A penny for Penny!

On the eve of Klaus’ freedom walk I am reminded of the journey it took to get here. A very long, stressful, and EXPENSIVE journey. It’s a journey that sadly a lot of pet owners must travel. I want to bring to your attention the journey of a boxer named Penny. I stumbled upon her story via instagram and couldn’t help but feel like such a mother hen to her and her parents- I just wanted to take them under my wing and say it will be alright. Penny just struck a chord with me……

From her owners:

2012 was a rough year. We’ve paid over 4000+ in vet bills just in these last two years. My first pup, a 2 year old boxer, had a catastrophic heart attack at only 2 years old. His heart couldn’t go on regardless of how much we tried saving him. He passed away in my arms as I was running into the emergency room. Roughly, about 8 months later, my female boxer was really sad and depressed all the time and had slowed down. We then learned that she had been diagnosed with early stages of hip dysplasia, quickly we looked for the best possible way to aid her pain and get her back to 100%. We had a procedure done, that cost us 2500 dollars, called Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy. She showed great improvements and her pain was gone, the stem cells had done their job. She was getting ready to start her rehabilitation therapy to get her muscle growing back again and get her back in shape, and that was going to cost us another 1200 dollars. Out of nowhere she started limping in her right hind leg. Just this last week we found out that she had torn both cruciate ligaments in both knees (ACL Tear). Now she needs surgeries in her in both of her knees that are going to cost 3800 dollars total plus rehabilitation. Recently, my job has slowed down a lot. I hardly get by with rent and still paying off these vet bills that just have been racking up and now we need to have these procedures done and we are completely drained credit and savings both I’m not asking for much and I never ask for any help, but I’m in desperate need for my dog’s wellbeing. All I want is for them to live a normal and happy life. If anyone can donate anything at all, anything is appreciated; I would greatly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. My dogs are like my kids I will die for them

 

Heartbreaking right? Not only is the passing of their other pup still fresh in their minds, but they are struggling with trying to get Penny back to being a dog again. There are a bunch of ways you can help out:

Their CHIPIN site: http://savepennyboxer.chipin.com/help-penny-the-boxer

PayPayl donations to: savepennyboxer@gmail.com

Their friend has generously set up a sale through her ETSY store: “Use code: SAVEPENNY to take 20% off your entire order and half the proceeds go towards a great cause! Penny is a 2-year-old boxer who has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia and two torn ACL’s. She is in a lot of pain and desperately needs surgery! To donate directly, send anything you can to savepennyboxer@gmail.com through paypal! Thank you!”

I’ve already placed an order for a custom embroidery and will gladly donate as much as I can. Seriously folks, even a small donation helps. I speak from experience. It is beyond humbling to have to ask for help. It’s even more humbling when people come forth with their generosity. Please help them out in any way you can- this includes spreading the word of Penny!

Diagnosis: hip dysplasia. Now what?

I promise even though I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write, I have felt the inspiration and have been roughing a few out in my head.

First off I am such a bad puppy parent to not fully celebrate Klaus’ second birthday which was Jan 3. But let’s be honest, the little shit got a great gift this year- a new hip and a new lease on life. So that’s that. Here are some baby Klaus pics that are still some of my favorite!

 

It got me thinking about the lengths some owners will go through in hopes of prolonging or bettering their pets lives. That’s not to discredit those who aren’t able to- whether financially or emotionally. But lets face it, whether or not good ol Uncle Sam recognizes them as true tax write offable offspring, they are our children and just as time consuming and money draining as “real” kids are.

So when an owner squares off with the diagnosis “your dog has hd” (or any other terrible condition), its devastating to say the least and is just as difficult to deal with if you were hearing the same thing about any of your loved ones.

In response to an awful lot of sad news I’ve seen via Klaus’ instagram followers- I want to really focus on our diagnosis, journey and experience in hopes of shedding some light, and well, hope really.

