Teddy has been squeaking extra loud the last day or so and last night he didn't sleep hardly at all - and by extension neither did I or Buttercup. You couldn't come near him without him crying out in great indignation as if you'd just stepped on one of his feet with all your weight, and his bum as dirty as only a little dog's bum can get.So this morning I called his vet - Dr. Lindsay at Carnegy's and we went in and waited until she had a free moment to see him and he just sat and shivered and I sat and stared and waited.
I know he is definitely off his salt because he was at a corner of the bed all night and usually he spends all night on top of me trying to bite me every time I move or take a deep breath, and today he's been in his bed - and usually he'd be pawing at me all day trying to get in my lap. So he's definitely very ill.
But anyway - the poor little thing - she shaved his little back end completely bald. His "workings" for lack of a more intestinal term are inflamed. So he's got special "fibre" food, pain pills and a bare bum. And he has no idea why his back end feels so funny now. When we left the clinic I suppose there must have been a bit of a wind outside because he'd take 2 steps, squeak and sit down really fast and look at me. Can you imagine having the ass cut out of your clothing, your cheeks spread wide and be expected to walk down Spring Garden Road like that? It must feel awful! Poor Teddy!
Another thing I found out today - Dr. Lindsay had taken Teddy out back to shave him and she did a thorough physical exam while she had him there. He's got luxating patella like Buttercup does - and it's equally bad. She rated him a 3 out of 4. She could pop his knees right in and out at will. So everyone but Daisy has bad knees now. That is NOT good news.
We went through the luxating patella thing with our terrier/poodle/schnauzer mix a few years ago. If you decide to have the surgery done, see if your vet will do both knees at the same time -- it will reduce expenses substantially, and reduce overall recovery time because your dog will only have to go through the recovery period once. It seems like it would be impossible for a dog to function with casts on both hind legs, but our dog did absolutely fine and was happy and perky after just a couple of days. We called her our little Jennifer Beals, as it looked like she was wearing leg warmers :)
ReplyDeleteA couple of years after the surgery, the same dog tore an ACL and had to have it repaired. We were told the tear was a fluke, and unrelated to the former patella problem. It was more expensive to repair that one ACL than to repair both knees.
The only permanent problem we've seen in our dog is a touch of arthritis. She limps slightly if it's cold and damp, but luckily those days are rare in Las Vegas, and a Rimadyl makes her feel much better.
Good luck with your dogs!