fenshae
Well-Known Member
Basil's pushing 28 months and is aging fast. He's been on heart meds for a little under a month now for CHF. He seems to be doing OK with it...no gasping, anyway...but he does get exhausted fast, spends a lot of his time hanging his head over the ledge and sprawling out like a big minky pancake. His back end's going, too. He still moves his back paws, but they seem to lag behind the rest of him...he drags his feet forward toes-down instead of walking with his feet under him.
He's also not keeping up with his grooming. His belly is damp and his nose and paws are a little porphy. I try to give him sponge baths to help with the urine on his belly because I KNOW it must be irritating him, but he soooo does not like it. Basil has always hated being handled. He screams when you pick him up. He just doesn't like people as much as he likes rats, and I've always tried to respect that. Today I was sponging him off and he started crying. There's no other way to describe it....his chest started heaving and he let out these long, loud squeaks, almost like a barking sound. It was definitely a vocalization, not a breathing sound or anything. He looked so miserable I gave up on the grooming, I was so scared his heart was going to give out on him right then and there. But he recovered OK.
I'm just at a loss. He's still enjoying being with his roommates, especially Amadeus whom he's gotten really close to lately. They cuddle up together all the time and he seems very content. He can still make it to the very top level of the cage and insists on being there despite me moving all the good stuff to the floor level.
But he does seem very...tired. Basil's outlived so many dear friends. I wonder if maybe he's ready to join them at the bridge. Or should I try more meds? He's only on lasix + antibiotics now, maybe I should add enlapril or pred....I just don't know what to do. I've always been kind of stupid about Basil, I love him so much
Oh, brightening this up with some pics!
He looks so handsome...but yet, he just seems soooo tired to me.
You can see how he's kind of half-dragging that back foot. Not -quite- dragging the toes....but close. You can also see how he's losing muscle back there.
Tired pancake boy.
He's also not keeping up with his grooming. His belly is damp and his nose and paws are a little porphy. I try to give him sponge baths to help with the urine on his belly because I KNOW it must be irritating him, but he soooo does not like it. Basil has always hated being handled. He screams when you pick him up. He just doesn't like people as much as he likes rats, and I've always tried to respect that. Today I was sponging him off and he started crying. There's no other way to describe it....his chest started heaving and he let out these long, loud squeaks, almost like a barking sound. It was definitely a vocalization, not a breathing sound or anything. He looked so miserable I gave up on the grooming, I was so scared his heart was going to give out on him right then and there. But he recovered OK.
I'm just at a loss. He's still enjoying being with his roommates, especially Amadeus whom he's gotten really close to lately. They cuddle up together all the time and he seems very content. He can still make it to the very top level of the cage and insists on being there despite me moving all the good stuff to the floor level.
But he does seem very...tired. Basil's outlived so many dear friends. I wonder if maybe he's ready to join them at the bridge. Or should I try more meds? He's only on lasix + antibiotics now, maybe I should add enlapril or pred....I just don't know what to do. I've always been kind of stupid about Basil, I love him so much
Oh, brightening this up with some pics!
He looks so handsome...but yet, he just seems soooo tired to me.
You can see how he's kind of half-dragging that back foot. Not -quite- dragging the toes....but close. You can also see how he's losing muscle back there.
Tired pancake boy.