Our end result is so very close. We are two weeks shy of Klaus having total freedom again. January 20 is our “all systems go” day.

It has been tough, and not one Im looking forward to doing again. His left hip’s arthritis has progressed noticabley since his last radiographs. It is my hope that he will continue to use his bionic hip more and therefore lessen the stress on the left. But I suppose we will get there when (and if) we get there.

Afterall, our decision to do a total hip replacement was in fact a salvage surgery for the left in repairing of the right. It was one of the main reasons why we went with the “cadillac” of hip surgeries.

1.In the beginning………. In the beginning we had our concerns. Concerns we swayed with online diagnosis underlined with naivete and hope. Large breed dogs are known to go through rather painful growth spurts and subsequently growing pains aka panosteitis and we had ourselves convinced that the lameness and bunny hopping and super sleepy days were the result of pano. Around this time we were doing agility and everyone I spoke with, the trainers and other dog owners who experienced the same, all said “he’ll be ok. he’ll grow out of it. you’ll see”. Except what we saw was a detirioration in his gait- lots of swishing and swaying and total reluctance to sit. His stance was anything but square, rather crooked and he’d push his bad hip out when he sat. He’d slip and yelp out in pain and lay there for a moment.

2. Diagnosis………. I don’t understand gut feelings but I think it’s important to really listen to your intuition, you know “better safe than sorry”. Despite all the reassurrances we knew something wasn’t right. We couldn’t wait and see any longer. We had to know. Our vet took raidiographs and our suspicions were confirmed but could not be 100% verified until we met with the orthopedic surgeon.

3. Hindsight and the blame game………. Hindsight is great to have after the fact (and is only available after the fact). Had we tried to not convince ourselves otherwise, we might have been able to get him into an earlier procedure, a Triple Pelvic Osteotomy (TPO). But it’s important not to dawdle or dwell but rather trudge forward with the task at hand. When we got the diagnosis, and after I completely broke down into a fit of swearing and tears I began to play the blame game. Why did we wait to get him diagnosed? Did we switch his food up too fast and therefore encouraged growth too fast? Did we let him play and run too much as a pup? Did we not look hard enough into his lines? In the end shit sometimes happens. I won’t say I didn’t continue to struggle with blame and guilt along the way, because I did. But I know our decision to not turn our back on our family member was a justifiable one- and one I still continue to have to justify to this day. * You won’t believe the nastiness I still combat with because Klaus is from a breeder!

4. Research………. Anytime someone is faced with a super hard surgical decision, it seems obvious that knowledge is power. In our case it was utterly and exhaustingly overwhelming- though very much necessary. I took this project head on and on a daily basis. It felt like a part time job. I began looking into any and all options, including some not so conventional ones. I sent away for brochures and literature. I signed up for message boards. I desperately sought out any and all tidbits of information that would help me make this decision. And ultimately only you can make this decision- something many times I wished someone else would for me. I asked the vets if Klaus was their dog what they would do- with mixed opinions.

5. Second opinions………. Get at least one other opinion. Though our second opinion was spot on with the first, we discovered a much better fit financially with Cornell, a teaching school and subsequently a much better fit bed-side manner wise. Our first surgeon quoted us at $7-9k and was rather gruff about everything. Cornell quoted us $4-6k with our final cost around $5k. I recommend really seeking out a teaching college. But regardless of where you go you must feel comfortable.

6. Brainstorm………. I don’t know about you but my husband and I live paycheck to paycheck. He owns his own business and I was faced with having to make a tough transition of full time employment with benefits to self employment and freelance- a transition that even on the best day is fleeting and not consistent in pay! Being a crafty person by nature and a designer at heart I set to work creating items I would sell in hopes of raising the funds. At the pressing of friends and family and even perfect strangers, we were encouraged to create a donation page. Consider creating a blog- not only as a way for people to get to know you and your pet, but I know in the end it was integral to my sanity.  Have a garage sale- or two- or three. I did a lot of research on grants for vet bills. It is a permanent page on my blog that can be found here: aid for vet bills. Although sadly a lot of these organizations are tapped out financially it doesn’t hurt to try and apply. You won’t know if you qualify until you do.

