilled...but really we just know how and when to kindly poke a finger, happily clap our hands and gently wipe a pee soaked chin.....when you reduce it to the very basics, any moron can do it well....

ok...the goes my self esteem for this morning...i better go find my motivating napkin to-do list and do something equally as difficult and interesting.

Comments

MaryK

Nooo, any moron cannot do this. Most morons would just put the dog down at the first sign of aging.

You folks do a wonderful thing by caring for these animals in their old age. You're right, it's not rocket science. It's the common sense awareness of what needs to be done & doing it - not looking for the easy way out. And it is the right thing to do.

On behalf of Max and all the animals, thank you.

Marla

Everyone should be such a moron! Maybe the world would have less homeless, unwanted, old, wrecked, deaf, blind, and pee-covered chin animals in it if we had more like you! Keep YOUR chin up, and know that some of us strive to be half as much a "moron" as you are!

amy

Don't be so hard on yourself Carol. If I did as many good deeds as you did in a day my self esteem would be soaring.

No, not rocket science but obviously the commitment, drive and desire to help the aged and the sick. Can a person be more giving and caring than that?

Be good to yourself and remember those that will visit the Open House this weekend are all coming as they believe in what you do day in and day out and want to help, not critique. REALLY and truly:)

Mauro Salles

Yeah, Lynne! Very well said!

Carol, what you do is authentic, genuine, an exceptional service to those who can not defend themselves. It is extremely difficult, there is suffering but also joy, there is no money, the staff is incomplete... There are no words to describe what it is, and only people who have affinity with what you do will be able to understand.

(1) Are You The Crazy Cat Lady? Well, you'll hear it many more times to lose count! Inevitably, because you go against the flow of mediocrity that prevails in the world. Perhaps this is an arrogant and cruel perception, but I don't care.

(2) You forget things, meetings and Lil Bud in the van. Congratulations! Welcome to the Moron Club, probably the biggest in the world!

(3) Are you a saint? Hmmmmm... Now I have my doubts...

(4) Sophisticated scientific descriptions? Well, I'm working hard, but gonna study them ... maybe next life, if any.

(5) Applied science? There's a good example on last blog about The Mongolian Monster. The gates of hell were opened. SOS.
http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/blogs/fosterstory

Please, be well!

lynne

i have my grandkids on fri night till about 600 that is why i will be later. let me know.

lynne

well there is a finger poked, a hand clapped, a urine soaked chin wiped woould they have had that in the past i would think probably no. so pat yourself on the back and realize you are loved, by the animals and equally by the people get your self esteem back up there and enjoy. i will be by tomorrow night to help out and on fri night but later. my work schedule due to my knee injury has been changed to 1100 to 300 so it royally screws up the whole day. let me know if that works out for you