Back Issues

Ha roo, pups, it's me - Zim. I don't mean "back issues" like copies of old magazines, I mean ... apparently I have some issues with my back. Twice on Thursday night, I went to curl up and lay down -- like this, only without the complex pose of resting my chin on the lower step ...

and I screamed, "OUCH!" Mom and Dad and everypuppy were real concerned, because we never yelp! I did it again at 0400 Friday (yesterday) morning, when I rolled over to get comfy on my puppy bed. "OUCH!" All kinds of scary scenarios raced through Mom and Dad's heads, and they knew it was so unusual for me they should take me to the vet's.

Mom called as soon as they opened, and the nice ladies there said she could bring me in as soon as rounds were over (0900) and they'd fit me in when they could. Wow, was that nice!

It was a really long day (we got home just before 6!) and all the people there worked really hard trying to figure out why I hurt! I just wasn't acting like myself at all - I was really hurting! I feel bad about that - it was the first time I'd met Dr. Dixon, the very wonderful vet who has treated Stormy and Dave before. (There are hyperlinks there to remind you - but of note is that Dr. Dixon has very special feelings about our Stormy; she is the vet who diagnosed Stormy's very bad lump that she had removed!) Needless to say, I've heard great things about her, but I was really hurting and she had to give me a very thorough orthopedic-type of exam and move all my joints and poke me and stuff. At one point, near the end of the day, she apologized to me for making me hurt. I offered her a sweet smooch on the nose - my way of saying, "No hard feelings!" I knew she had to do those things to figure out what was wrong! She and Mom said they should have checked the Ao4 Digest to see if I mentioned in the blog what was hurting! Ha roo roo roo.

They took some blood and did abdominal radiographs and all kinds of stuff. One of my liver enzymes was a bit elevated, so to rule out any chance that my liver was giving me problems, they also did an abdominal ultrasound. They had to shave my tummy for that, and given my heightened state of anxiety, they decided it would be best to sedate me. (I have a bad history with clippers, back from before I came to my furever home. They freak me out!) My liver and miscellaneous tummy parts looked fine! The problem seems to be something called "spondylosis", degenerative changes in my lumbar vertibrae.

It's a normal aging kind of thing, and usually doesn't cause pain. If I understand correctly, and remember, I wasn't myself yesterday and frankly Mom was so worried, she wasn't much good at remembering things she didn't write down!, it's bone that forms sort of a "bridge" between the vertibrae or a sort of thickening of the bone. Usually we don't show clinical signs of having it; it's just found when they're looking for other stuff. Sometimes, however, that new bone can put pressure on a nerve ... which makes me go "OUCH!" Oh, it hurts!

The really good news is that it can be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and pain killers. I started my meds last night before bed time and hopefully will be good as new in a week or two. I'll still have the spondylosis, but not the pain - even once I stop taking the meds. Oh, yeah. One more thing. Dr. Dixon said no Zoomies, no jumping, no walks!, no horsing around with Dave, Am or Stormy for at least a week! That's going to be SO hard! I'm everypuppy's best playmate! I even had to sleep in the carrier last night. And the DOOR was on it! Oh, sure, sometimes I sleep in there anyway, but it's one thing when it's my choice and another when it's Mom's! And I thought we'd gotten rid of the door!

If Mom or Dad watch me real close, I can just be on house-arrest instead of having to be crated all the time, which is good. Maybe if I hide and they can't see me, they'll forget to crate me if they have to go out.

Don't anypuppy tell them where I am, OK?

Play bows,
Zim

PS: Mom said she wanted me to blog about this in case this happens to any of you guys. It was very scary for all of us! She and Dad are really glad they took me to the vet's. And if Dr. Dixon is out there ... thank roooooo for fitting me in on such a busy day! And hopefully next time I see you, I'll be more like the debonair guy I normally am!