7. CareCredit………. If you haven’t already at this time applied for CareCredit, you should definitely do so. Most places won’t even consider your application or plea for help until you do so. It can be used for many other health care related issues, not just for pets but for humans as well! Makes me think I should probably consider a trip to the dentist with it 🙂

8. In the meantime………. In preparation for Klaus’ surgery we were tasked with the almost impossible need to keep him restrained to prevent his hip from popping out. How can someone restrict a puppy?! Remember Klaus was diagnosed around 8 months old. It broke our heart to prevent him from being a puppy but we had to. He was leashed at all times. Puppy play dates were essentially canceled- at least the free roaming ones. We began physical therapy, increased his supplements, massage and stretching. Depending on your diagnosis, you may be lucky enough to find that putting them on supplements and adding a swimming regiment is just enough. We kept Klaus trim and lean and switched out his treats for ones with added MSM and Glucosamine.We prepared our home for Klaus’ 8 weeks of confinement. We moved our bed downstairs. We created a penned area for him with extra padding. Consolidated his beds into one fluffy pile.

9. Be flexible………. Despite all the preparation we did it was important for us to be able to adapt and be flexible. Things we originally thought would help us- a larger penned area, one in the living room and one in the office- did not work a week after his surgery. He was anxious all the time and attempted to get out. The crate, though it broke our heart, was our best friend. What also worked better than I thought was leaving him crated in the living room while I did work in the office- out of sight.

10. Set aside alone time……….Whether that means straight up “me” time or making it a point for you and your significant other to get out of the house and not think about your troubles at home. There were plenty of times I just needed to go driving. My husband would come home and find me sitting on the kitchen floor, hands over my ears to drown out the barking, streams of tears running down my face. Though we didn’t have a lot of extra cash, my husband and I attempted date nights still. It was important and necessary as a way to destress. I imagine it works the same in any sort of stressful scenario- sometimes normalcy, even if it’s just pretending, is just what you need to feel grounded again. I know it helped to snap me out of the shit storm.

In the end would we do it again? YES! Given our particular scenario we would. And every owner and their pet is different. Klaus has what we hope is a long life ahead of him. We weighed the risks and outcomes of the surgeries and took a gamble financially that seemingly has paid off in the end. We have a dog who is ready and waiting for the go ahead to run and play again. *Though ask us this question again should we be faced with a THR on the left (I am leaning towards an FHO should the need arise).

The only advice I can give other pet owners is arm yourself with as much information as possible and really talk it out. Make a list of pros and cons. If you pray, pray. This decision as difficult as it is, is yours alone to make. All you can do is keep the love for your pet in mind, and everything else should fall into place. I hope other pet owners find solace in that.

OH MY GOSH!

My apologies a million times over! Where the eff have the weeks gone!? Would you believe we surpassed the 8 week post op mark and I didn’t even commemorate it with a blog post?!

I am terribly behind on everything it seems. The thing is, time got away from me. It was Thanksgiving and then I was flung into the holidays- my most favoritest (yes I said favoritest) time of the year- so the focus turned to the tree.

Which last year I didn’t bother putting up. I was so tired from Klaus’ antics I don’t know if I could bear to keep a constant vigil on the tree while he was still teething and up to no good. But! This year considering he has had to be crated I said ‘to hell with you Klaus’- I am putting this tree up.

You know what? I did and he barked the whole freaking time but he will learn to love and leave the tree alone. I don’t have many moments of joy in my life, what with his incessant barking (yes he is still on lock down but we will get to that shortly), so being able to look over and see the tree all aglow, has had a considerable calming effect on my psyche. Check this glorious sight out!

