A hint of good news with a smothering of bad

The good news is I love the new vet.  The bad news is Professor might lose his leg.  It was too difficult to fully examine him because he was so agitated he was making himself sick but he doesn't seem to respond correctly to manipulation of his leg.  In other words...when she placed the leg in a different position, he was very slow in moving it back in place as opposed to the undamaged leg which moved quickly and into the correct position.

She said it could be a few different things or even multiple things.  The cat knocked him off the bed about a year ago and she said that could have caused nerve damage to his spine that recent trauma (i.e. the dog in the yard chasing him and him perhaps turning around too abruptly) or it could be a torn ligament.  She said his knee appears to be "blown."  Any way you look at it, if the anti-inflammatories don't fix it in the next week, surgery is in the works.  And one of the options we may have to consider is amputation.

The minimum amount I'll have to spend is $800.  The maximum is $2000.  Amputation being the cheapest.  Torn ligament can cost from $800-$1000.  More surgery on different ligaments...ka-ching!  She said that even if it's the ligament (and she's hoping, although not optimistic, that it's just inflammation) they tend to re-injure frequently and we could end up with several surgeries.

Damn!  I hate being in this position.  But more importantly I hate for Professor to be in this position.

In the meantime, he's on bed rest.  What that means for a dog is no jumping, running or playing. I'll have to take him with me to Fond du Lac next week because he can't be alone for any significant time.  Trips outside have to be on a short leash.  She says that because he occasionally uses it, she's somewhat hopeful that it can be fixed, but with him acting like his back leg isn't there or he doesn't know where it is, makes her cautious.

Oh, lord!  I'm thinking this cancels my trip down to Indiana now.  If he needs surgery I won't be able to afford the trip as well, not to mention he'll need someone to stay home with him and Tom wouldn't be able to because of work.  I'm not going to commit to anything until next Thursday though.

He was in great spirits when we got home though.  I'm sure it was relief to be away from the wicked vet lady.  She was so great, so gentle and so understanding.  It cost a touch more to go there but it was worth it.  It's just that Professor isn't well socialized.  And he's not fond of vets.

Well, I need to get some shopping done and errands run.  I can leave him that long but I'll make it quick.

I'm a bit bummed about all of this but still clinging to the hope that the meds will fix the problem.

TTFN