The Decline

It is no secret Cody is up there in age. It's no secret he's had issues like blindness and deafness that he's been dealing with. However, he has been lucky to not have anything seriously wrong. Natural aging issues is what he's been struggling through. He's not even on any meds other than baby aspirin. But his years are nevertheless catching up with him.

He's been more and more disgruntled about his issues as the days and weeks march by. Brad and I commented that he seemed to have gotten worse as far as his abilities and disgruntlement just since my mom visited which was only 2 weeks ago. That being said, over the weekend things became dramatically worse for him, a rapid decline occurred. We had an awful night on Sunday. I pulled an all-nighter trying to take care of him. He was impossible to handle. It was an amazingly trying night for all of us! I cried, he cried, Brad was up some too during Sunday night and he cried as well. As for Piper, she hid under the couch.

He was practically lifeless all day on Monday. Partly worn out from his Sunday, I'm sure. Since the Sunday night ordeal he's remained rather quiet, makes noise rarely now, which is different than before. All of his limbs are very stiff, so he walks like a scarecrow if you can picture a scarecrow walking. He has already dropped some more weight. I thought at first the weight thing was my imagination but Brad agreed, Cody's ribs are showing even more all of a sudden. Yesterday he moved hardly at all. Today he has moved around a little more. If it wasn't for me feeding him his food kibble by kibble while he sits in my lap he would have no interest in food I fear. He is however, still interested in water. 

The similarities between Cody's decline and Simon's are a little eerie. Basically just minus the seizures that Simon suffered. Simon also had more stomach issues in his final days. Cody hasn't dealt with stomach issues. 

It is clear Cody will not be with us much longer. We have spoke of having Cody put to sleep. I'm not sure what we will end up doing. I don't believe he's in pain. I think he has had some pain from arthritis in his hips but I don't believe he is in constant pain. I actually believe Cody has suddenly realized his days are nearly up and he is no longer fighting it. Brad and I will continue to monitor him then decide what the next step is.