April 23, 2008 DUDE!! Why all the lameness?

My dog hurt his leg yesterday. I have two dogs, and it's usually the other one who is gimping around with a sore foot or something. But, today it's the black one, Skye. I'm not sure what happened, just that last night he was limping and refused to walk on it. I wasn't that concerned at first, but as the evening wore on I noticed that he was having considerable difficulty getting around and even cried when he had to get up from a laying position. When you have pets you learn to read them. They are like small, furry children who can't speak. So I've learned to read the cues my dogs give me, and Skye was telling me that something was seriously wrong. It wasn't just a pulled muscle or a thorn in one of his toes. So today I took him to the vet. He was so scared he was trembling. It broke my heart. The vet checked him out and then explained to me that he probably stretched his CCL ligament, which is the canine version of the ACL - the ligament in the knee that people injure so often. It's a pretty big deal. He may need surgery, if we can't get him to take it easy and let it heal on it's own. That means Skye is on some anti-inflammatories for the next 14 days and he's got to keep his physical activity to a minimum. He'll go back to the vet after that to be checked again. Poor puppy! He can't go play, no running around the yard, no chasing his sister, nothing. For 2 weeks. It's gonna be rough. But if this doesn't work, and he blows out his knee then he'll need surgery. Crap! I can't afford that.

So I was reading the paperwork on the way home from the vet. It said: Diagnosis: Lameness

Yep, my dog is suffering from Lameness. I hope it's not catching.