Scared the crap out of me...

[BRUISER]

Well I was at shop saturday afternoon when Jess called and told me my Big dog Jewel could not mover her rear legs and she was dragging them around the house..

I ran home picked her up and ran to vet emergency..

Was there for 3 hrs

gave her shots, x-rays, etc..

We found out that her rear leg that I have know about has gotten worse and no her 3 rear vertebrae are growing into one unit...

so what happens is that she will be walking and they vertebrael twist as one and pinch a nerve and she will loose her back legs for a while so if it happens we need to comfort her for a little while and her back legs should strat working again

The Doc said this is only happens from genes passed down

he asked where i got her and what her blood line was .. so when i told him her dad was 5 generation show dog and mom was 4 he said : "There is the problem:.

He said pure bread sheppard or sheapprd mixs are more likely to have these problems then just muts

So i have to give her like 4000mg of vitamins everyday now and pain killers..

Man that was a scaring and sad night..

So I asked about Surgery...
He said to do surgery would be like $3000 and that would only be the rear leg..
If they tried to do her back bone she may die on the table.. :( plus the chances of fixing her back bone is 1 in million.. and at her age he said your best bet is to keep an eye on her try not to let her run and keep her on meds..

So now I have to build some ramps so she can get up and down stairs in the house easier...


Here is a pic of Jewel with our newer dog Mia the small one

[greg slade]

Pets can break your heart, thats for sure. Have her vertebrae lined back up yet?

I too have a dog with displaysia and it gets worse as he gets older. I just make him as comfy as possible and give him alot of back rubs.

[rbo1577186]

Keep lovin on that old girl, try to keep her from gettin too excited. My 5 1/2 year old basset mix is getting a touch of arthritis....... Changed her diet, added vitamins.... seems to do OK. If we take her on a big walk (1 mile+) it seems to bother her more than usual later in the day. Dogs are the greatest companions period......... I built some steps for her to get on and off the bed.

[BRUISER]

Oh I will...

Gonna go get her some new beds to put around house this week. ya know the big comfy ones :)

oh and she is 8.5 years old..

[BIGWOODY]

I have a 130lb Chesapeake Bay Retreiver that is 9 years old. She's been an indoor dog from day one, she's my baby and it kills me to see her in pain. If I take her and my pup to the inlaws farm to run and swim, she has trouble getting up the next morning and seems sore for a day or two. I feel your pain, massage her hips and give her plenty of lovin'.

[BRUISER]

a few pics just cause :)

[upnover]

Ken I am sorry to hear about this. But I am happy to see you are an owner who cares. Our Lil gal Semi pops and cracks pretty bad sometimes, and always stretches like a cat every time she gets up. But so far no ill affects from play time, and so on. Mention the G O word and she is as spry as pup.
All I can say is that as long as you can keep her pain down to a minimum, she will continue to be a loving companion.

[FJCRUISER]

I am sorry to hear that....but I am so happy that at she has someone that would really care for her....its hard to find people like that now days! Good luck to you!

[RufusTheRam]

3k really isn't bad for that kind of surgery. I spent about that on my mutt a few months ago to repair a broken femur, and that was with a "friend of the family" discount.

[SNOWzuki]

I know how you feel.
I had an Eskimo Spitz that was epileptic.
I had to give Keysha phenobarbital till she passed away.
It's tough to go thru but they are well worth it.
Give Jewel and Mia lots of love, because they are special to you.