OK, heres a dilemna for all the folks who have pets that are also family members. Just a little background on my kids, we have to purebred labs, one black and one chocolate. In the last couple weeks we noticed our black lab (my daughter) limping. We thought she may have something inbetween her pads so twice a day we would soak her paw in Epson salts and put antibacterial ointment on it to prevent any infection. We could never find anything in between her pads.
To make a long story short, this week she lost most of the use of one of her front legs and was crying out in pain. I took her to the vet and after an internal physical, they couldnt really find anything wrong. We had an orthopedic doc check her out, and he also could not pin point the problem. We went home that day with some pain killers only to return to the Vet ER that not when she was screaming out in pain. After more x-rays and alot of research from the vet and our own on the internet, we've concluded that she probably has a pinched nerve, or a disk problem in her neck that is radiating down her leg. Unless your a dog owner you have no idea how heart wrenching it is to hear your dog crying in pain for an extended period of time.
This is where it gets expensive......to totally pinpoint the problem we need to have an MRI done. This alone runs from $1500-$3000 dollars. Then, if there is a problem requiring surgery, that would run another $5000-$8000.
We have opted for a less expensive alternative, we have her on steroids right now which will bring down any inflamation in her spine that might be causing the pinched nerve. It seems to be working somewhat. She has the use of her front leg back for the most part. She still a little sluggish, probably do to the pain killers etc. but shes getting around more and you can see some of her spirit coming back.
After re-reading this, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not sure where I'm going with all this, I guess its just a rambling thread. How far would you go for your pet? I think everyone NOT in this position would say they would spend close to $10k, but until your actualy faced with that decision its hard to say what you would really do. Alot of the decision comes down to quality of life and if you pet would be happy or if life would be a struggle or drug induced haze. We are hoping we've dodged the bullet, atleast this time, but we'll see in the upcoming weeks. I'm so glad my wifes a nurse and knows prescription medications, the side affects, and how they work. She knows all the right questions to ask.
Our daughter Kirby
To make a long story short, this week she lost most of the use of one of her front legs and was crying out in pain. I took her to the vet and after an internal physical, they couldnt really find anything wrong. We had an orthopedic doc check her out, and he also could not pin point the problem. We went home that day with some pain killers only to return to the Vet ER that not when she was screaming out in pain. After more x-rays and alot of research from the vet and our own on the internet, we've concluded that she probably has a pinched nerve, or a disk problem in her neck that is radiating down her leg. Unless your a dog owner you have no idea how heart wrenching it is to hear your dog crying in pain for an extended period of time.
This is where it gets expensive......to totally pinpoint the problem we need to have an MRI done. This alone runs from $1500-$3000 dollars. Then, if there is a problem requiring surgery, that would run another $5000-$8000.
We have opted for a less expensive alternative, we have her on steroids right now which will bring down any inflamation in her spine that might be causing the pinched nerve. It seems to be working somewhat. She has the use of her front leg back for the most part. She still a little sluggish, probably do to the pain killers etc. but shes getting around more and you can see some of her spirit coming back.
After re-reading this, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not sure where I'm going with all this, I guess its just a rambling thread. How far would you go for your pet? I think everyone NOT in this position would say they would spend close to $10k, but until your actualy faced with that decision its hard to say what you would really do. Alot of the decision comes down to quality of life and if you pet would be happy or if life would be a struggle or drug induced haze. We are hoping we've dodged the bullet, atleast this time, but we'll see in the upcoming weeks. I'm so glad my wifes a nurse and knows prescription medications, the side affects, and how they work. She knows all the right questions to ask.
Our daughter Kirby
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