Sadly, Cyrus has what might be the canine version of a mood disorder. You may think I'm projecting, but Cyrus' Veterinarian is treating him with anti-anxiety drugs. It's the same way mental health professionals treat bipolar disorder--try this drug for awhile, if it doesn't help or makes things worse, we'll try another drug and see what happens. This approach to treating mental health problems is often very distressing for the patient. Sometimes the drug creates it's own new set of problems, since every drug comes with it's own set of side-effects. This often leads to non-compliance with treatment in humans. My dog Cyrus takes his peanut-butter covered pills without complaint, but this pill taking has not produced less fear of noises that go BOOM! Instead of making him more willing to go outside to pee, he seems less willing to budge from his bed next to mine.
Cyrus also has arthritis in his hips which requires 100mgs. of Rimadiyl twice a day. He has a funky thyroid that requires two doses of Thyroxinel, and now a big dose of an anti-anxiety drug called Clomicalm. His monthly vet bill just for drugs is $140. That's more than my ten or twelve drugs cost me, but there is, sadly, no medicare for dogs.
Last night was the first big test of the July madness of aerial orgasms lasting at least a half an hour. I was pissed all day that MSNBC was not give me my daily news fix, then last night (the 3rd of July) we had the unexpected bombardment that sounded like bombs falling all around the houses. Shock and Awe! Turns out it was the end of a soccer game. It shook the windows and we could feel it through out feet. The ground moved. This morning it took me and my neighbor and her dog Roscoe to lure Cyrus out to pee. Tonight we will go through it all again.