I put this beast up all by myself. I dragged the bag up from the basement and put it together and decorated it therefore my “stupid jester hat” tree topper will continue to remain the supreme leader in tree topping decorations, or until my husband wants to lend a hand and have a go with his boring star topper! Ps- did I mention he is stupidly allergic to pine so I have had to resort to a fake one? No matter, it means I can leave it up longer without worrying about watering it.

Onward!

Following the raising of the tree I discovered Klaus had what I could only assume was ring worm. I tried to best capture it in photo form but it was in his ear and he was such a a baby about me touching it.

It’s hard to see, very faint in this picture but you can see the bottom half of the “ring” right where his ear tattoo is. At first I thought I had rubbed his ear a bit too hard after cleaning it one day, the ring looked like an irritated vein. However the next day it was obvious- or so I thought, that what I was looking at was ringworm. All I could think was how in the sam hell did this happen?! He had been crated for weeks. But then I thought well maybe he picked it up on the walk? In my self diagnosis research I learned picking it up from outside is rather rare.

Because Klaus has an implant that can never be attacked by any sort of infection we nabbed a saturday appointment with the vet and she was just as perplexed. It looked like a duck but it didn’t quack like a duck- meaning it didn’t fluoresce under black light like ringworm usually does. They took a swab and sent us home with some meds and I cursed Klaus for continuing to surprise and perplex everyone- at the expense to our dwindling bank account. In the end it wasn’t ringworm thank god because I went into total grossed out panic mode. Washing everything. Wiping everything down. Hand washing the floors with a diluted bleach solution. Which is good in preventing it from spreading, but my intention was to prevent myself from picking it up! In hind sight if it was the worm (which is misleading as it really isn’t a worm but rather a bacteria, but still gross!) we all would have gotten it!

After that debacle was a weekend of two craft shows I was tabling at. One was a total success actually my best one yet. The second one, not so much. Here is a picture of my table from the first day.

Just a taste of the handicrafts my busy little hands have been working on. I am trying to broaden my scope and reach with more markets as I want this to no longer just be a way so supplement my freelance work- but rather a viable and fantastic way to make some money!

I still feel a little light headed from the last two weeks and I am trying to remember if there was anything else that had my head in a whirl spin! Oh yes, one of my larger design clients had soooo many things for me to do to get ready for the new year. Everytime I checked something off the list I looked to see 3 more were added. Things are slowing down now, at least for the next two weeks but soon after that we are launching a new look which means all the packaging- think 30 years plus of products, need to be updated and photographed. Honestly though I am looking forward to this!

Anyways, KLAUS. Yes let’s talk about Klaus for a moment since this in fact his blog. He will be 9 weeks post op this Thursday. Friday he will have his radiograph recheck and I am almost positive he will be in the all clear. Things mellowed out for a little while when we started allowing him to chill with us on the floor. We stopped one of the anti-anxiety meds because they were having the complete opposite effect on him.

His poor crate! I will take some pics I promise. We tried to reinforce it with clasps that he has stretched out. He has the bars bent in a few places. Last night he freaked out so badly he broke open again! I come home to find the crate has moved 3 feet from the wall! I can not wait to get the all clear so we can start working him again.

He is sitting more square than I have EVER seen him, even leaning on his operated hip to lift his leg. I don’t see him in any pain really though I tend to give him a pain pill if we had a walk during a cold day as the temp seems to affect him. The only true concern I have is his muscle atrophy. I know it will be some time to build it back up, but if only you could truly see and feel how lumpy his leg is- between the bone and implant, it’s just gross feeling.

We didn’t get him into rehab. We just didn’t have the extra money sadly, so I worked on what I remembered- stretching, massage, exercises etc. The walks I think are helping immensely.

Here are some pics of the brat….

He’s been super cuddly lately which I love! I have never had a dog be so independent- he feels like a cat sometimes- “no pet me only right this second”.

