Postby Sheenar » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:18 pm
The latest news on Pebbles is that she does not have an ACL injury, but does have osteoarthritis and mild hip displasia in her left hind leg and possibly "mild T3-L3 myelopathy" (not sure what that means --I copied from the discharge sheet A&M sent me home with). The vet said to put her back to light mobility work and see how she does --and to look for signs of her lameness getting worse or signs of pain. She said that Pebbles will not be able to work for the 2 or 3 more years that I was hoping but should be able to work for a while longer.
Today was Pebbles' first day back working and she seems to be doing well. I can see that her back legs are still not "quite right", but the vet said that as long as she's comfortable, that it's okay for her to work. When I put the harness on her this morning, she sure was ready to go! (Poor thing has been bored out of her mind for 2 months --I bet she was so happy to see that harness come out!) She went right back into working as if she hadn't had any time off --I was impressed.
So I'm going to watch her and give her a few days (or a week) of working and see if her lameness returns like it was the day we took her to the emergency vet in June. So things are still up in the air and we are pretty much just going day by day until we see signs that she should retire. Though I am wondering if I should be working her with her hip problem (the vet said it was okay, but I am struggling with it).
Pebbles is starting supplements to help with her joints --so that may make it easier on her.
Pebbles is my first service dog, so I'm not quite sure how to handle to question of her retirement. Please pray for me. I'm trying to make the right decision.
--Sheena and Pebbles
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
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