Our Dear Sweet Simmie

This past Sunday night Brad was having one of his "I don't want to go to bed" evenings. I, on the other hand, forced myself to go to bed at the conclusion of the overtime Sunday Night Football game. Houston was set on me staying up later than I wanted. :)  At about 1:00 am(technically early Monday morning), I'm awakened by one of the worst sentences to be said by my husband regarding a fur baby...."Honey, you have to get up, something's wrong with Simon." In a flash I was up to see what was going on with Simon. He was unbalanced, he was pacing, he didn't seem to fully recognize us, he also didn't seem to be able to fully recognize where a wall was. In a way he was like the Energizer bunny as he paced, refusing to stay still. If he did stop though he fell over. Both of us stood over him dumbfounded. After being up with him for quite a long time we finally settled him down and all of us went back to bed. Well Cody and Piper never got up in the first place.

The next day he was definitely dealing with some issues. Bad balance, confusion, poor eyesight and anxiety were all present. However his overall energy, appetite, and everything else was normal. On Tuesday he suffered a seizure, which scared me to no end. I freaked! I thought he was a done deal at that point. After the seizure on Tuesday evening he was still suffering from all the previous issues I stated. Since Tuesday he has shown small improvement.

As it stands right now it is thought he suffered a stroke or has canine vestibular disease, both have very similar symptoms. However, seizures can be a side effect of a stroke. What now for him? We continue to love him and care for him. We adjust to the new Simon. We help him adjust to the new Simon. He has improved slightly each day since Wednesday. If he did have a stroke then he could make a full recovery in about 4-6 weeks. Yet if it's canine vestibular disease which I believe it is...then it will come and go until his end days. It'll be something he'll deal with for a few days or a couple weeks then it will go away as suddenly as it appeared. Likely reappearing at different times, it's not life threatening. Canine vestibular disease is very common in older dogs. It's nicknamed "old dog syndrome". Based on the fact he's already made steady improvement over the past few days is why I'm thinking its vestibular disease and mere coincidence he had a seizure too. If it had been a stroke I think he would be doing worse than he is. He's still got issues going on but steady improvement each day this week.

The weirdest thing about all this, in a way I feel like I'm dealing with a puppy again. Puppies can't recognize what is edible and what isn't, that's the new Simon! He'll try to nibble anything, including a foot or a finger. Last night I was too late getting to him before he ate the white tip of the door stop. Puppies are also up and about with extreme curiosity, that's the new Simon. Can't be settled in one place for too long. 

His biggest struggles: balance, confusion, eyesight, and anxiety.  Life with two aging pugs, it's a journey! My oh my! In case anyone was wondering Cody remains his same old cranky Cody self!;)