And just because I can and because this is what I see more than I would like to, I thought I’d share this gem. Klaus will be neutered as soon as we can financially do it and most definitely when he gets the all clear from the surgeons on his hip. Fingers crossed he chills out, though I have heard mixed things about their temperament after a castration.

Give thanks

On this day (after)  of giving thanks, I can’t help but think of the obvious things I am thankful for…..family, friends, a roof over my head, a kitchen full of food- albeit frozen and mostly in need of preparing, etc.

You know, what everyone is thankful for. Usually.

I must interrupt this bout of obvious with a splash of sass.

I am coming off of a three day bender of Klaus’ tantrums- one lasting 8 hours- this occurring after I ran all over hell’s creation running last minute errands. All I wanted was a moments peace to sit and drink a blasted cup of tea! Alas there is no such thing as a moment’s peace in a house with a 5 weeks THR post op dog.

Couple that with his tantrums starting at 8 in the morning these last two days I’ve reached my stress level mental breakdown limit, to say the least. At this point in time, I am thankful to still be able to hold onto any shred of sanity. Here is a 25 second clip of one of his tantrums. I apologize for the darkness but it’s only the audio you should concern yourself with. This is also early on from his surgery so imagine this for 8 hours straight but louder and more intense. I will snap a photo of his crate that he has bent as well so you can hopefully appreciate the intensity of his freak outs some more!

Another thing I am thankful for? My hearing. I seem to be unable to shove my earplugs far enough into the canal to even take the edge off. The fact I can still hear, is a testament to the lack of damage I have done (and Klaus has done) thus far.

I am thankful I haven’t given in to the drink, because lord help me I have considered all the things that would take the edge off. And that my dears is just too reminiscent of my father’s alcoholic days – and in the end just really pitiful.

I am thankful we can begin short walks with him this week because I foresee them helping to tire him out. He has had two already and he has done great- though he wasn’t as tired as I had hoped after.

I am thankful my husband is now truly enlightened to Klaus’ over the top tantrums and is more understanding to why I am in such a terrible mood 12 plus hours out of the day.

One day at a time right? I am trying to stay realistic about the situation, it is really stupid all around- especially for Klaus- he is after all the one locked up on the crate. It’s just very hard when one- you can’t hear yourself think to talk yourself out of a total cloud of rage and two- there is no moment of peace or joy during my day except when my head hits that pillow at night. I would think 5 weeks in, his tantrums and fits would be more manageable and tolerable, and dare I say less frequent? How is it things have only increased in intensity and terrible-ness?

In the end I really do hope everyone had a moment’s peace to relax and enjoy their family and friend’s company. I am also very thankful for the opportunity to have left the house yesterday and shared such a beautiful meal with my in-laws!

 

 

I promise

I am so very sorry for the lack of posts. I took a break for my own sanity to separate myself from what I have deemed the “Klaus mental takeover”. I promise promise promise with my little human heart, that I will sit down and write a proper post very soon (maybe tonight).

Klaus had his surgery today and it has been an utter and total whirlwind of stress and anxiety. I have barely had a chance to call and notify everyone of his status.

Stay tuned lovelies!

 

The SHAAAAAAME!

My sister was kind enough to take some pics for me and forward them along. Here are some pics of Klaus and his cone of shame. I can’t help laughing! He is so pissed! I’m such a terrible parent…..

And this one especially I can’t help but laugh at….Klaus’ depth perception is so off. He hits a wall and stops dead in his tracks. I was attempting to take him out and he wouldn’t budge 🙂

Surgery Cancelled! AGAIN

To say I am disappointed is just silly. Of course I am disappointed. Was I expecting this? Yes. Was I still ever so hopeful in my naivete that something for once with this whole nonsense would go smoothly? You bet.

When a dog is on antibiotics, it increases the risk of infection to the implant and bone. Not to mention that Klaus will essentially be getting a dose of perioperative antibiotics during the procedure and everything is just too risky.

