I finally was able to do something I wanted to do for ages, I took Bugsy in to a rehab vet for a FULL evaluation.
I can't lie, I didn't want to leave him there, we haven't always had good experiences but I promised myself and him that I would do ALL that I can to help him enjoy life the way HE enjoys life.
So after a day of worry and curiosity, I got the news.
Lets just say the consult started like this; "after all he's been through he is in amazing shape"
Ugh.
Its not that I didn't know, it just still breaks my heart. My poor boy has had more than his fair share of pain and problems. He doesn't know any different and likely has been in pain for most of his life.
Kind of hit me in the solar plexus. He does such a great job of being happy, ridiculously happy, it's hard to remember that his body has never held up to his spirit.
So anyway.
He was fabulous to work with apparently - one of the easiest and most fun to work with, to be exact.
If there is one constant with my boy it's 'fun'.
My favorite story she (Dr Jordan) told me was that she was doing strength testing with him and she had done three limbs, he then offered the fourth to her. Yup that's my boy, "oh I like this game, here you go"
She said she has been a vet for 25 yrs and a rehab vet for over 12 and has never had a dog offer the one limb that hadn't been checked. She said, "he's a special guy" Um I know, that's why I am here.
So in the end what is the bottom line? Well he won't be climbing mountains again.
Pretty much we are doing all we can - the swimming is great, keep walking him. We'll add a few exercises and likely if I can swing it, we'll do Adequan.
His hind legs have limited range of motion, due to years of living with crappy knees (although she was amazed that his TPLO knee was no worse than his healthy knee (which she said was still healthy)
In case you are wondering, it's all about the angles!
His right (non-repaired) elbow likely has significant osteoarthritis.
His spine is fabulous
His gait, pretty darn good (on a scale of 0-2 it was less than 1)
His lameness score was less than 1.5 on a scale of 3
His personality off the scale :)
So his body, has had a hard life and he is doing WAY better than he should be doing. It was nice to hear that all the effort I have put in is doing him good. So I guess I'll keep feeding the world's most expensive dog food and waking up at 4:45 to get his walks in.
I will confess that my heart broke when she said he cannot do serious trail hikes again. I felt sad when after knee repair they said no more bike runs. It seems unfair for such a happy, high energy dog.
However, my sadness is put into perspective because a very good friend's 6 yr old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last night.
I suppose each of us get the hand of cards we get. Dog, child or adult.
As a human, I suppose we don't get to know why we/they get the cards we do.
However, tonight, I am sad.
Sad for the 6 yr old and my friend and sad for Bugsy.
You know, I know that both of them are AOK with the hand they have been dealt.
And likely thankful for the life and family they have.
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