I nearly laughed out loud when I read Huffington Post’s article titled: What’s The Good Life For an Old Dog? Ice Cream? Or Nasty Pills? What a ridiculously obvious question! Clearly you shouldn’t give your poor ailing pet heavy amounts of cream and sugar, which will only make his body have to labor to function comfortably. Though the pills might taste bad, at least they will bring comfort and ease to an animal’s waning life. But is that true? Here are some reflections about what you should do when your dog (or cat, for that matter) gets older or begins to decline in health.
Pampering VS Preserving
Dogs thrive with affirmation, encouragement, treats, play time, toys, and any other positive aspect in their lives. They seem to sleep better, have more cheerful dispositions, fewer behavioral issues or aggressive outbreaks if they are allowed to be outside in the sunshine and fresh air. Likewise, getting to reward your pet with a treats or something else that sets the tail wagging is a pure joy for the pet owner. We love to see our fur-babies happy and content, and deeply struggle to watch them be afraid, uncomfortable or in pain of any kind.
The reality is, some dogs develop anxiety when they have to take pills, or have their wounds regularly dressed, or fluids replenished. There are even cases in which animals become so panicked mentally or are so physically sensitive that they will even vomit up their pills and liquid capsules. When a dog is already weak and ailing, watching them have further stress and discomfort can be agonizing.
Let’s get philosophical for a second. What is the whole purpose behind medication? Curing a problem, diminishing pain, bringing comfort, and restoring a creature to live life to the fullest. But what if your dog has a condition that is irreparable, or where actual restoration and complete healing is impossible? If the possibility of a cure is out the window, and if your dog is just slowly dying a little bit every day, is feeding him (an activity most dogs dearly relish) something sour, distasteful really the best thing to do? It seems that if shoving pills down a dog’s throat, or giving him daily shots, IVs or treatments cannot sufficiently solve a pet’s health problem, and if by taking it, the dog experiences anxiety, upset stomach, and other rough symptoms, how does it help to force these things upon him?
Dr. Jessica Peirce (author of the book The Last Walk) noted that a friend was told by her vet to keep her pup Finn calm and quiet in the last months of his life, due to a heart problem. Dr. Pierce chose to let her pup scamper around the yard and play as long as she could, despite this condition because she didn’t want to force her dog to be an invalid, but rather to enjoy his last remaining moments living life to the fullest. Suffice to say, her dog’s final days were happy ones.
That makes sense, doesn’t it? While we may not follow the author of the Huffington Post’s article Professor Mark Beoff’s same approach (he fed his dog a pint of ice cream every day as his health declined), we see the point. If nothing can be done to improve a dog’s health, at least his mood and quality of life can be improved by play time, treats, fun adventures and great memory making with what time is left.
To clarify: this does not mean we encourage people to disregard their vet’s advice, or throw every antibiotic or medication out the window. If your dog has a chance of survival, or if the medication really is contributing significant aid and comfort on his behalf, then by all means adhere to the instructions of medical professions.
Best of both worlds?
Of course we don’t want one positive element (such as medication) to be canceled out by one negative element (such as refined sugar), but wasn’t Mary Poppins onto something when she sang that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?” If you are having difficulties feeding your dog the drugs he needs to flourish in his life, then maybe figure out a way to sweeten the deal. Grind up the pill, and sprinkle it on a scoop of yummy hot mash and delicious fresh meat! Or wrap up a handful of 2-3 treats around the pill and see if the pup will take the bait. If you can keep your dog happy and manage to get him the meds he needs, than that is success indeed!