His round of meds will be done the 20th. His surgery was going to be the 21. Ideally it needs to go like this: Klaus finishes up his meds. We wait a week to make sure that his toe is actually healed, and then we wait yet another week to make sure the meds are out of his system.

The schedule is tentative at this point for October 19. Cornell has to call me back. But right now, everything is a “play it by ear”, or toenail or hip or whatever.

I need to discuss everything with my husband. The concern I have is the more we put it off, the closer we are to being in the middle of winter with his healing time. Which would be fine except for the unpredictability of our weather. If the winter was anything like last year – aka non existent, we would be ok. But honestly, I don’t want to be making check up trips in the winter.

Possible new plan: get Klaus neutered and healed and the hip surgery is in the Spring.

Maybe? I’m trying not to read into everything so much- higher powers and that sort of thing. But I am starting to feel like the universe is telling me something. Or testing just how stubborn I can be.

How am I doing?!

I’m trying VERY hard to remain even keeled…..

but I am just not able to find my “happy place”. During my father’s drinking years- and ultimate sobriety, his mantra was always, through everything good and bad,  “calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean….”. All I see are stormy ‘drowny’ waves and my limbs are so tired from treading water.

I saw this on Facebook today: Much of the pain in life comes from having a life plan that you’ve fallen in love with and when it doesn’t work out, you become angry that you now have to pursue a new life plan. If you want to tame your inner demons, you must not become attached to any particular life plan, and remain open to there being a better, happier life plan.

I needed to read this today but more than just reading it, I need to adopt this. It’s not that I am angry, I am just so very tired of hitting every bump in the road imaginable. But I apparently need a new perspective.

We noticed last night Klaus licking at one of his toes. So we checked and another one of his nails is infected. This happened on the front foot a few months back and set us back in regards to getting him neutered. The medicine they put him on has to be worked out of his system before any surgery- castration and THR alike. By the time it had worked itself out we were looking at his (original) THR date.

Now we are possibly looking at a delay in his surgery- yet again. I am currently waiting to hear back from Cornell about it.

Klaus’ nails are black which makes trimming them a nightmare. I can’t tell you how many horror movie instances we have had with trimming them. Blood. Lots of blood. We have learned to do lots of short trimmings and it is because of this his nails are left longer than I would like. This lends him to stubbing them or having the catch etc.

Our vet was so very kind to just write us a RX instead of having to bring him in. The last time this happened it was $200. They also gave us a cheaper medicine. Again, very much needed as we have been tapping his hip fund for his repeat in tests!

I have to admit I had a total melt down the other night. It’s not to say I hadn’t had one prior to all of this. But something snapped in my brain. I was overcome by an overwhelming feeling of regret. I hate to say it out loud but I wished we had waited to get Klaus. I wished we had inquired more about the hip and elbow certifications. I wished I had asked more about the health guarantee and what that entailed- because having to give a dog back you have raised and loved since he was 9 weeks old is just awful. I wished we had gotten the hip dysplasia rider on our insurance. I could go on and on.

The whole time I was feeling so guilty for wishing we didn’t have Klaus. Do I love Klaus because I feel an obligation to him- to see this whole shit storm through, because I don’t believe anyone else can or will? Or do I genuinely love him? It’s tough. I feel like it all overlaps. Is there a difference so does it even matter? He’s been a giant pain in our ass almost from the beginning.

I am doing everything I possibly can to make his life more enjoyable.  Unconditional you say? I’d have to agree.

Sorry for such a somber and melancholy post. I’d lighten the load with some pictures- if only Klaus didn’t eat my phone! Everything works except for the camera- the one thing I really wish worked right not, go figure. I wonder if my insurance covers dog nomming?

I was JUST talking about unconditional love right?

Surgery rescheduled. AGAIN!

