A lot of the issues that have confused me about Samson have finally been explained and I can't help but to cry.
Short background on the situation to further explain the emotions/problem
Maximus was my "dog of a lifetime". A wonderful rottweiler from the pound that affected my life in more ways than I could ever describe. He was my "best friend" and I miss him dearly. In his final months we spent literally thousands upon thousands of dollars only to have to put him down due to the spinal problems.... It was pure hell watching him lie there in pain there's no other way to describe the agony of losing a dog as special as he was...even still is for that matter. Nevertheless there was no more we could do. He was laid to rest on May 7th 2004.
Only two days later, Mother's Day, my husband gave me a brand new 6 week old pure bred rottweiler pup. It was probably "too soon" but I know he did it out of nothing less than love. The pup of course, is Samson.
Only two weeks after bringing this puppy home, Chelsea our shepherd busted her toe and then ended up with that recluse spider bite which by the time all was said and done cost me a bunch more cash for the failed surgery and follow-ups with the vet and cleaning the wounds twice a day etc. Some of you may remember the posts about the healing power of honey for her...It took another 6 weeks or so with limping and doggy collars and treatments etc to fix that issue....
Another 4 weeks later we had Hurricane Charley to deal with, and then Frances, and then Hurricane Jeanne...
I feel like the "stuff" just wont stop and the above just barely scratches the surface of how much "stuff" there has been.
In the meantime I'm noticing that Samson is too slow. He doesn't sit right. He hops oddly when running around and as he grows the problem gets worse. Now he's 6 months old and the problem is severe...I pressure the doc into checking for hip displaysia... Apparently they don't normally check until the dogs are 2 yrs old...Tonight doc did the x-ray and sigh just typing this is making me cry. Samson is bad in the left hip and worse in the right. He already struggles to stand up from a lying down position and when he is sitting he sits on the side of his rump rather than straight up...hard to explain.
Needless to say he's going to need surgery on both hips. Doc says he MIGHT be a candidate for TPO so I'm going to get an appointment with the doc who can do that surgery for a consult and to see if they can do it or not...if not he'll have to wait for total hip replacement in both hips.... and if I can't do either..he'll be put down. I just put a dog down 5 months ago..I've already fallen in love with this one...I simply can't imagine losing him already
Nevertheless, I'm fearing the expense is going to be high.... I dumped all of the money I stash in my pet jar out.... (I keep a 5 gallon glass water bottle to dump every extra penny or dollar etc I can find into it jic an animal needs quick care/cash...) I had $1,100 in that jar after I finished counting it all out. That seemed like an awesome amount to have saved up already but now that I'm faced with surgery for both hips it my as well be ten cents.
My husband, mind you he loves me...he loves the animals...he's not cruel but he is realistic, doesn't feel we can afford another 5 to 10k for these surgeries and he fears the dog might not live a full life even with them. I'm so emotional I can think straight..I'd probably sell the house to try and save the pup which would obviously be a bad idea since he'd then have no home lol.
Now that I've come here and dumped the surface of my problems out...does anyone have any advise?
Is TPO WORTH IT??? I've read a bit that seems to imply it has a high success rate but has anyone else gone through it? Is the dog REALLY OK after it's done? and if Samson doesn't qualify for it, any info on Total Hip Replacement? Any idea how much this stuff costs in the end?
I don't know what to do except watch my puppy, who should be bouncing around having a good ol' time, lie there with back legs too week and in too much pain to care. It's not fair...it's soooo not fair. Hubby says "we can get another one..try harder to make sure it's ok etc" but, as much as I know he's TRYING to make things right it's all just wrong He paid the "big bucks" for Samson somehow hoping that by getting an AKC registered dog from a solid set of parents we'd avoid these issues in the first several years....boy did that backfire! Now we have a LOVELY 75lb Rottweiler already on a special diet to ensure we control his growth from hurting his hips even further and who is facing either another couple of months in pain cuz of double hip surgery or possibly even being put down before he sees his first b-day. I'm so scare of that....
Please pray we are able to do the right thing whatever that may be..and let me know if you have any info that will help us make the right choices. I'm so lost, scared, sad, confused etc... the pain is so fresh from all of the other trials and I feel like I'm reliving the pain of losing Maximus on top of the current pain of seeing the "Shadow of Maximus" in such trouble so early on.
