Hey guys! I guess it’s been a while since I’ve updated this thread!
All in all, Ginger continues to do well on her new diet and with life in general. She’s been in much better spirits, and appears to be in less pain and is able to get around better.
I’ve also noticed, since starting her new diet, that she’s been learning things, particularly, she’s figuring out that the faster she gets to her cage (or some times Bentleys cage if hers isn’t around LOL in which case, I have to lure her out and into her bed), the faster she gets to eat. She’s also learning that when Bentley gets his harness on, we are going for a walk and that gets her all excited and she runs to door as fast as she can and scratches at it and rings the bell. These are just two examples. All that fish oil is good for the brain, I suppose lol
Today, however, she has been in a down right nasty mood. Not sure what her problem is. I was talking to mom on the phone on my way home from work, and she had both of them in her bed and she kept complaining that ginger was growling at her every time mom moved or tried to touch her or move her. Mom also said she was staring off into space, and had a hard time better her “back.” Then, a little bit ago, I went to get her out of moms bed to take her out and put her in her cage, and when I took the covers off her, she lunged at me tried to bite me. I had to scoop her up using my whole arm to support her body while holding her scruff as tightly as I could to keep her from turning around and biting me until she calmed down enough for me to release her onto the floor and put her leash on.
So, on one hand, Ginger is happy and doing great, and is associating walks and dinner time with certain routines, but at the same time, she’s showing some sever symptoms of dementia, and they’re quite sudden and dramatic. Walks are definitely keeping her in a better mood over all, and her food is helping with cognitive function to a certain degree, as well as helping her joints and pain, but I’m still fighting a losing battle with dementia. I really hope these bad mood swings do not lead to a safety issue with the other animals in the house, not to mention the effect they could lead to with her over all quality of life. We all know where both of those lead, and thays a one way ticket….
For now, they’re just short phases. I’m not going to get myself down about it just yet. She’s a happy little dog 95% of the time, so long as that keeps up, I’m happy for her enough to make up that 5%, then some 🙂 Not a day goes by that I see her running at the end of her leash and think “How could anyone give up on this dog? How could anyone not want her?”
