The Katzke Dog Diary

Eowyn was on Previcox from last Wednesday to last Saturday. Previcox is a newer anti-inflammatory drug for dogs. On Friday and Saturday, she was listless and had no appetite. I convinced her to eat anyway by putting water in her food. She was drinking an excessive amount of water and other than drinking and peeing, wasn’t interested in doing much. I had googled Previcox when it was prescribed by my veterinarian, because they otherwise didn’t give me any warnings about reactions… they said they never had anyone have a problem.

On saturday, after eating, she threw up a little bit of undigested food. At this point, I stopped giving her the Previcox.

Beware of these warning signs if your dog has been given Previcox:

• - Excessive water consumption (4x-5x normal).
• - Listlessness and exhaustion.
• - Faded, slightly purplish tongue color.
• - Disinterest in food and/or vomiting.
• - Excessive licking of the nose, swallowing, or burping.
• - Shallow, rapid breathing.

If you have ANY doubts at all, especially with a dog that’s smaller than my hardy beast, just stop giving the dog the drug and call your veterinarian.

Dr. Lipsey at the Boonville Animal Hospital said that it’s the worst case of juvenile dysplasia she’s seen. We’re going to try to do everything we can to get her right hip replaced this year without costing me (heh, heh) an arm and a leg. In the meantime, I’ve got an appointment on the 23rd for her to see a specialist at the Texas A&M Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

I really appreciate the support that everyone across the different communities I’m in is giving me. (more…)

Most people who know me know how much I love my dog, Eowyn. She’s been my constant companion for the past two years. She got me out of a bad relationship, taught me how to love another unconditionally, and gave me the confidence, support, and company I needed to mature from a twentysomething brat into a mature adult.

She has juvenile-onset hip dysplasia. For all intents and purposes, she has no hip socket for her femur to fit into. Which means it rides right there on the pelvis, and basically just grinds itself in. She’s got it so bad that there’s no socket at all for that femur to fit into. It just jostles and clanks as she walks.

We’ve known about this since her one year old checkup. I had a slight suspicion before that, but it wasn’t anything that I could confirm. She’s a rescue mutt, so there’s no genetic history or breeding records that I can walk back through to find hints as to where it entered her genetic makeup. It could also be because she was torn away from her family at 4 weeks of age and wasn’t properly weaned, and likely wasn’t fed well. She was a wormy, flea and ant-bitten, undernourished mess when we got her.

Last night, she cuddled really closely to me in bed. That’s a sure sign to me that she’s not feeling good — normally she’s as independent and strong as they come. This morning, she was unwilling to put any weight at all on the right rear leg. When I touched it, she cried. Off to the vet we go.

A couple hundred dollars later (And thank you, Courtney, for all your sins — you did send me to a GOOD vet here in College Station, Booneville Animal Hospital), the vet sent her home with a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon.

This evening, I’m icing it. We’ll see what happens when we can get in to see the surgeon. She’s on bed-rest and kennel-rest (if I’m in the house, she wants to be curled up with me) and some serious anti-inflammatory drugs until then. I’ll have to make a decision on how much it costs and see what kind of help I can get through Eo’s pet insurance and other sources. If you don’t have insurance for your pet, it’s a good idea. It’s mostly if something catastrophic happens, but it can mean the difference between a chance or a painful decision to put an animal that is in a lot of pain and can’t do anything about it … down. I don’t want to do that, but I won’t keep her alive and in pain just because *I* love her and don’t want to let go.

Cross your fingers, everyone. Here’s to another great couple years at the very least with the love of my life.