I was all set to make the announcement today that we had got the OK from Cornell and had scheduled his appointment for this coming Friday at 7:30 am. There were to be no overnight drop offs involved to lessen the stress of the hospital stay and us leaving him. He would be operated on Friday and they would keep him “until he could take his medications orally and his incision looked ok” which I took to be the weekend.

I just got a call from Cornell that the surgeon will not be available until Friday September 21. Well, if that’s when he is available then that is when we have to do the surgery right? I can’t help but look at that date and see the 4 week mark for his original surgery date. This whole process has been- well a process and I just want things to move forward. SMOOTHLY.

Did I mention last week we had to get a new car? The inspection was up and we were going to have to sink WAY TOO MUCH into it for it to be worth it. Hell, we had sunk $300 into the back brakes hoping for a few more months. It had started stalling- the transmission was going. All around, it was a terrible stress induced anxiety ridden trip every time we got in that van to go somewhere.

I find myself still feeling anxious when I drive, waiting for it to stall. But at least now the van is one less thing for us to worry about.

It’s just the biggest thing occupying all my time and energy right now is Klaus’ surgery. Each week we put it off I become more and more stressed.

Klaus was prescribed trazadone to calm his nerves and it has been working nicely. I wonder how many pills would work for me!?

JUST KIDDING! My drug of choice seems to be sleep- it’s all my body wants to do.

Please can someone else make this decision!

What was supposed to be an appointment for radiographs with a drop off and over night hospital stay for surgery tomorrow has turned into a bigger ordeal than I seem to be able to handle. Which, is just par for the course for the past week is it not? We are coming off of hitting many many snags even in our plan b for our finances- and in short despite our amazing credit, because I made the switch to self employed, and although making more than when I was working for the man, based off of last year’s taxes no one will give us a loan!

But that is neither here nor there as our biggest concern is what to do with Klaus’ surgery!

His blood work came back iffy- with possible signs of infection so they needed to run a second work up. I just got the call from the attending and so far things look ok and they are waiting on the urinalysis. This puts us driving back to Cornell next week for surgery.

The biggest snag of them all however is the surgeon’s concern for Klaus’ rehabilitation. We do not have a chill lap dog who will lounge about and be ok with just resting. No no no. We have a dog who is so protective of the house that any sound outside, human or dog he is jolted to a standing position and if we don’t catch it in time, is in the window LOSING HIS MIND! It is no exaggeration folks. It was a concern we had brought up initially back in the first consult. But I don’t think they got the jist of it until today.

So here I sit, with a dog who is drugged up from anesthesia from the radiographs, unable to eat (hasn’t eaten anything since 11 last night), with a pen and paper in front of me listing the pros and cons of each option.

All I can think of is “SHITE! This is where we were months ago!”. We were explained about the FHO and were almost sold on it when we really sat down and discussed everything, we decided on THR. Now we are back at considering the FHO because of the down time is 10 DAYS! But he would probably have to have his other hip done. If we do the THR probably just one hip so it’s one time we have to deal with this mess.

Is this deja vu or what?! This is all the stuff I highlighted months ago. FHO- less down time, but probably both hips so the same cost essentially as a THR. THR is more expensive but considered the cadillac of surgeries but has way more risks- ie shepherds bones are thinner so hammering an implant into a thin bone can cause it to break. If shit hit the fan they would essentially have to take out the implant and do an emergency FHO.

OH MY GOD THIS IS ALL SO RIDICULOUS!

*I just got off the phone with my mom who spoke to my uncle who used to raise shepherds and is currently the proud papa to a rescue who is a total shit like Klaus. His verdict? THR. Even though the attending said he’d do an FHO if Klaus was his, he did say they have some anxiety meds which would help with Klaus’ down time.

Am I leaning towards the THR again? It feels like it but I’m not ready to make this decision just yet. I am way too overwhelmed and tired.

I’m tired too bud but you gotta hang in there while we figure this stuff out. We just want what’s best. And I am not ashamed to admit I just don’t know at this point! I just don’t know.