In another life I was a vet tech....

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and hence I will be responsible for giving Nala her shots. We had a vet appointment tonight to review her x-rays and get a refresher course in shots. Her hips are loaded with arthritis and the knobs of the leg bones have lots of bone growth on them. The vet says, "When there's bone on bone the body sends calcium to cushion it and causes a build up of calcium." So I say, "Why was there bone on bone???" And he responds, "She was born with hip dysplasia." This almost sent me through the roof. When Nala was about 8 months old I she was having some problems with her rear legs and I said it was hip dysplasia. The vet at the time said no, it was her kneecap not tracking properly. Surgery to anchor the kneecap would fix it. So we had the surgery and for years she was fine. I never really thought about it too much.

Fast forward 7 years. Turns out the only place that doesn't have arthritis is the leg that had surgery. That's the only joint in her 2 rear legs that works properly. So her other knee and hips are loaded with arthritis. I really feel horrible because if we had just taken x-rays when she was 8 months old we may have done things differently during her life and she wouldn't be in the shape she is in now. I'm sad and angry and swear I will never, never let a vet talk me out of something again. When I have a feeling I will go with it and demand they check it out.

Anyway, it's glucosamine, Adequan, and Rimydal for the rest of her life. Once the Adequan starts working we are going to phase her off the Rimydal and use it only for problems.

Oh, I'm sad. I have regrets about her and hope the rest of her life will be okay. (deep sigh). Well, she's running up and down the driveway so I guess tonight is okay :)

Comments

Ellie Hamilton said…
Oh, no, how sad and extremely frustrating. To have thought of hip dysplasia back then and been told "no" by the vet and now find out that's what it was...I'm so sorry. I hope the meds help her.
7:25 PM
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