[Rockdiva]

I was doing research online about luxating patellas in Yorkies and found this great community so I had to join! I have an almost 3 year old Yorkie named Wookie. I will admit (and I hope no one blasts me for this) that he came from a puppy mill, but it was at a time when I knew nothing about them. I am completely informed now, totally against them and would never do it again! I apologize to the dog world for that, but I adore my baby more than anything in the world and do not regret getting him. He has changed my life!
Now I would like to tell you a little about what I have gone through the past couple weeks. (This is going to be long, please bare with me, I have had a really rough time with my baby lately, I need to vent!) Wookie got very sick the weekend before last, high fever, severe abdominal pain, etc. To make a long story short, it ended up with them recommending exploratory surgery of his abdomin. I was told that there was a good chance there was some foreign object in there that was not showing up on xrays, and that if we just waited for it to pass and it perforated, we would lose him fast. And on the other hand if there was something in there and they had to remove part of his intestines, we could lose him post op. There was also a chance they would find nothing, which is what happened. They took biopsies to rule out any diseases, and everything came back fine. He is doing very well, has healed up great, is very active and it back on normal eating, drinking and bathroom schedule. BUT, since he has gotten home, he is having issues with this back right leg. He will be just fine then all of a sudden will raise it up and not walk on it for a few seconds then put it back down and be fine again. I am afraid it is the luxating patella (I was told he had a very mild case of it last year, but that it was nothing to worry about. Vet could not manipulate it to do it) I think it is just weird that he has never done this before the surgery. Am wondering if something happened to him in the hospital to aggrevate it? Perhaps he jumped wrong or something trying to get away from the techs? (He was very jumpy in there) So I am just horrified now. He has an appt today at 4 for his follow up to the surgery and to have his leg checked out. This is a new vet (the surgery was done at emergency care) because I have not been happy with my regular vet lately. Which I am also nervous about because I am having a terribly hard time finding a vet who agrees with my decision to do titer testing in place of yearly vaccines. I get blasted by vets whenever I mention that to them, and they just bully me, saying it just needs to be done every year. I am afraid that if I don't go along with their views on it, they will refuse to care for Wookie! So I have been really stressed. Wookie is my baby, my best friend and I am trying so hard to do what is right for him. There are so many conflicting views on everything from diet, to vaccines, to surgeries, to the luxating patella.....I am overwhelmed by it all. I just want to make all the right decisions but seems there is always someone saying I am making the wrong ones. Can anyone relate??????

PS Sorry to be such a downer on my first post and to be so long...I am just at my wits end!!!