So I have some sad news. My host dog's health has deteriorated immensely. Sebastian recently celebrated his 17th birthday, which I'm pretty sure in dog years means he's at least 120. We're talking Okinawa status in terms of longevity here. I mean Costa Rica is known for its high quality of life and its high number of centenarians and I don't see why that wouldn't carry over to man's best friend.
Age has taken its toll on Sebastian though. He has skin cancer, which from what I understand has spread to his bones. He also has a heart condition that prevents any kind of operation to stop the spread of his cancer. Despite his maladies, I came to know Sebastian as a very tranquil and agreeable dog in the past few months. But ever since he received a haircut last Monday, things have just been getting worse and worse for this canine. It should be noted that Sebastian hates receiving haircuts. Much like 16 year old me, he prefers the shaggy look. He hates the buzzing of the razor so much that my host mom pays more to have his hair trimmed with scissors (Hey, he's a sophisticated guy. I can relate). He also has to be muzzled because he tries to bite the groomer. As you can imagine he's very sensitive to the touch due to his infirmities.
Well, after they shaved the poor guy down to nothing, he was one unhappy dog. In defiance, he came home and promptly defecated on the courtyard patio instead of in the grass. But the next day or so, he started shaking uncontrollably and he couldn't get up. My host siblings and mom took him to the vet, which was an ordeal because he tried to bite them when they picked him up, and when they came back he was walking around seemingly fine. My host mom said they gave him an injection and that was that.
Sadly, within a few days Sebastian's health deteriorated again. He lost movement in both of his hind legs and he couldn't walk. My host siblings and mom again took him to the vet. They again gave him some injections, but they did not take. This time they reported that both of his hind legs were fractured (a result of the cancer, I presume), and so he is permanently without use of his back legs. So my host brother, today, built a dog wheelchair so that he can still walk around on his own. It kind of works, but Sebas pants like crazy and it's going to take him a while to orient himself with it. He runs into a lot of things and gets stuck constantly. So yeah, it's extremely sad to watch and I fear he is in immense pain and I just had to share this story with everyone because in the states, he would have probably been put down by now. But who am I to judge. I'll keep you posted on the little guy. Gotta go now. Tomorrow is my first of three midterms this week, so there is work to be done.
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