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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thought I’d let you know what’s happening with
Gracie. First, I have no clue how she injured her leg, she doesn’t
jump or get on the furniture, so it has to be something else, maybe missing a
step while going in or out. The Vet says it’s possible it’s
actually been coming on for a while. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Tuesday I had to be gone all day and into the evening.
When I got home she seemed okay, but that evening she had a hard time settling
down to go to sleep, kept moving from spot to spot, which in hindsight was
probably discomfort. Wednesday morning she was having a little trouble
getting up and was walking stiff, so I assumed I’d forgotten her
arthritis medicine and gave her more. Then the girls and I got in the car
to do some errands. She was odd in the car, and by the time we got home I
knew something was definitely very wrong, she was walking funny and was
quivering with pain. I might have watched and waited on the walking
funny, but the quivering is not like Gracie and I knew she was in a lot of
pain. Called the Vet and said we’re coming now, back to the car and
off we went. This is very interesting, normally the other two girls would
have had a major fit if they didn’t get to go in the car, too, but they
must have known something was wrong and didn’t fuss or anything.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>When we went to the Vet Wednesday, he watched her walk (by
now hopping actually), then checked the knee joint, and he said it’s
bending the wrong way, which means ligament damage, probably torn, and when it
does this it’s bone on bone, so it hurts a lot. His first
suggestion was send her to a specialist (because of her size) for surgery, but
put her on meds to control the problem right now and put her on a diet to lose
more weight. I’m not a fan of surgery for anything, unless there is
absolutely no other option left, so when I heard the bit about controlling it
with meds while she diets, my ears perked up. I asked him how long it
could be controlled with meds, and he said he had some patients who’d
been on this for years and were doing fine. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Now both of us are standing there thinking about this –
and we agreed that at 11 or more years old she’s too old for surgery if
it can be avoided, so meds it is. They gave me Deramaxx (anti-inflammatory
and also pain) and Tramadol (pain). Wednesday night she was absolutely in
hysterics and agitated, it was a looonnnng night, shed’ lay there whining
and trilling, then out would come two of her incredibly loud barks, then it’d
start all over again. Nothing I did helped, in fact if I petted her she
would get more agitated. This went on every 20 to 30 seconds, from about
10:00 PM non-stop to 5:00 AM. She dropped off at 5:00 and so did all the
rest of us, then she woke me up at 8:00 AM and except for the leg, was
fine. I wondered if it the overnight problem was just because of the pain
or was a reaction to something, but didn’t know for sure. Gave her
the medicine again, and in about 45 minutes the whining, trilling and barking
cycle started back up, so then I knew it was a reaction to the meds.
Called the Vet and immediately went by and got a different pain med, no more
Tramadol for us. Gave her the pain med immediately, it counteracted the
Tramadol, and she went to sleep (about 11:30 AM yesterday) and didn’t
move a muscle until 6:00 PM or so last night (dinner time, trust Gracie not to
miss dinner). After she ate she kept going to sleep then waking up, she was
pretty groggy, but I wanted her to go out and pee and poop, so we waited to
give more pain meds until after we did our business. And I only gave her
a half dose. She slept through the night, and is doing pretty good today
but is still kind of groggy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>So -- Wednesday she was hopping on one leg, and was lying in
an odd for her way to avoid putting any pressure on the bad leg.
Yesterday she would try to put weight on the leg but it’d fold under her,
so I did the towel under the belly thing to help. Last night she was lying
down in her normal fashion but was so woozy you couldn’t tell how much
better the leg actually was, picture being so drunk that your legs keep folding
and you wobble from side to side like a girl with her first pair of high spike
heels. This morning she can get up by herself (I was helping before) and
can walk but only takes a few steps, then sits down and goes back to
sleep. It’s improving, but she’s still so woozy that it’s
hard to tell exactly how much. Haven’t given her any pain meds today
except for what’s in the Deramaxx, so hopefully the other drug will work
its way out of her system and I’ll be able to see what’s what by
later today. And fortunately the Vet is open Saturday morning if we need.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thank you everyone for all the information that’s been
sent, it has all helped a lot, and we will let you know how we do. Please
keep all paws crossed that the medication will be enough and we don’t
have to do surgery. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=JanieHmkBold><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:JanieHmkBold'>Anita Woodrum</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="mailto:a.woodrum@sbcglobal.net">a.woodrum@sbcglobal.net</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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