Our sweet Sami has been struggling when she stands up after lying down. It takes her longer to get up, and then she hobbles a bit like she is in pain. Sam can still run and play with Bristol, but afterwards, she seems to have trouble with her back legs. I've been fearing hip dysplasia for several weeks now.
One of the reasons I was so happy we adopted mixed breed rescue pups was I thought we would be able to dodge the bullet of genetic defects so common in the overbred popular breeds.
Chuck and I decided we'd rather know what was wrong with our labradorable mix of a pup so we could help make her comfortable, and manage her health with our vet's knowledge and help.
Sami was so happy to see Dr. K. Our vet always gets down on the floor with the dogs, and loves on them, letting them sniff and lick her. After a manual examination of Sam's hips and legs, Dr. K wanted to test for Lyme disease and heart worms because arthritis can be a symptom of those. She also recommended getting x-rays so we could see what was going on with Sami's legs.
While I waited for the results, my husband and I texted back and forth.
"Any dog-nosis yet?" Chuck wanted to know. Oh, I love how he can make me smile, even when I am nervous and worried.
While Sam and I waited in the examination room, every single sound intrigued her. She stared at the door, whining. I think she kind of likes her doctor.
Finally Dr. K came back with the words I was waiting to hear, "Well, the good news is, Sami's hips look great." I was so relieved.
"The bad news is she has a problem with her knees." That is not what I wanted to hear. The fancy-schmancy term for her diagnosis is "medial luxating patella." In other words, Sami has a trick knee. Her knee cap slips out of the femoral groove, and pops back into place, eventually. Dr. K said the condition is common among toy breeds; not big retriever mixes like Sami.
Dr. K is taking a conservative approach, and doesn't think we need to worry about surgery. She hopes we can manage Sami's symptoms, and keep our active girl healthy and happy.
Our challenge for the next week is to keep her still. The vet gave us an anti-inflammatory to try(a free sample-BONUS). Sami can only go outside on her leash, just long enough to take care of business, and then it's back inside for her. That would be easier if we only had one dog, but with our two shenanigators, this might be tricky.
Wish us luck. We love these puppies so much. We want our Sami-Girl to be able to run and play with Bristol for a long, long time.
Oh gosh, I am so sorry to hear this. It pains me that our young dogs have all of these issues at such YOUNG ages. Gemma cannot enjoy a day at the park running and chasing after a ball (her favorite thing in the whole entire world) because even a few minutes of doing that will leave her lame and in pain on her right rear leg for a day. I have to immediately dose her with Rimadyl and she take a daily dose of Dasuquin (that I have to get from her vet) to help her knee joint. We also feared hip dysplasia, but she was cleared from that as well. Just a bum knee. I hope that Sami can conquer her pain and limited motion with meds and rest.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thank you. Sami will be trying Rimadyl this week. Our dogs are so similar in so many ways, aren't they?
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