How much is your pet worth to you? That's the question of the week.
We took Marty to his vet appointment yesterday at 1:00. She took one look at him and said she was very concerned. She did a couple of little tests on him and declared that he was paralyzed. At that point I lost it. I pretty much expected the worst when we took him in yesterday but I still wasn't ready to hear that.She gave us our options: 1. Put him down 2. Take him to Columbus to the surgeon and see if they can help him 3. Get him wheels, I'm not shitting you. At this point I'm crying and laughing and thinking in my head "He'd be a wiener mobile"
The vet kept an eye on the girls for us and left us with Magoo to talk about it. After more crying on my part and calculations on my husbands part we decided we weren't ready to give up on him. To Columbus we'd go. They gave Marty a shot of pain meds and we took off with a quickness.
We went to MedVet and if you are ever in emergency vet need I'd recommend them without reservation. They were kind, understanding, and helpful as well as knowledgeable. After the surgeon examined the hound he gave us his prognosis and a course of treatment, starting with a mylogram (?), possible CT, and surgery. We signed the papers and they started immediately. No waiting, no dawdling.
We got a phone call at about 8:30 last night that the surgery went well, it was a ruptured disc, and the disc next to it was deteriorated as well. They drilled a hole into the troubled one to hopefully help it rupture away from the spinal cord when it goes out.
This morning they called and he slept well and is comfortable. He has some sensation in his back legs. Hopefully it will keep coming back as the swelling goes down and the injury heals. We should be able to get him tomorrow night.
Now of course my mind is going to recovery and what kind of things we'll need to do for him. Any input? I'm making him a bed today so that he can be comfortable on the floor. I think I'll also make a pad to go into his crate for when we pick him up tomorrow.
Sarah- I keep trying to comment and it never let's me... I worked for years at a hospital identical to Columbus in Cinti. Email me with your number and we can chat!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of Marty!
Sweet Marty!!! Talk to Kate - you're in for some doggy PT, ice packs, heat packs, exercises. BUT YOUR DOG CAN/WILL walk! :) go Marty!!!! (I had a kitty named Marty - sweet lil Marties of the world, unite!!!)
ReplyDeleteI would start giving him fish oil caplets in addition to whatever prescriptions he has. Check on the dosage for his weight. My dog was diagnosed with 2 torn ACL's...we were looking at double knee surgery, which financially for us was just not an option. We experimented with some pain management, limited mobility and then when we added the fish oil to the regimen, we began to see the most improvement.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.