Normans prognosis

So I picked Normous up from the vet today at lunch. He came out of the back room quietly, and actually laid down on the ride home. He had only come out of anethesia about an hour prior. Usually when I've picked him up from procedeures, they warn me that I may get a groggy dog, but he always comes bounding out cross-eyed and panting. But today slowed him down.

He had a scope down his throat (he had lung x-rays too, but those came back clear) and the good news is that there isn't a growth inhibiting his breathing (he has been aspirating on his kibble and was heavily wheezing at Clayton beach, causing me to finally take some action). But the bad news is that he does have larangeal paralisis. It's moderate now, but will progress as he ages (he's 10). So I have to keep him cool this summer (not easy for a black dog) and he's not allowed on any more strenuous hikes (Clayton beach isn't that bad, but he's also gettin arthiritis in one of his hips, so...).

Then the kicker: I'm to keep him from getting too excited. I told him I would need a bulk supply of the sedatives he prescribed. Norm is a perpetual puppy. He leaps over everything he can think of, he eats all kinds of non-food items (most recently 3 of Brady's bicycle helmets and the Radio Flyer wagon). So asking him to be calm is like asking a hummingbird not to fly.

There isn't really anything we can do for him. They suggested a surgery that would pin one of his larnyx flaps open, but then he would be prone to pnenomia and lung infections (from foreign matter getting into his lungs). So we will just have to alter his lifestyle a bit. And he most likely will have some episodes of respitory failure. It makes me really sad, but I'm not the type that extends a life for my own emotional protection.

Of course he perked right back up from the sedation as soon as we got home, and he couldn't wait to go tell Katie all about his adventure and get some lovin' from his old lady. He's a sweet old pooch.