39-52 - Della - At The Vet
Poor Della has had a rough week. On Tuesday afternoon she just stopped walking while on a walk with my husband. She could barely move and seemed to be in pain with her backend. He got her home and she hardly moved all afternoon and night. She did eat her dinner and I gave her some pain meds. She got up the next morning but still was very wobbly in the backend. I brought her down to work with me and we did a bunch of x-rays and some bloodwork. The x-rays showed that she has Spondylosis deformans. That is a degenerative condition of the vertebral bones, and it commonly develops in dogs as part of the natural aging process. It can also be caused by trauma, both small and major injury. Jumping for frisbees and balls for 15 years probably help contribute to the problem.
We have decided to try to help manage her pain with monthly injections of Ketamine along with oral gabapentin three times a day. Her bloodwork came back with some liver issues but the doctors want to redo the bloods in a week or so because a sudden traumatic event can cause the numbers to be elevated.
Here she is getting her first injection of ketamine…guess my girl is a druggie now. She doesn’t look too bad here. Putting a brave face on I guess. She’s a trooper. She is not taking long walks but she seems happy enough and still wants to eat. We will do what we can for her as long as she is comfortable. One day at a time and lots of hugs and ear scratches during the day.
39-52 - Della - At The Vet
Poor Della has had a rough week. On Tuesday afternoon she just stopped walking while on a walk with my husband. She could barely move and seemed to be in pain with her backend. He got her home and she hardly moved all afternoon and night. She did eat her dinner and I gave her some pain meds. She got up the next morning but still was very wobbly in the backend. I brought her down to work with me and we did a bunch of x-rays and some bloodwork. The x-rays showed that she has Spondylosis deformans. That is a degenerative condition of the vertebral bones, and it commonly develops in dogs as part of the natural aging process. It can also be caused by trauma, both small and major injury. Jumping for frisbees and balls for 15 years probably help contribute to the problem.
We have decided to try to help manage her pain with monthly injections of Ketamine along with oral gabapentin three times a day. Her bloodwork came back with some liver issues but the doctors want to redo the bloods in a week or so because a sudden traumatic event can cause the numbers to be elevated.
Here she is getting her first injection of ketamine…guess my girl is a druggie now. She doesn’t look too bad here. Putting a brave face on I guess. She’s a trooper. She is not taking long walks but she seems happy enough and still wants to eat. We will do what we can for her as long as she is comfortable. One day at a time and lots of hugs and ear scratches during the day.