State of the Az

[bunn]

I took Az to the vet this morning. He has had an intermittent limp for the last 3 weeks, on and off - on until I make a vet appointment, then magically off!  At the weekend he was walking with no problems and running happily.  This week he has been walking OK on all four legs, but if he jumps down or puts weight on his front legs, he has developed a tendency to collapse screaming, and then be very reluctant to walk again afterwards. 

Rude vet* Craig says the problem is in the shoulder, and that shoulder injuries tend to take longer than limb ones as so much weight is on them.  Az must have rest and Metacam for 2 weeks, lead walks not more than 20 mins and try to stop him jumping.

That is going to be hard if I take him out in the car, because Az is convinced that if he doesn't jump into the car instantly the boot opens, I might leave him behind. I've taught them quite a good 'wait' for getting out of it, but had not previously thought that jumping into it might be an issue. And of course I do need to take them in the car, because there aren't enough non-tarmac walks near the house for Mollydog's feet.  

If it doesn't clear up after 2 weeks, they'll X ray, but if that is the case then there is a strong possibility that it's bone cancer which would be untreatable in that location anyway, so fingers crossed it's just a major strain.

On the plus side, Rude Craig says that he sees no urgency to do an ultrasound on Az's heart: he doesn't think it sounds any worse than usual and that possibly any slowing down is due to the shoulder issue rather than anything heart-ish.   If he does need an Xray, then they can do the ultrasound then as well. 

In other news, the dratted BRAND NEW Vaillant boiler has developed a problem and is leaking and not working. The installer came today and could not fix, tomorrow comes the man from Vaillant under the warranty. I think our entire heating system is under a Curse. Thank goodness for the gas fire.

*our practice has several vets.  Some I don't know well enough to have classified, but I have classified Rude Craig as useful but irritating, and Useless Martin as irritating and, yes, useless.

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I shall keep my fingers firmly crossed.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Hope all goes well!

Half the people at my work are having boiler problems at the moment. Perhaps all the boilers of England are In League.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Poor Az... may he come through this well.

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

Oh poor Az! I hope he feels better soon.

Isn't it a shame you can't sit dogs down in front of Educational DVDs /computer games like you can with children when you want them to stay still?

I bet dogs *could* learn to play computer games with the right interface, though. Maybe there are computer games for dogs out there?

[clarienne.livejournal.com]

Ugh :( I hope Az turns out to be fine.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

To be fair, a fire works pretty well in lieu of DVDs / computer games. And in the absence of a working boiler, the fire is all we have to heat the house (well, unless you include the underfloor heating in the bathroom).

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I am quite hopeful that a couple of weeks rest will help.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if I knew someone with an old but working boiler thinking of 'upgrading' I would definitely advise them to think twice. Better the devil you know...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I am hopeful that he will be back to bouncing along in a few weeks.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think the problem with dog computer games is that dogs are so much less visually focussed than people. Sound, smell, touch and taste are so much more significant to them than us: a dog can spend ages just enjoying being touched and smelling their people.

Luckily, sighthounds do naturally sleep an awful lot anyway but if I do find he's getting bored, I may do some clicker training with him - that's training that uses a click and treat to mark a 'wanted' behaviour, so you effectively turn yourself into a puzzle where the dog must work out what is wanted in order to get treats, and the puzzle gradually gets more complex as the dog works things out.

I've done this in the past with Molls when she has been injured - just simple puzzles where the 'answer' is something like raising the correct paw, or prodding a toy with a nose, etc.... They don't have huge brains, so if they use them for even simple problem-solving they quite quickly get tired, so it's less timeconsuming than you'd think! Would be much more work to tire out a natural problem solver like a border collie, say.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks. He is asleep upside down in a beanbag at the moment, so Project Rest Up is underway!

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Oh dear hope Az's woes and the boilers are soon solved

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Az seems better today (but I'm not going to fall for it this time, 2 weeks restricted exercise it will be!) and I am sitting here waiting for the boilerman, who was supposed to be phoning before 9am. He has 17 minutes left before Extremely Grumpy Bunn enters the building...

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of computer games for dogs that include smell.

Almost completely off-topic, but our dinner last night engaged all the senses - not only did it look, taste, smell and feel interesting, but we got to listen to other diners enjoying the same sensations we had just enjoyed. (We were - just - the first ones there, and remained slightly ahead of everyone else throughout the meal).

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Ah, so this would be a taxi-driver's "before 9am", then?

[thecatsamuel.livejournal.com]

I hope Az will be better soon. Also the boiler!

Our vets are the lovely Bruce (lovely in every way), Dashing Dominic and Nasty Nicola. But too be fair Nasty Nicola is very efficient, just ... charmless.