| kalina82 | 04-28-2010 03:20 PM |
Crystal I've been a complete wreck over this whole thing since last monday when I made the vet appt to see her regular vet for the blood work. I got those results back on tuesday and then it took me hours to build up the nerve to call the surgeon to make that appt. I ended up calling right before the surgery receptionist left. LOL So then I had a week to think about the surgery and all the things that could happen.
Morgan does get cosequin and I do notice a difference when she gets it every day. When she doesn't get it every day I can see a difference in her gait when she's outside running around. So I'll be keeping her on that. Morgan is a slow eater so what i do is every time i fill her bowl i sprinkle one capsule of cosequin on her food and add either coconut oil or coconut chips (depending on what i have). She'll eat some of the food right away but then will pick on it for the next day or so until its empty and then i'll refill it. She doesn't eat the same amount of food each day, sometimes she doesn't eat at all even though she has access to it 24/7. That's just the way she self-regulates. Never had a problem with hypoglycemia thankfully so i don't worry much about her eating habits. Very rarely will she regurgitate bile because her stomach is empty so when she does that i do make sure she eats something.
The surgeon and I discussed what I could do to help morgan out. I told him she was on cosequin and he said that's good. He also said more walking will help because it will build up the muscles in her back legs. He said her front half is more muscular then her back end. Her hind legs aren't terribly atrophied but they are smaller. Building up the muscles in her hind legs will help her. Preventing her from jumping on and off furniture will help as well. I do have pet stairs next to the couch which she does use to get onto the couch but half the time she's rather jump off then use the stairs to get off (like she can't walk to the end of the couch to use the stairs... :rolleyes:). I'll just have to be on top of her more to make sure she uses the stairs.
Patti - Morgan's legs are bent under her too. Her hips, knees, and hocks are not in proper alignment because of her knees and her back is slightly arched because of it. But she's always been like that. I had the surgeon check her when she was 10 months old and he said then that she had at least grade 2 LP in both legs. At that time I did tell the breeder but she decided to drop off the face of the planet and never get back to me. Morgan is also "mildly symptomatic" with her LP and asymptomatic with her MVD. She doesn't kick out her hind legs or limp. I think its just a constant thing that she has to deal with so she doesn't complain about it. she's just used to it, ya know?
Ann, MaryKay, and Cindy - Morgan's surgeon is excellent. He's the same surgeon that Kim (yorkiemalt) used for her pups. Dr. Hunt is very smart and experienced. He's been doing this for a long time and I trust him completely. The other surgeon there, Dr. Singer, I also trust completely. He treated/did surgery on the chi i fostered (Chi-Chi) and my little Mylie who passed away two years ago. Dr. Hunt said sure he'd do the surgery if that's what i really wanted but he thinks at this time, with the way her knees are and with her MVD, its just better not to unless she was showing a lot of symptoms (limping, holding legs up, kicking legs out, constant pain or need of anti-inflammatories).
So I'm quite happy that Morgan didn't go under anesthesia but I do wish her knees weren't grade 3. I feel bad cause when you watch her walk you can definitely see that there is a problem but i think that she's just so used to it that she doesn't complain and just goes on with her life. She's still a nutcase and runs around like nothing is wrong. i've never seen her not do something because her knees hurt too much so that's good i guess. Hopefully it doesn't get any worse then what it is now. | 