Kaia goes in Thursday for her full round of x-rays to find out how bad her knees are and to see if her hips are bad too. We have went round and round about this and if it is just her knees, I know we can do it no matter what, it is around $1500. We can handle that. But if her hips are bad too then there is an extra 3-4 thousand dollars, we cannot afford that, we have tried to figure out anyway we could but we just can't.
I have talked over and over again with my hubby and I think that we have come to the conclusion that if her hips are bad then we will not do her knees. I don't think that she should be through two seperate major surgeries if I know that her hips are bad and that we can't fix them.
Here is where my dilemma is, I would like to know all of your opinions, Kaia is rated at a level three of four in her knees, 4 being completely lame and can't walk. I am having trouble deciding that if her hips are bad, do you think we should have her pts while she still is her happy dorky self, or do you think we should wait until she acts like she is in pain? I know that she is hurting now. She is only 9 months old and she has quit playing with her toys and she still doesn't have her old appetite back. She doesn't run in the yard anymore because it usually throws her knees out. It is very sad to watch her.
I know that if it is her hips too, she will have to be pts but I have no idea when that should be. What would you do if you were in my situation. My hubby keeps saying just wait until after the x-rays get done but I need to have a sort of plan in my head so that I know what to do if her hips are bad. And for some reason, I really think that they are. Just a gut feeling I have.
When I was little my mother had a doberman that no longer could stand but yet he was still as happy as ever. Yet we still had to put him to sleep cause there was no way that we could let him just lay there and not do anything. I don't know if this helps but it seems like they are some what the same so I figured it would help.
you will know when the time comes, what the right thing to do is. if she will be crippled for life and in constant pain, then the best thing to do is to let her go. if there is a chance for her to live without constant pain, then its best to help her if you have the means to. i let my peke suffer too long before i finally had her pts. i couldnt bare to part with her and hung on. she was suffering form pain as the cancer progressed. i was thinking of myself instead of her.
hopefully the news will be good. i will keep her and your family in my prayers. but its better to keep positive. it may not be as bad as you think.
Are you sure its her knees that are casuing the pain??? Cause with lux patellas a dog can live with that and adapt. It could very well be her hip joint thats casuing pain. Have you started her on the glucosamine-chondroitant, with MSM? Also adding Ester-c and fish oil is good for the hips too. Just wait for the xrays. Then decide.
hopefully it will turn out to be good news. i wouldnt rush into anything until you know for sure, there is alot they can do for our pets now that they couldnt before. i will say a prayer that the news is good.
i have seen carts that they make for dogs that dont have the use of their back ends or legs. the dogs adjust well to them and do fine. there was a frenchie in the rescue that had one and went all over the place. i think they can even replace the hips and joints like they do with people. it can get pretty expensive though and some people just dont have the money.
If I had the money I would have no problem getting her any surgery that she needed to make her better. I do have her on the glucosamine/Chrondroiton/MSM pills and they seemed to help a little at first but like today she has only gotten up about 3 times, she will look at you but she doesn't want to get up. She was a very bouncy pup and now she won't even play with her toys.
I have found out today from my vet that I can do the knee surgery and if her hips are bad, I can do surgery or I can give her pain meds but the pain meds are about $50 a month minimum, it could be more. That is quite a lot of money for me.
I don't know what to do. I guess I should listen to my hubby and wait until we get the x-rays done on Thursday. I have to bring her in around 8:00am and pick her up in the afternoon. I am so very nervous about what is going to happen.
