My Friend on May 8, 2009

2 or 3 times a day Choya and I walk across the road from our house. He can now only walk down the sidewalk a few houses until he does his business. We then slowly walk home, at times looking at each other, remembering the times we have had together over the years. When we get back to the front door, sometimes I have to help him up the steps and into the house. We don't take Choya to the park anymore as it is too difficult for him to get in and out of the van. He also cannot walk very far where he use to walk at the park since we started taking him there in 1999.

Choya has taken to laying in the corner of the dining room under the dining table. I guess he feels safe in that corner. At times, it is not too difficult to see the pain in his eyes as he lays down and goes to sleep.

The Latest on Choya - May 2

Choya is declining.

He was due to have an acupuncture treatment next Thursday (every 3 weeks) but as of this past Tuesday, he started having trouble getting up and walking any long distance. He went for acupuncture 2 days ago (Thursday) but it seems that there were no positive results.

We went to the park as usual this morning and Choya was walked on leash for about 15 minutes. On our way back to the parking lot he started to stop and sit. He remained sitting for about 2 minutes each time and at one point when he was walking his rear end went down and he could not move. This happened twice and I thought I was going to have to carry him to the van. But he walked on with great difficulty (and it appeared he was in pain) and once at the van he stopped, looked up at me and put his front 2 paws up (I did not ask him to do it) while I lifted him up by the rear.

I took him for a short walk this afternoon, about 4 houses down from ours. It appeared that was as much as he could do.

It is heartbreaking to seem him in this condition. Choya is very stoic and he will not let on that he is in pain when he walks or tries to get up from a laying position.