Late last month she developed a bladder infection and appeared to be stumbling a bit as she galloped along on 3 legs. Vet thought she was stumbling from the pain of the bladder infection and antibiotics were prescribed. Unfortunately they prescribed the one she can not have, Baytril, which is the most common treatment for this. Fortunately, we caught it, and they switched her to Clavamox for a week. She seemed fine after treatment but still a bit unsure on her feet, especially in the right leg.
Mid-May she continued to stumble along, so back to the vet she went. Another test of the bladder showed the infection still raged on. It took another 4-5 days to get the culture back and a course of antibiotics set. May 18th they upped the Clavamox dosage and lengthened it to 2 weeks.
By the evening of May 23rd she could not use her back legs. The Husband was out of town on business so I got a neighbor to help me get her in the Jeep. Several x-rays later the Vet can find nothing but a moderate case of arthritis in her spine and limbs. After an injection of Adequan and an extra shot for today, off we went, waiting for the course of antibiotics to finish (this coming Friday) and waiting to hear from the Orthopedic specialist. She will also have 3 weeks of twice weekly injections of the Adequan.
She has almost no use of her back right leg and her left back is a fraction better, but no load bearing on either. No walking without significant help from Mom and Dad ( and she is still a 90lb load, Mom's back may give out before Lily!). I have started some massage and physical therapy, and we are trying to get her to move around more.
She is happy, eating and doing her "business" as best she can outside.
We just don't know what is wrong.
And on top of it all the A/C went out last night! Today it is suppose to be 90 today, with a real feel of 103. Luckily we were able to get someone out early this morning and after 2 hours it is finally up and running. We need a new system, but can't afford it at the moment, so hopefully this one will limp along through the summer.
The coolest spot this morning was the backyard. I tried to keep Lily in the shade and used wet towels to keep her cool.
I can't say that she really appreciated my efforts!
If anyone has had a similar experience as we are going through I would love to know your thoughts of what might be going on. This being a holiday weekend here in the States we don't expect to hear from the specialist until Tuesday at the earliest.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and take time to remember those that gave everything in the line of duty.
