Tough decision fast approaching.





This is Jade; she’ll be 11 on the 4th of July. She’s been extremely healthy her entire life. She’s of German working dog lineage, and both her sire and dam were German imports. Smaller in frame, and extremely athletic, she has maintained a weight of 70#. No hip or joint problems at all. My wife and I took a Christmas card picture in early December and she looked as happy and healthy as she has for the last 10 years.

Then things changed. Soon after Christmas she developed an aural hematoma in her right ear. It required a surgical procedure to incise the pinna and cross stitching to prevent the inner space from refilling. Three weeks in a damn plastic cone. Very soon after removing the cone, she developed a hematoma in the pinna of her L ear. Surgery. This time, instead of a plastic cone, we bought an inflatable ring for her neck to protect the ear. I highly recommend this route over the “cone of shame” that scrapes through every doorway, around every corner, and runs into the backs of your legs.

Last night, I was on a dad/daughter music date night down in Denver. My wife called this morning to say Jade couldn’t get up this morning. She got a neighbor to help load her in the truck and took her to our vet. Diagnostics reveal advanced arthritis in her spine. She’s up and around, but her back end is unstable, and she can’t pick her R foot up completely, and therefore drags the top of her nails as she walks.

It’s very disconcerting to see a dog that has always been healthy, deteriorate so rapidly. Our vet’s great, gave her a steroidal injection and Rxs for Prednisone and Gabapentin (pain, especially nerve pain), along with a Rx for her stomach, I guess the meds are strong.

Our vet says she’s in pain, but “let’s she how she does on the meds.” We’re certainly not going the route of spinal surgery. Both my wife and I feel the ultimate decision is in the near future. She’s a great dog, kind of best of both worlds—intimidating to strangers, but she actually loves people and we never felt like she was a risk to harm anyone. Other dogs, not so much. Small dogs are like another species entirely; simply a prey species, like a rabbit or something.

I’m not likely to post in here when she’s gone, but it’s rather cathartic to tell you a little about her while she’s still around. I forgot to mention. Since the bilateral hematomas, her ears no longer stand erect. I swear she knows this and is depressed about it.

Wonderful you've had a long stretch with a great dog. They become family members. Only consolation when they pass is "God gave us dogs but when they die he takes them all back into Heaven."

So sorry to read your news.
Wishing the best and painfree time for your dog.
Will keep you and your dog in my thoughts.

PC

Best of luck with Jade.

Not sure if you saw our thread, but we faced somewhat similar situation with our ~9-yr old, 22lb, Dachshund.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...730058894#5730058894

The choice was a very expensive surgery, pain meds and see if the disc backed off of the spine on it's own, or put him down.

We cashed in an IRA to go the surgery route.
Ollie is slowly getting stronger and also takes gabapentin (down from 450mg/day to 200/day now) to keep him sedated while he recovers.

Regardless of your decision it sounds like Jade has had an exemplary life and prayers from both us and Ollie.

We went the spinal surgery route with our previous dog. It was 100% and well worth the expense.

Thanks friends. Some things to consider. Hope Ollie continues to make progress.

I'm so sorry dude.

I went through something similar. Our 13yo companion got struck by cancer last summer and fought hard until a sudden sharp decline in January.

It really sucks. You see the end coming and there's nothing you can do about it.

You have my deepest sympathy. I hope you can enjoy the time you have left.

I miss her so much.

Dang that's a shame.
Nice looking GSD, they are the best. Hoping she feels better.

.

She will likely rally on the pred. Don't let that give you false hope. It will work until it doesn't and long term steroid use has its own issues.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
She will likely rally on the pred. Don't let that give you false hope. It will work until it doesn't and long term steroid use has its own issues.

Yes it does, that’s a powerful drug

I’m sorry to hear this. She sounds like a wonderful girl, and we hate to see any of our pets in pain. If you haven’t contacted yet, I would think her breeder would like to know as well, flukey as this sounds- they may have some ideas or advice. I wish I had something more helpful to offer.
Take care.

Wishing for the best...prayers sent for your pup.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Thanks friends. Some things to consider. Hope Ollie continues to make progress.

Thank you and if you want to talk details/etc about the spinal surgery Ollie went through just reach out via email. Be sure to put "SigForum" in the subject line otherwise I might mistake your email as spam.

Best to you.

Prayers for you and your pup. My Candy is 14 years old. She is really slowing down, sleeps lots, and slow to get going. I feel your pain. It hurts. The worst part of having pets for sure.

Always makes me sad and miss my boy Blue when I read threads like this. Jade looks beautiful and glad you had the privilege of raising such a good dog. Dogs have such a special place in our lives. Hard to do without them.

Best wishes on many happy days ahead. Those meds hopefully really help.

Sorry to say this, but I don't think it is all due to to arthritis. Degenerative Myelopathy would be my guess, as I have gone through it with both my previous German Shepherds. It was usually diagnosed by ruling out everything else. The simple test for it is to have your dog stand and then "roll" one of their back paws so the top is resting on the ground. A healthy dog will almost immediately turn their paw right side up but a dog with DM will keep resting the paw upside down, as they can't tell the difference (anything longer that 10 seconds probably means DM). There are now genetic tests for DM, which has helped the GSD as a breed. The disease usually shows up around 7-11 years of age. Both of my previous dogs started developing symptoms at just over 7 years old.

I hope it is not the case and you have my thoughts and prayers.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
It’s very disconcerting to see a dog that has always been healthy, deteriorate so rapidly.

I went through this with my last Golden. Perfectly happy and healthy until one day when he was 9. We were throwing the ball out in the yard and I noticed him start limping a little on one of the fetches. I took him into the vet for a checkup the next day. Presumptive diagnosis was osteosarcoma and a bone biopsy confirmed it. I had to put him down a few weeks later as he was unable to even stand up.

Talking with my brother who is a vet, apparently this is fairly common with many animals. All is seemingly normal until it isn't.

Best of luck to you, it's a tough thing to go through.

4 times now we’ve been there. It doesn’t ever get easier.

#5 is snoring on the couch next to me. He’s a big pup, and at between 8 and 10, he’s just now showing signs of slowing.

We understand and wish you all the best. I cannot adequately express how much we wish you the best. She looks like a great pup, happy and well taken care of.