I want to share some sad news about my little Cali. As you know, Cali has been sick off and on for about 2 months with a really bad cold. It went away for awhile but it came back; so Jim and I took her to the vet Friday night. The vet gave her a little antibiotic shot and a new medicine which is stronger than the last one she was on. He told us to give it to her twice a day for 10 days and then bring her back in for another check-up.
Anyway, while he was examining her he said to us, "I'm amazed as how well she walks for a dog who has luxating patellas in both rear legs" … I was like WTF???!!!???!!! He said yes, can't you see how obvious it is? I said NO, I cannot see!! Granted, she walks funny (and by funny I mean she trots like a pony lol) but she has never limped the way Codie use to.
(For those who don't know, a luxated patella is basically a dislocating knee cap.) My Codie had to have surgery to correct LP in his rear left leg when he was a little over 1 year old. So I'm very familiar with this problem because I've dealt with it once before.
Anyway, he said she is walking with her knees out ALL the time. They're totally out. He showed us how easy it is to move them by simply moving both of them back and forth. He suggested we have a few x-rays taken to see the extent of the defect. Well, the x-rays show that the knee-cap is completely flat, just like Codie's was, which means it's a genetic defect. If the knee cap was NOT flat, then it means the LP could have happened from an accident (i.e., jumping off the couch). But in Cali's situation, that is not the case and this did not occur from an accident.
The vet said it's amazing that Cali can walk, period. He said most dogs would have not been able to use their back legs and would have dragged themselves on their front 2 legs (and most likely would have been euthanized after birth because of that). He also said Cali has a roached back (which I already knew, her back legs are a little longer than her front legs).
He said since Cali is so light and tiny, she doesn't put a lot of weight on those knees. He said right now she isn't in pain or having problems walking, so we don't have to worry about surgery. But we may have to have surgery in the future as she gets a little older. My poor baby.
I told the vet that we are prepared to do the surgery now or in the future, whenever he feels she needs it. It's going to be expensive (more so for Cali because of the extra precautions they will have to take due to her tiny size) but I don't care about the money, I just don't want my little girl to be in any pain.
I'm going to start giving her Missing Link Plus (Canine Formula with Joint Supplement) -- this is the one with Glucosamine in it. I just ordered 2 packages on-line.
Any advice on how to keep my baby Cali PAIN FREE?
