Sunday, November 08, 2009

Poor Little Lu (I broke my dog)

Last night I was playing with Lucy (our beloved little black lab) and picked her up.

She let out a yelp, which Lucy has only ever done once before when I was playing with her roughly.

Well, we left for a little while and came back to find Lucy was not willing to climb up on the couch (which you would think I'd be happy about, but...), and was just not terribly mobile.

I was going to just keep an eye on her, because with dogs half the time this stuff just passes. But the last time she yelped, we wound up with a trip to the vet and learned she has hip dysplacia, a fairly common problem in large-breed thorough-breds (part of why we went for 100% American Mutt when we adopted Scout).

Anyhow, at 2:30 AM I was walking into the emergency vet.

Lucy received a narcotic of some sort and... high animals are a really weird thing to deal with. She's also got some pills for the issue. She's resting next to Jamie on the couch, but we had to get her up there.

Because I'd stayed up late to keep an eye on her, and then missed sleep from about 2:00 - 4:30 AM, I'm a little punchy today.

I am most sad that it was my fault. Very Jack Torrance of me.

Lucy used to bounce all over the place and "delicate" was not a word I would have associated with her physique. But I need to adjust when we're playing, and not do anything as simple as lift her anywhere except onto the bed or into the car. And not take it as a sign that her jumping all over creation is the same thing as her getting picked up.

5 comments:

Fantomenos said...

Hey man, don't beat yourself up. I know how it is, feeling like you're letting your dog down, and that pets are a big responsibility. Just do the best you can.

We recently adopted a racing greyhound, who's been a wonderful addition to the family, but, we've had her a month and I cannot figure out what to feed her that her tummy will handle. She's had repeated bouts of diarrhea, and I've tried everything I can think of. Vet tomorrow, and hopefully he'll have some good suggestions.

Anyway, I know tummy troubles aren't as traumatic as hip dysplacia, but I can empathize.

The League said...

Make sure you ask about Tapeworm. I bet living in kennels with all her pals, she could have picked it up.

But, yeah, the vets will, i am sure, have a plan for you on diarrhea. Pretty common complaint, and if she's having any separation anxiety, that'll make it all the more likely.

But that is GREAT that you guys got a greyhound. We really wanted to do so, but read that cats + dogs raised to chase small furry objects at breakneck speed can often not mix very well.

Let me know how it goes. Hope she's feeling better.

Lu was doing better today, and we got her some additional pills. But we are also now aware that this will most likely wind up in surgery before all is said and done. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon.

J.S. said...

Lucy practically begs to get picked up, too. She's still pretty convinced that she's a lap dog.

The League said...

She didn't really move at all the entirety of yesterday. Last night I slept on the sofa to keep an eye on her, and then my first sign that she was feeling better was when she very slowly climbed onto my chest as a pillow at 6:30 this morning.

She just wants to be held 24/7.

Fantomenos said...

Well, she's lucky to have an owner like you. Not a lot of people would change their sleep habits to keep their dog comfortable like that.

Our greyhound, Penny, was put on antibiotics, apparently the ratio of rod bacteria to round bacteria was out of whack, and there was some inflammation of the colon. The vet is optimistic about the treatment's speed and efficacy.

Of course, the night before I took her in, she had found something to chew on in the living room, which turned out to be a shard of glass! I'm thinking, if I can't convince this dog not to eat glass, I don't know how to keep her alive...