|
|
BEVOLASVEGAS
Posted : 6/11/2008 10:55:10 PM
I’ll just bunch my responses to all of you into one post. Bevo was playing with my brother’s dog when the accident occurred. DH & I were honeymooning when it happened, so I didn’t get to see it firsthand, but my brother saw the entire thing unfold. Bev was giving chase, & fully fixated on Mia. He had caught her, & was about to jump on her when she ducked & he went head on into a tree. He was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he couldn’t use his legs at all.
He was taken to our normal vet, who started IV fluids, & steroids, to treat him for head trauma. They shot 13 different x-rays to try to determine why, at the time, he couldn’t use his right front or rear legs. They found nothing wrong with him. I asked that the x-rays be emailed to our radiologist, Dr. Q, for interpretation, because I was concerned that there might be a disc problem. The clinic initially only sent three x-rays of Bev’s spine to Dr. Q. After I hassled the clinic to send the other 10 views, I was told that while they did shoot 13 x-rays, only 6 were actually good shots. (I was eventually refunded my money on the other 7 shots that “our x-ray tech messed up.”)
Dr. Q finally reviewed the other 5 views, & said that he could not see any lesions, but that the x-rays that were submitted were very poor quality, & there were no views of Bev’s neck. He recommended that I have more x-rays done because, at a week after the accident, he would have expected Bev to be getting around much better than he was. He made a recommendation of a vet who he knew personally, & we went there for more pics. The new vet took 7 more x-rays. He saw the fracture in the scapula, the chip in the scapula, & the rib that was cracked. He also shot pics on Bev’s neck, but he didn’t feel comfortable calling the neck views clear without the Dr. Q reviewing them. When Dr. Q reviewed this series of x-rays, he saw “questionable” areas, & was confident enough to go ahead & call it Wobblers.
We had the myelogram done today. There is a slight interruption of dye flow between C4-C5, but it isn't horrible. C6 is misshapen, but doesn’t seem to be causing undue pressure on the spinal cord.
The radiologist who did the myelogram wasn't overly concerned. He said that Bev's foot placement, & reflexes are totally normal when you factor in the shoulder problem as well. He recommended trying to let everything stabilize with the brace, & continuing steroids to help reduce inflammation.
He went over how to make the house safer for Bev to move through, and made food recommendations. He was very optimistic that Bev will live a relatively normal life, so long as we are smart about what we let him do.
Kpwlee, I should have seen other signs that this was happening, but I failed him. In hindsight, this has probably been going on for around a year. He has been mildly shaky in the front legs for a while. He is an OCD dog, so sometimes it is hard to determine if a new behavior is truly a new behavior, or if it is just another manifestation of his OCD. He has always shaken when he is anxious. When he’s waiting for a ball or Frisbee to be thrown, he shakes. He’s been like that since he was a puppy, so when he started doing it during sit-stays, I didn’t give it a second thought. When he refused a jump while we were in the obedience ring, I attributed it to a bad experience that he had previously had, & not to discomfort. I should have noticed these things, but I didn’t.
Sadly, when I decided on a Dobie, I was totally prepared for hip, elbow, heart, thyroid, & clotting factor problems. We tested, & prepared for all of those issues, but I was caught totally unprepared for this. I have encouraged games of tugging. We recently started schutzhund classes & I have encouraged him to hold his bite on the sleeve. He has chased balls, & caught Frisbees since he was a puppy.
In hindsight, all of these things are absolutely stupid decisions on my part. The fact that he has to deal with this is, in large part, due to my negligence. I should have researched more, & been smarter with my decisions where his care was concerned. Now, he has to pay for my carelessness. All that I can do now is provide him with the best care possible.
Thanks to everyone for the thoughts & good vibes. I truly appreciate them. I will keep you updated.
I’m sorry that this post is so long. It wasn’t my intention to write a short novel!
Hey, it's way more fun
when you sign up or log in
|