Molly sings the Big Dog Blues

Molly started limping two weeks ago.  I first thought she had just pulled something, because she seemed better a couple of days after not going on any walks.  Jav took her a week ago Tuesday night, and she was fine.  Then after he took her again the following Thursday night, the limp came back.  It remained all last weekend, and I started worrying about hip problems.  I took her Monday to see Dr. Norris, and he started thinking hip also.  They had to put her under on Tuesday to get good x-rays, though.  (Our girl is so playful she won't sit still that long).  

Sure enough, it's dysplasia in both hips, which we weren't expecting.  Her femurs should fit nicely into her hip joints, and be rounded on the edges.  The x-ray showed that the edges are rough and worn down, and so the bone isn't sitting very well in the socket on either side.  He said she was probably in some pain before now, but it must have just recently really started bothering her.  At this point in her life, he recommended a daily joint supplement, and some stronger pain medicine whenever she seems to be having a tough day.  We can still walk her; in fact we need to walk her every day, but maybe for shorter distances.  He said even long walks are ok, as long as it doesn't appear to bother her the next day.  The thing she should avoid is jumping and running, which means no more chasing down the ball.  

I never imagined how emotionally tough and expensive it would be to deal with having multiple middle-aged and/or older  pets.  I knew Rottweilers are prone to the problem, but I guess I was hoping because she was a mixed breed she had enough hound in her to avoid it.  This has been such a tough year on us, pet-wise.  But I'm thankful it wasn't something like bone cancer.  This, for now, seems manageable for the time being.

And we are still considering a puppy, believe it or not.