I couldn't imagine having to weigh this decision. Lisa and Dave I commend you both for being strong for Bel and Lucy as well as taking such good care of your ladies.
Lisa and Dave, I feel for both of you. I have been there before and to this day, it was still the hardest decision of my life. I hate to think that anyone would have to go through that. My golden was only 4 years old when I finally made the decision to put him down. I rescued him at 4 months of age and battled health issues his entire life. Both of you are in my thoughts.
I'm sorry I just read this post, that really sucks bad. Man its just been a month of real horrible things happening to our belove dogs. I'm really sorry that this is happening to you guys. Hang in there, I will be sending positive thoughts like both of you guys did for me.
no more seizures as far as we can see, and she's doing well on the Phenobarb. One day I gave it to her quite late, and while she didn't seize, thankfully, I did notice behavioral changes: she immediately started stalking Toby again through the window, and be hyperfocused on him. So I'm seeing the phenobarb as a good thing for her in terms of her odd behavioral issues as well. I know it can cause liver damage, so I'm not thrilled to have her on it long term, but it seems to be helping her, too.
her luxating patela is really, really bad. I was hoping to put off surgery til March, but I don't think we can wait that long. For awhile, she was just not putting weight on it the leg, but now she's just hopping around on three legs. I worry that if I put it off too long, the muscle will start to atrophy. So I'm hoping to do it in Feb. instead. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but she's really not using the leg at all. There may be some ligament damage in there as well--I guess they'll see when they do the surgery, and if necessary, can fix that as well.
I'm not looking forward to having to keep her crated for the recovery period, but we really need to do it.
I've decided, obviously, to just go ahead with the surgery and hope it will help her. She DOES have a lot of issues in terms of health and behavior, but she's a sweet little girl sometimes, and I do feel like I've got to try. The pheno barb does seem to make her less anxious/fearful too, so that's a benefit. I'm also going to get her a thundershirt.
Lisa, glad the phenobarb is working well for her. And I am glad that she is doing okay even with her patella.
The ThunderShirt has done really well for Nola... And while she still seems a bit confused about wearing it, I can tell that it really decreases her anxiety.
As for the surgery recovery....this may be different if there's ligament damage, but crating during an LP recovery is not generally recommended. Once the stitches are removed (10 days post-op or so) using the leg becomes the most important thing to recovery. You need to limit jumping and any rough and tumble play, but multiple short leashed walks every day and free roam of flat areas of the house are absolutely a good idea.
Thanks Dave, that's good to know. The vet wants to splint it so there is no movement after the surgery, but I don't think she wanted the splint on there that long--actually it sounds around that time frame. As far as I know, not everyone does the splint thing, but I'm willing to go with it for a short period of time.
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no more seizures as far as we can see, and she's doing well on the Phenobarb. One day I gave it to her quite late, and while she didn't seize, thankfully, I did notice behavioral changes: she immediately started stalking Toby again through the window, and be hyperfocused on him. So I'm seeing the phenobarb as a good thing for her in terms of her odd behavioral issues as well. I know it can cause liver damage, so I'm not thrilled to have her on it long term, but it seems to be helping her, too.
her luxating patela is really, really bad. I was hoping to put off surgery til March, but I don't think we can wait that long. For awhile, she was just not putting weight on it the leg, but now she's just hopping around on three legs. I worry that if I put it off too long, the muscle will start to atrophy. So I'm hoping to do it in Feb. instead. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but she's really not using the leg at all. There may be some ligament damage in there as well--I guess they'll see when they do the surgery, and if necessary, can fix that as well.
I'm not looking forward to having to keep her crated for the recovery period, but we really need to do it.
I've decided, obviously, to just go ahead with the surgery and hope it will help her. She DOES have a lot of issues in terms of health and behavior, but she's a sweet little girl sometimes, and I do feel like I've got to try. The pheno barb does seem to make her less anxious/fearful too, so that's a benefit. I'm also going to get her a thundershirt.
The ThunderShirt has done really well for Nola... And while she still seems a bit confused about wearing it, I can tell that it really decreases her anxiety.
How is Toby doing?
As for the surgery recovery....this may be different if there's ligament damage, but crating during an LP recovery is not generally recommended. Once the stitches are removed (10 days post-op or so) using the leg becomes the most important thing to recovery. You need to limit jumping and any rough and tumble play, but multiple short leashed walks every day and free roam of flat areas of the house are absolutely a good idea.