What do we do? Torture them, of course. Or at least they think that is what we are doing. Why?
Dog +Hole = Broken Dog
The elusive pupper blep
What did he do? Let's start out by saying that he loves to dig holes to stay cool during the summer like a little bed. I haven't filled in the main hole in the middle of my parents' yard, which was a problem. The dog charged out the back door to catch a bird invading his domain and faceplanted directly into the hole. From then on he was lame, not wanting to put any pressure on his front leg. After a while of him not getting better, I took him to the vet.
Link is none too fond of going to the vet, but I think that is because of all the wrong smells since he is a perfect angel for the vets and techs, even when he is scared and in pain. He's a good boy. There he had an x-ray and found the problem: spondylosis deformans, or bone spurs connecting vertebra where no bone should be. It happens in most dogs as they age, and Link is now 10 so he counts (and has two more fusions already). Well, when he dove into his hole he broke one of those connections loose between his shoulders, hence the lameness in his leg. He simply didn't want to put pressure on a painful spot on his spine rather than a leg or shoulder problem.
With that knowledge we were able to come up with a plan: hit it with anti-inflammatories until it calms down and hope that the other two spots of spur connections behave themselves. It also meant that all things hoppable, like couches, recliners (well, laps), or non-ramp car exits are all out. Which makes Link sad. Especially the no-lap rule since his favorite spot in the world is on Dad's lap on the recliner. He spent a week and a half challenging Dad to a game of you-can't-stop-me where he would leap onto the lap when Dad was least expecting of the incoming dog and didn't have time to stop said pooch.
The rest and recouperation over two weeks didn't completely solve the problem since he is still really tender and has trouble getting up in the morning. Since the pain meds wore out on Wednesday, I called the vet and they prescribed me more meds with an order to call in two weeks to see how he's doing. We are hoping that the joint calms down and he heals up well, but if if not he can stay on meds for as long as he needs to stay comfortable. I do believe that his many-hour hikes are out of the question, especially for the next couple months. (Not that I really want to be out in the cold or really exercising outside at all, but I can tell myself that he is my excuse.) It also means that I am going to restrict his access to stairs during the day since he likes making several trips up and down for no good reason at my parents' house. At night he stays by either Dad or myself, so it isn't really an issue then. I just need to make sure he can peep at me (like a bird) if he needs to go out in the middle of the night.
New regimen: vitamin E and fish oil long-term and pain meds for a while to keep him comfortable. But perhaps not so comfortable as to have him reinjure himself!
I love my pooch. Link is very much a Good Boy. My Good Boy.
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