My heart is breaking again
My little guy, Rocky (mini schnauzer), is in trouble again. Some of you will remember last year when he got so sick and seven different vets, tons of tests and an enormous amount of money couldn't determine what it was. I finally said that if it's his time to go then it's his time and I took him off all meds. He got better.
Then I sold my home in CA and moved to Tucson, AZ. Within first two weeks new vet finds a mass cell tumor and he has to go through surgery again (which I firmly believe something went wrong during the dental surgery last year to cause all the problems), but comes through just fine (although he fell into the pool a couple of times and we had to take him back for new dressing).
After about two months here I noticed that he was having problems catching his treats when I tossed them to him. Then I put them on the ground and not only could he not see them very well, he couldn't seem to find them with his nose. Took him to vet and he said he's developing cataracts but would adjust. Said I would have more of a problem with it than Rocky.
He was right, I did have problem with watching my little guy running into things, trying to jump up on bed and couch and misjudging and falling, falling down the stairs, etc. So I took him to vet eye specialist and thought we could just do cataract surgery. Nope, he has PRA. Progressive Retinal Atrophy ... which is genetic and there is nothing that can be done. He is going blind. As for the nose ... no clue (I still think something happened during dental surgery to damage his sinuses).
Also, during one of those misguided attempt to jump on couch in trailer while camping in the middle of nowhere, he managed to snag a toenail which necessitated finding a vet and doing emergency visit (they pulled the toenail the rest of the way out).
Then, 2 weeks ago while camping he started limping around and I thought he must have tried the jumping thing while I wasn't looking and hurt his leg. But he wasn't limping all the time, just after he had been laying down for a while and after he first go up. So, determined it was his hip. Made vet appointment as soon as we got back. X-rays show deterioration of right hip joint. Vet took blood tests and said he thinks Rocky has Valley Fever (which is common here in this area). Valley Fever attacks the immune system (like bones, organs, joints and retinas). We started him on meds immediately waiting for blood tests to come back to indicate whether it is VF or just arthritis from earlier injury. If it's VF then the meds are daily for the rest of his life.
He also has ongoing bloat because he has stomach ulcers (which was probably caused from the meds he took after the dental surgery when he quit eating and drinking.
It breaks my heart to see him limping around, running into things and not able to find his treats. But I really start to cry when he tries to look me in the eye and he's looking past my face. He used to put his nose to mine and just look into me as if he was looking into my soul to see why I was so sad.
He turned 11 in June and up until he was 10 years old, the only vet visits we had were his annual for shots. We decided that he needed a couple of teeth pulled and the rest cleaned so scheduled surgery ... and it was like he aged 5 years in one month. He hasn't really recovered since then.
Please send prayers for us.
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Originally Posted by Gunny
