Sitrep for Last Week: 60 mins treadmil x 2, 30 minutes weights (arms), 50 mins weights (arms & legs).
After the good news I get to keep Max, and a really great weekend that included a "Girls Day Out" along with a trip to the gym, yesterday sure was a rude awakening.
Took Max to the vet for his initial exam. Weighing in at 6.8 pounds & at least 2 years old, here's the summary:
Diagnosis: Loose and infected tooth. (No wonder I have to coax him to eat.)
Remedy: Tooth gets extracted on Thursday.
Diagnosis: Luxating Patella, Grade III (Basically means dislocated knee cap. Both rear legs.)
Remedy: Surgery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxating_patella
http://petsurgery.com/medialpatellarluxation.html
http://www.cpvh.com/Articles/78.html
So. Along with tooth extraction this week, they are going to do x-rays of both knees to see how bad it is and the vet can decide which type of surgery is necessary.
Max doesn't seem to be in pain, and moves around. But this could be why he's not as playful as you'd expect a 2 year old dog to be. Today at lunch Max jumped up on the sofa into my lap. I checked his knees and actually felt one pop back into place. Gross. Poor thing. Except for a flinch around the eyes, which I'd've missed if I hadn't been looking so closely, he didn't let on a bit. He's probably had this for quite awhile.
I've been gong to this vet for about 8 years now, so I don't think he's scamming me for money. Especially since Leia does that funky hop-skip with her back right leg when she's on the grass. But only on the grass. Vet says her knees check out fine; her feet are very soft so it could just be the grass tickles/pricks her feet. Makes sense as to why she only does that on the grass. And she runs like the wind, so...
I'm really bummed. I don't want to take him back to the shelter, because you know no one else will adopt him with this issue. But I'm so bummed because I thought I'd done with medical issues, and was going to get him insurance, just like Leia. But they require the initial exam, and it's now a pre-existing condition. Which basically means that even after surgery, anything that goes wrong with his legs, period, won't be covered. And while surgery very much decreases chances of arthritis and torn ligaments (both of which he'd almost certainly get without surgery), they are still a possibility. Sigh.
So I've had custody of the dog just over a month, been official owner for a week, and already have a vet bill nearing one grand. Good thing I got that bonus last week. And a very small payraise. Ain't life grand? [g]
