Renal dysplasia is a devastating disease. There is no cure and the dog just progressively gets worse. It feels very unfair, for both me and my puppy Arlo. Many dogs barely make it past 1 years old, the very lucky ones may make it to 3. As an owner, it can be very challenging to stay motivated and not feel defeated. I home-cook a special diet for Arlo, and spend hours each day trying to feed him. I take him to the vet mutiple times a week for fluid therapy. But despite all my efforts and all the supplements and medications, his bloodwork seems to keep getting worse.
Over the past 15 months, I have had some time to process the news of Arlo’s condition. It took me over a year to truly process the new and find some sense of closure. Here are some things I did or thought about to help me stay motivated throughout this journey:
- I asked myself would I be this upset or feel this defeated if dogs only lived 1 year instead of say 10? A big part of feeling defeated comes from the expectation that dogs live 10+ years. It took me a long time, but eventually I changed my expectations. My goal was to help Arlo make it to 1 year post-diagnosis (since the many vets initially told us he only had months left). I was very glad to celebrate that milestone this past May. No one knows how long a dog (or human) can live. The world’s oldest dog, Bobi, is currently 31 years old!
- Instead of thinking of extending his lifespan, I try to think about what I can do to not let it be further reduced. He may have been dealt a bad hand at birth, but I can promise him he won’t have any more bad “cards”.
- Related to 2, I try to focus on Arlo’s life experiences and emotional health. His physical and emotional health-span instead of life-span. There are many stories of people living longer because they were happy and stress-free, and because they wanted to live longer (willpower). I like to think that the same applies to dogs. A puppy that is miserable and unable to have fun will not want to stay in this world for long. I try to think of and do fun activities with Arlo every day.
- Take it a day at a time. Treasure every day. There were both good days and bad days. There were even good weeks and bad weeks. After Arlo successfully bounced back a few time from bad weeks, I learned to stay positive and keep fighting.
- Share my journey and learnings with others