Being old is hard. There are ups and downs, good days and not-so-good days.
It’s easy to tell when Rocko isn’t feeling well. He has a bleary look in his eyes and his nose is warm. When he is sick he sleeps under the bed so if that’s where he is in the morning I know something is going on.
I wish it was as easy to tell what is wrong. Rocko takes an assortment of medicine and vitamins - willingly – but sometimes I find it on the floor later where he accidentally spit it out. He has a sensitive stomach every now and then with nothing in particular as a cause. This is also one of our conversational commands that Rocko understands – I give him a tiny bite of something on my dinner plate when I’m done, but if it’s spicy I will tell him “This’ll give you tummy ache”. He knows what that means and immediately goes back to his blanket.
Over time we’ve developed levels of not feeling well. Level one requires a trip to the vet. Level two is a limp or throwing up. Level three is just feeling bad.
Special Order
This week we had a level three. For two days Rocko just wasn’t himself. He was mopey and his nose was warm. Although I usually save this for the higher level illnesses because I know Rocko is absolutely 100% capable of faking illness to get what he wants, I went ahead and got him the ultimate comfort food – a plain double hamburger.
I don’t know if it is because he finally gets a full stomach, if the bread soaks up whatever is causing a problem or if it just makes him happy, but an hour later he was smiling and back on track to feeling better.
Yum, that was good !
Before you think OMG, she’s feeding him fast food burgers, let me say that you reach a point with a dog Rocko’s age where everything has a benefit analysis. It’s a delicate balance to keep him as healthy as possible. Any extended period of illness or pain could be the beginning of the end, it’s just hard to bounce back when you’re that old. Fast food every two or three months is not the best diet, but the benefit of feeling better far outweighs any nutritional downside.