More about the Puffaroooooo 01/29/14

So you now know about my sad beginnings so lets continue on:

After the rescue group threatened to take me back from my humans, momma pointed out to them that I had a host of medical issues that they never took care of or disclosed.

As I told you earlier, I had to have my teeth cleaned the very day momma took me to the vet because they were so bad and lets just say my breath was not nice.  My teeth were coated with black gunk and the vet said if they were left untreated I would probably have to have them pulled. 

That wasn't my only issue.  The hair on my body was so thin and sparse that when I was wet it looked like I didn't have any hair at all.  The hair on the tip of my tail was totally missing so it looked like I had a rat's tail: this was due to a thyroid condition and all I needed was some medication to resolve it.  All of these issues seem minor considering how I also have liver failure.

                                                    I was a scare and skinny pup

                          Coco and I checking each other out on the first day in my forever home

Momma switched vets soon afterwards and started taking me to a different one who was closer to home. 

Many months went by and then one day when she got home from work I came running to greet her and she noticed that my left hind leg was now turned upward with the pad of my foot facing the ceiling.  Momma panicked, swooped me up and went running out to the garage where daddy was.  Momma wanted to take me to the emergency vet because it was after normal vet hours but daddy being daddy, said to wait and see how I was in the morning.  I was still running and jumping like nothing was wrong but my leg was sticking at a horrid angle and twisted upward.

The next morning, momma woke up and immediately checked on me.  Nope, no difference, my leg was still twisted.  Momma went to work and daddy took me to the regular vet with instructions from momma that if I was in pain and there wasn't anything they could do for me, then they were to put me down.  She would rather me be out of pain and not suffer.

Anyhow, the vet said I had a spinal injury and the only way to correct it would be surgery, but with my liver problem, that would be impossible.  Daddy then told the vet that momma had said to put me down, and immediately the vet came up with another option.  She would give me a pain and a cortisone shot along with instructions to crate me and bring me back the following day.  Daddy knows how much momma loves me so he opted for the second option.

When momma got home my leg was still twisted so after potty break and dinner, I was once again put into the crate.  The following morning when the humans let me out of the crate, I came staggering out but low and behold, my leg was back where it was supposed to be.  That little 18 dollar shot saved my life!  I do not walk "normally" as I kind of have a swagger, but that's okay.

Now fast forward a year or two, and I have yet another injury.  My left leg, the one that was twisted now has a knee cap that pops out.  This injury is genetic and can be resolved with surgery, but because of my liver issues, surgery will never be an option.

This photo isn't very good but you can see me dragging my left hind leg.

 

                 I was in a lot of pain from the popped knee cap and momma was comforting me.

So back to the vet I went and this time it was a new vet because we moved from California to New Mexico.  Momma and daddy took me in and momma was crying (she cries when she thinks she is loosing me).  The vet looked at me and said," there are plenty of three legged dogs, he will be fine on pain medication" so I now have some human grade pain stuff that I only take when the knee cap pops out.  The knee cap does not stay popped out it tends to go in and out at will.  It has happened twice now and let me tell you, IT HURTS LIKE HECK each time it happens.

So do you think I have enough health issues?  I do too, but I also have a large cancer growth on my front right leg that is about the size of a nice chickie egg.  The vet is aware of it and since it hasn't been molested in any manner he is just going to keep an eye on it.  This growth is close to my front elbow so sometimes walking is hard, but hey, that's life. 

My humans know when I am in pain and dole out the pain medication as needed.  Right now  I haven't been taking anything except for my thyroid pills and feel pretty good. 

I've learned to lay on my back and kick my paws up at Coco when she plays rough with me.  I snip at her with my teeth and paw her in the face.  She seems to enjoy it and it protects my back and hind knee from getting hurt further because she concentrates on attacking my head instead of my body.  I love Coco but she can get rough at time.

So that's my beginnings.  After the long road I finally found my forever home which I love.