On Wednesday morning (3/7/12) Trudy woke up all scrunched up in half, she had cried periodically throughout the night so I kept an eye on her. I went to the gym and when I came home she didn't bark. Now if you have met Trudy even once, you know that barking is her specialty. Instead she cried the loudest I have ever heard. So, I immediately became concerned. I requested Hubby to come home at lunch to take a look at her and he concurred that something was wrong. Our new vet fit us in at 4 that same afternoon and we discovered that Trudy has a degenerative disease of the spine which has caused the cartilage between the vertebrae to disappear. In addition, small sections of her spine are forming "bone bridges" between them, of which she had broken one. This was why she was crying and folded in half. She is now on muscle relaxers, painkillers, and Omega 3 tablets for her joints. Additionally, she goes in twice a week for laser therapy treatments to help the area heal.
The doctor expects her to make a full recovery, however, even if she does heal this particular vertebrae, that doesn't mean she won't break it again or another one. Now begins the most difficult part of being a pet parent, old age. She has to be carried up and down the stairs, isn't allowed to jump on furniture or people and Hubby built her a ramp in the backyard so she doesn't have to climb the deck stairs. Every ounce of me is ecstatic that she is home and still with us, but I fear for the future as our "kids" get older and these issues will become common place and more devastating.
We keep Trudy in her kennel quite a bit to limit her movement and possibility of re-injury.
The outdoor ramp
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