Dog Arthritis And Possible Rimadyl Adverse Reaction

Our Linguini, an eleven year old female dalmatian mix, has been diagnosed with dog arthritis. 

She's had arthritic type signs for a long time. Due to recent sudden weight loss accompanied by acute vomiting, we rushed her to the dog vet to find out why she was wasting away so suddenly. What was making her so ill? The Rimadyl, the fish oil for dogs, or Proin (phenylpropanolamine), the hormone to help control her dog incontinence? The vet did x-rays and ran a new blood test (her last one was ten months ago).

The telling x-ray

The above x-ray clearly shows that our girl's left leg is heavily afflicted by dog arthritis, as is her spine. Surprisingly, her right leg doesn't show any signs of dog arthritis! After a thorough physical, our dog vet added that the dog's probably suffering fro a blown cruciate and will most likely need surgery. 

We're waiting for the blood test results to come in before we decide how to proceed. We are also playing around with her medications, to figure out which one may be causing the excessive and violent vomiting (the fish oil for dogs is not a suspect at this point). The cruciate surgery is promising. The chances of full functionality are really good. There are rare complications (breakdown) with this type of surgery, but we are lucky because our dog vet happens to specialize in it. The cons are significant as well: with a senior dog there is always an elevated risk during sedation, the recovery is long, and the cost makes us wish we had heeded our own warnings an PSAs and gotten pet insurance!

To be continued . . . 

Twinkie

Not Another PSA!

Have you purchased  pet insurance yet?

Today's PSA was brought to you by Ms Puddles, the calico kitten

Twink!

Chihuahua Pictures and a PSA

More chihuahua pictures of the recent pack addition and a PSA by Twinkie the teacup chihuahua.

Chihuahua Pictures

After a great play session . . .

The lil' puppy starts to wind down

And now the PSA

Have you purchased pet insurance yet? 

It is a good idea to purchase pet insurance when your pet is still young and there are no preexisting conditions. As the tiny two-month-old chihuahua puppy demonstrates, it's also a good idea to buy pet insurance when your pet is young because, younger pets are more likely to endanger their lives. Puppy and kitten proofing your home is always the most important thing to do, but since accidents are inevitable and both emotionally and financially burdensome, at least eliminate the only factor you can control.

Twinkie