Hilda, 13th of May 2009 –  5th of July 2015

I have not written here for a while and now that Hilma has passed away I decided to write shortly some summary on my experiences on Sebaceous Adenitis and my experiences on living with a dog with this illness. As a sort of conclusion to our story.

the cause of Hilma’s death was not SA

Her cruciate ligament ruptured during I think the last spring of her life and it was torn on 4th of July. After x-raying her there was also found spondylosis on her spine. She was euthanized due to cruciate ligament rupture. Surgical operation would have been option, but I decided not to go through that due to it’s costs, long recovery time and Hilma’s other diseases. I think that this was enough for one dog to go through… Hilma had obviously pain during the last few months of her life, so this was in my opinion the best decision made to her benefit.

The worst thing with SA was that I did not know at all what to expect

I thought that the dog would rotten on standing up. Vet gave her poor prediction. Now I know that this illness is treatable. It takes time and dedication. And money. I don’t think that without Cyclosporine Hilma would have survived as long as she did. But some dogs do. Then it is not as costly to manage. I think that Hilma would have lived to old age with SA medicated with Cyclosporine.

SA – the illness is glued on you constantly

Though I am not diminishing at all this illness. It is really stressful to owner. It takes a lot to go through those bad periods. You don’t know what the condition will be next month and it is constant stress on that you’ll have to wash, oil, medicate and avoid stressful situations on dog. The illness is glued on you constantly. You see daily that the dog is not in as good condition as healthy dog would be. This is not mentally the easiest disease to deal with…

I hope Hilma had good life with me. She was my first dog and I think that that made her the special one. I miss you so much.