Roxy's New Life

Roxy has a bit of a new hop. To make a long story short, a couple weeks ago we came home to find that Roxy wasn’t getting around very well. I gave her some left over tramadol, and she seemed to improve. Until late last week. Friday Roxy was having a lot of trouble getting around and her appetite was lacking. She was definitely hurting, but I couldn’t figure out where. By Saturday she wasn’t getting up at all, except to do her business. And those times it was very slow moving. She’d move her front leg….then one back leg….then the other. She would only move a few steps, then she would either sit very slowly or just stand there looking completely lost.  When she would try to get up too fast she would whimper, and we could sometimes hear a pop when she got up or down.  Her appetite was almost none existent.  It was so heartbreaking.  Sunday morning we saw the same behavior and my anxieties went through the roof. I finally broke down and went to the forums for some advice. I thought (or maybe hoped) it could be arthritis, but I’ve never had a dog with arthritis so I wasn’t sure. Thankfully we saw some slight improvement in her as the day went on Sunday.
Monday morning I called the vet and got an appointment for that afternoon. When I got home from work to pick her up, she was moving so much better. Our dogs spend the day outside when we are at work. I figured Roxy must have spent the day in the sun on the porch. That was another good sign for arthritis rather than maybe nerve damage or spinal mets. Turns out arthritis is the official diagnosis. Dr. Hollis said Roxy has a lot of soreness in her lower spine and her right back hip. Luckily she does’t seem to have any issues with her remaining front leg. Hopefully it stays that way.

Today Roxy seems even better. Her hop is almost totally normal.  Her appetite is really good.  In fact, she seems to be wanting to make up for the missed meals from the weekend.  The main issue still hanging around is she doesn’t seem to be able to bend her head all the way to the floor.  That’s not an issue for meal times because she has a raised bowl.  But when she wants to pick up a toy she either has to lay down to get it or we hand it to her.  It’s sad, really, because she’ll hop around it acting like she’s trying to find the right position to get to it, and she whimpers a little sometimes.  Hopefully she recovers enough so that she can pick her toys up on her own.  If not, we’ll be here to hand them to her.  🙂 

Now we have to start figuring out what works best for our girl as far as managing pain and such.  I’m going to check into acupuncture for sure, and I’m thinking of trying to find a vet who does chiropractic work.  Whatever we do, I’ll be sure to post an update!

Leslie