Daisy's been growing and she's a joyful happy girl - a sweet puppy in the true sense of what a golden retriever can be and extraordinarily loving. Trudy likes petting but Daisy lives for it.
We were trotting along just fine...getting the potty training done and enjoying the relief from the constant heaviness of the past half decade and I guess the universe wasn't done after all. At about 3 months of age Daisy greeted my son-in-law at the door in the kitchen. The usual puppy excitements got the best of her as she slipped and skidded on the linoleum floor. We moved to rug and the "loving" commenced. It was later that day we noticed a pronounced limp when she went outside. I tried hard not to be "panicked" but with all that's happened my chest immediately tightened down while I waited for the other shoe to fall.
And fall it did.
The limp did not resolve itself after a day and so I took her to our local vet. They call her crazy Daisy because she's always so happy to see them and them her. When our vet began to move her leg around I heard the clicking but he asked to keep her for the afternoon so he could x-ray her and asked for permission to medicate her if he needed to. We left her in their able care. When we returned I could tell by the looks on their faces we were getting back on the roller coaster...and all of a sudden I felt like I couldn't breathe.
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| This is an X-ray of what normal Canine hips look like. She how the ball of thigh bone is fully into the socket of the hip. Just perfect. |
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| This is Daisy's X-Ray. On the left side of this x-ray is her right hip - It is 15% in the socket. The other is 25%.
By the time we were called in to talk to the vet I honestly could have used a glass of wine - maybe a bottle. I knew we'd have a big bill but I was hoping it was something he could rectify on the spot. How wrong I was. The moment he popped in the x-ray I knew we were in big trouble. I just didn't know how big.
I listened intently and tried to take it all in. She has hereditary hip dysplasia - the most severe he's ever seen in a puppy (she was about five months old at that time). There were, he said, "possibly" several options. If it went untreated Daisy would eventually have debilitating arthritis and be lame and in gross pain from it. A death sentence for an active animal. At first the thrumming in my ears was so loud from my blood pressure I don't think I heard what he was saying for a good 2-3 minutes and had to ask him to repeat it. He mentioned several surgical options (none of which could be accomplished at a family vets office) and told us that any of these options were going to cost several thousand dollars. Say what?
Okay, well - we paid nearly a thousand to have Nellie's leg tumor treated - so if it were two thousand maybe we could charge it and tight our belts more and figure it out. He told us to go home and think about it. At the very least we would have to go to one of several Orthopedic specialists and get a more exacting interpretation of the x-rays, an estimate, and more precise set of options.
Maybe not the closest orthopedic canine doctor but we figured probably the most practiced would be down in East Lansing at the Michigan State University Veterinarian School. We did our thinking and decided as long as we didn't have a definitive diagnosis we couldn't make an informed decision. It was my last grasp on the straw called "hope".
We made that appointment. It's a wonderful school full of fresh faces wanting to help the animal kingdom (ever the optimist in a sinking ship!). We met a nice surgeon - he was knowledgeable and broke down the possibilities which amounted to this: Option one - same as our family vet had said about lameness and pain. Option two: A total hip replacement (THR). What? Both hips could use it BUT we could get away with doing the worst hip (the 15%) and working on physical therapy to strength the muscle on the second one and using medication when necessary. It would restore her to a near normal life.
The only drawback...and it's a doosey. The cost of one hip: $5,000. - $6,000. dollars. My jaw was on the floor, just as your is right now. The alternative - not pretty.
Many good friends asked of Daisy could use one of those wheeled carts to get along. Sorry, that is not a possibility. The pain involved in having her hip slip out of the socket and grind on the outside just won't allow that. Most dogs who use carts are paralyzed or have issues that make a cart a good alternative - Daisy is not a good candidate. When it does slip our vet gently rotates the leg until we hear what we need to hear and it slowly moves back into position (as well as it can). We then hit it with anti-inflammatory and pain medication. She currently is on near continuous doses of tramadol and rimadyl. This is what they would prescribe to a much older dog in their late life stages as movement becomes a major problem due to age and arthritis. Daisy is now a mere 7 months old.
We have some time - not much. One thing that is on our side for the moment - time. They can do absolutely nothing until she is full grown or there is a major emergency (i.e. she is dragging the leg around). That means if we are extremely careful with her play we can get her to 12 months without a major incident and then move forward. She needs to be full size before they can do THR.
So there, here we are.....on the roller coaster....cranking up the hill again and taking those deep dives that take my breath away until I want to pass out. Some days I think if I remind myself to put one foot in front of the other and smile I'll just puke...but I do it anyway.
So what's the plan Sharon? Let's talk about that. Tomorrow.
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