Introducing Ninja
I realized that I never had a thread about Ninja, my AA. So... here she is. She just turned 13 earlier this month. Here is her own little thread. She's the reason why I love dogs, love training dogs, and became obsessed about NKs! She is the sweetest girl and loves everyone. One time, I brought home a box of kittens that I found and Ninja was so curious. She ended up licking them and cleaning them up. When the kittens would cry, she ran up to them and comforted them. I love her. When I went to college, my parents didn't let me keep Ninja so I got a Shiba Inu (Sasuke) instead, not knowing these are less apartment-suited than an Akita lol. Mini-Akitas... whatever!
So, by popular demand ( @cdenney ), here is Ninja!
Ninja looking Sassy
This was taken when she had a skin condition. Her tail was losing a lot of fur. We changed her food to EVO and her fur grew back nicely!
I have some puppy photos of her but they're all printed out. I'll take photos of it to upload it in a little bit. These photos are a little outdated. I'll get more recent photos of her too!
So, by popular demand ( @cdenney ), here is Ninja!
Ninja looking Sassy
This was taken when she had a skin condition. Her tail was losing a lot of fur. We changed her food to EVO and her fur grew back nicely!
I have some puppy photos of her but they're all printed out. I'll take photos of it to upload it in a little bit. These photos are a little outdated. I'll get more recent photos of her too!
Comments
This was taken in 2001.
Ninja lost a considerable amount of weight again. The vet weighed her at 77lbs. when her prime was 120lbs. She is also 13 years old. Her heat spots have returned and she is constantly itchy. The vet also said her hypothyroid is affecting her. To my knowledge, 1 is considered low. Ninja is at .8. We reduced her to California Naturals limited dog food formula to see if her problem was allergies. She began eating again but not as much as usual.
The vet said Ninja's inability to stand is due to her severe muscle atrophy, which caused her to be cow hocked.
So, long story short, the vet suggested we put Ninja to sleep if she doesn't improve due to the antibiotics and additional medication they gave her. A month ago, they gave her steroid shots but it did not help much. The vet said her "quality of life" is in jeopardy and if she does not improve by Monday or Tuesday, they may have to administer the drug.
I'm not sure if I believe that is a good reason to euthanize a pet. I feel like I can improve her "quality of life" some how but I don't know what to do. Has anyone had a similar experience?
Btw, California Naturals had a recall earlier this year. I stopped buying them.
We took her to the doctors and they said she was improving. yay! We brought a wagon to take her around if she gets tired. I could really tell her hind legs were weak, but her front still looks strong ^.^
I think only you can decide when it is the right time for her. Before we lost Bel last week, I'd been going over this same question in my head endlessly (there's a thread I started around here on when to euthanize a dog, and those discussions might help you too, as well as the questionaire). She had so many health issues. I kept trying to think when the right moment would be. One of the things that my vet said was a sign, though, was extreme weight loss. Bel lost 15% of her body weight in 3 weeks, which was the point the vet though we should euthanize her.
Then she started eating again, and I decided to give her more time. Then she got bit by the rattlesnake and that was that, and while they may have been able to get her through the bite, it was just too much along with everything else.
for me, one of the things I feel is too much is when the dog can't get up or walk on their own. Other people are able to help a dog through this, so it's not an absolute, but for me, they seem so miserable, and are so fragile with other dogs present, that's that's usually when I think it's time. Or if they are obviously in pain.
Here's the other thread that might help:
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/8491/good-article-on-when-to-euthanize-a-pet#Item_18
And I'm sorry you're going through this. It was agonizing trying to figure out what to do with Bel.