Poor Jackal - Vet Visit

 On the exam table after his pain meds.

Jackal woke us up at four am this morning screaming in pain. It scared me to death. I thought he dying . When he stood up he wouldn't put weight on his left front leg and it was obvious he was injured. He was fine when we went to bed so I was baffled about how he could hurt himself.

I was afraid his leg was fractured or something, but we couldn't feel anything. Hubby palpated him and said the pain was coming from higher up around his back or shoulder. We got him laying down and kept him still while hubby massaged him and I called vets. Our vet wasn't available so we scheduled to take him to the vet who treated the horses for the grass staggers over new year's day.

When we got there hubby had to carry all sixty three and a half pounds of Jackal inside to the exam table while he screamed in pain. I was useless, just crying and following them. The vet examined him and took his temp. He agreed it was higher up. When he lifted Jackal's head to draw blood he started screaming again. That's when the vet said it was probably a disc or pinched nerve.....

He took blood from his leg since Jackal couldn't raise his head and then they carried him back for x-rays. My sweet boy was perfect for his x-rays and didn't have to be sedated even though he was in excruciating pain. I'm so proud of my boy. A lot of dogs refuse to cooperate for x-rays and these were the first Jackal has had so I didn't know how he would do. I'm glad they didn't have to sedate him. It scares me to knock them out.

The x-rays showed that he has a compressed disc at 3/4 and a misalignment at 4/5. The vet said there's really no way to know what caused it. He could have twisted wrong. So they gave him a shot of Metacam, a shot of Prednisone and a B12 shot. He has to take pain pills and steroids for a while and he has to stay quiet and not jump or run. I had to remove his ottoman and he has to sleep on the floor now.

They also found that his tick disease has flared up again so he's back on doxycycline. I really like this new vet! The first thing he asked when I told him he's been treated before is if he was treated the whole thirty days and I told him no they only prescribed ten days at the other vet. I've been feeling skeptical about our local vet and I think I'm going to keep using this one. He did right by my horse and now my dog too.

The vet bill was only half of what the local place would have charged too! Since we were there and cleaning out our bank account anyway i told him Jackal's whole history and asked a million questions.

He said the lump on his side is a fatty tumor, but the one on his leg is definitely not!!! I was shocked because the other vet said it was. He said it's definitely attached to muscle, but since it hasn't grown it's not necessarily malignant and we should continue to monitor it. We want to try to avoid surgery at his age and health.

I also asked him about Jackal's thyroid since his recheck was next week anyway. They did the test and said his dose was way too low! I knew it!! It has been eating away at me that his dose was so low and he hasn't lost any weight. I am hypothyroid so I know first hand what it's like. Based on his results they raised his dose from .3 to .8! I really hope he feels better soon. We also went ahead and did his heartworm test which was negative.

 Those eyes are begging for relief..

So he's home now and finally able to sleep.

 Stuck on the floor but at least I gave him two microfiber blankets!

I feel so bad for him. After the agony I went through with my pinched nerve in my neck I can truly empathize with him, which is why I didn't try to avoid the steroids. I normally hate giving steroids, but it's necessary in this case. My poor baby.

P.S. now I know why you all hate posting on blogger from your phone.... it's not easy!! My apologies for any autocorrect mistakes!