Our pibble hasn’t had the best luck this year
Our pibble Belle (12 yrs) has had health issues throughout this year. Back in January she tore her first CCL and had a TPLO. Her recovery was long, but steady and then she tore her other knee in June. We decided to do surgery again and she had another TPLO.
She’s still in her recovery period and was doing well, but the past couple of weeks we noticed her walking wasn’t improving as well as it was with her first surgery. She still seemed unsteady and hesitant to walk. When we got her walking she would go, but she didn’t seem as weight bearing as she should be. She would also sometimes lay down on her side and kick her legs like she was uncomfortable. We chalked it up to the surgery recovery and didn’t think much of it because her follow up visits had gone well and vet seemed pleased with her recovery. She also started peeing more inside and when we talked with the vet we thought it could be behavioral at first and planned to discuss further at her next follow up.
Today she started the day out normal and then laid down and wouldn’t get up. She started getting restless and then whining and yelping in pain. It was very out of character for her and you could tell she was in pain. We immediately took her to the emergency vet and, after hours of waiting and evaluations, they think she has a bulging disc in her spine.
The vet said she is able to stand and can walk a bit, but is displaying neurological signs (knuckling and leg crossing). So, he recommended pain meds and anti-inflammatories and a follow up with her normal vet.
We plan to call her vet first thing in the morning and the emergency clinic is sending everything over to them as well, but what I’ve read about bulging discs is unnerving and scary. Has anyone experienced this with their pittie?
I know she’s older and I fear we may be having a quality of life conversation soon and it’s been wrecking me.
[UPDATE] Poor Belle’s condition got worse and we noticed the nails on her hinds legs turned blue, so we rushed her to her regular vet. The vet believes she had blood clots in both hind legs and that it’s not IVDD but actually a vascular cancer that is throwing blood clots. He explained that it fits her symptoms and sudden change in health. Her lab work didn’t look good and he believed that her chances did not look good and that she would never fully recover. We made the very tough decision to euthanize. Our poor girl was the best dog we ever had and she didn’t deserve to suffer any longer. She deserves some peace without any pain and I hope she’s free and having a blast across the rainbow bridge.