Snickers Update

I took Snickers to the vet Thursday. She wasn't eating (which is a huge red flag, lol) or drinking much, and she was acting very strangely. Upon lying down, she wouldn't stay there very long, and would sit back up. She didn't do her normal happy-to-see-you dance when you go open the door, either. At lunch, Thursday, when I went to check on her, she got up, wagged her bum a little (no tail to wag, of course) and that was it. So I called work to let them know I wasn't coming back, and rushed Snickers to the vet.
Dr. Ballard listened as I ran through my list of symptoms (I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget something). I was thinking she was sick, from eating something she shouldn't have, or something else. Dr. Ballard had me take her outside and walk her, so she could see how Snickers moved. She was thinking something totally different than I was. After we came back in, they x-rayed Snickers, and the results came back: severe hip dysplasia. Her hip joints are incredibly inflamed and deformed. Dr. Ballard said she didn't think a dog with joints that bad would be capable of walking at all, so apparently Snickers has been masking the pain until it got unbearable - tough little girl. Anyway, the pain dampened her appetite, and also made it hard for her to eat and drink (bending her head down hurts, apparently). So she upped her meds (Previcox) to 1 tablet a day, and added a glucosamine supplement. So far, it seems to be helping a little - but Snickers is still not up to her normal self. Dr. Ballard said the degeneration will only continue - in a year or two, her mobility might be gone completely. Unwelcome news, to say the least. Do they make doggie wheelchairs?

Note: I would have inserted a gratuitous Snickers pic here, but Flickr is having a massage (a Flickr term for "We're working on the database right now") so that site is down. Perhaps later I'll edit and add a photo.