**tears**
Short background on the situation to further explain the emotions/problem
Maximus was my "dog of a lifetime". A wonderful rottweiler from the pound that affected my life in more ways than I could ever describe. He was my "best friend" and I miss him dearly. In his final months we spent literally thousands upon thousands of dollars only to have to put him down due to the spinal problems.... It was pure hell watching him lie there in pain there's no other way to describe the agony of losing a dog as special as he was...even still is for that matter. Nevertheless there was no more we could do. He was laid to rest on May 7th 2004.
Only two days later, Mother's Day, my husband gave me a brand new 6 week old pure bred rottweiler pup. It was probably "too soon" but I know he did it out of nothing less than love. The pup of course, is Samson.
Only two weeks after bringing this puppy home, Chelsea our shepherd busted her toe and then ended up with that recluse spider bite which by the time all was said and done cost me a bunch more cash for the failed surgery and follow-ups with the vet and cleaning the wounds twice a day etc. Some of you may remember the posts about the healing power of honey for her...It took another 6 weeks or so with limping and doggy collars and treatments etc to fix that issue....
Another 4 weeks later we had Hurricane Charley to deal with, and then Frances, and then Hurricane Jeanne...
I feel like the "stuff" just wont stop and the above just barely scratches the surface of how much "stuff" there has been.
In the meantime I'm noticing that Samson is too slow. He doesn't sit right. He hops oddly when running around and as he grows the problem gets worse. Now he's 6 months old and the problem is severe...I pressure the doc into checking for hip displaysia... Apparently they don't normally check until the dogs are 2 yrs old...Tonight doc did the x-ray and sigh just typing this is making me cry. Samson is bad in the left hip and worse in the right. He already struggles to stand up from a lying down position and when he is sitting he sits on the side of his rump rather than straight up...hard to explain.
Needless to say he's going to need surgery on both hips. Doc says he MIGHT be a candidate for TPO so I'm going to get an appointment with the doc who can do that surgery for a consult and to see if they can do it or not...if not he'll have to wait for total hip replacement in both hips.... and if I can't do either..he'll be put down. I just put a dog down 5 months ago..I've already fallen in love with this one...I simply can't imagine losing him already
Nevertheless, I'm fearing the expense is going to be high.... I dumped all of the money I stash in my pet jar out.... (I keep a 5 gallon glass water bottle to dump every extra penny or dollar etc I can find into it jic an animal needs quick care/cash...) I had $1,100 in that jar after I finished counting it all out. That seemed like an awesome amount to have saved up already but now that I'm faced with surgery for both hips it my as well be ten cents.
My husband, mind you he loves me...he loves the animals...he's not cruel but he is realistic, doesn't feel we can afford another 5 to 10k for these surgeries and he fears the dog might not live a full life even with them. I'm so emotional I can think straight..I'd probably sell the house to try and save the pup which would obviously be a bad idea since he'd then have no home lol.
Now that I've come here and dumped the surface of my problems out...does anyone have any advise?
Is TPO WORTH IT??? I've read a bit that seems to imply it has a high success rate but has anyone else gone through it? Is the dog REALLY OK after it's done? and if Samson doesn't qualify for it, any info on Total Hip Replacement? Any idea how much this stuff costs in the end?
I don't know what to do except watch my puppy, who should be bouncing around having a good ol' time, lie there with back legs too week and in too much pain to care. It's not fair...it's soooo not fair. Hubby says "we can get another one..try harder to make sure it's ok etc" but, as much as I know he's TRYING to make things right it's all just wrong He paid the "big bucks" for Samson somehow hoping that by getting an AKC registered dog from a solid set of parents we'd avoid these issues in the first several years....boy did that backfire! Now we have a LOVELY 75lb Rottweiler already on a special diet to ensure we control his growth from hurting his hips even further and who is facing either another couple of months in pain cuz of double hip surgery or possibly even being put down before he sees his first b-day. I'm so scare of that....
Please pray we are able to do the right thing whatever that may be..and let me know if you have any info that will help us make the right choices. I'm so lost, scared, sad, confused etc... the pain is so fresh from all of the other trials and I feel like I'm reliving the pain of losing Maximus on top of the current pain of seeing the "Shadow of Maximus" in such trouble so early on.
**tears**