Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Broken Poodle...and It's Complicated

In the spirit of catching up, I took Perri to her chiropractor last Wednesday.  I was concerned with her behavior over the weave poles at our agility trial two weekends ago and wanted her looked over to be safe.  The chiropractor zeroed in on Perri's right shoulder (the same shoulder that had been sprained in the Spring.)  She showed me how resistant Perri was to having the shoulder and elbow joint manipulated.  There were some other minor adjustments to the neck but mostly, the right front shoulder and elbow were proclaimed to be the issue.  At this point, she felt that we should persue some physical therapy to help Perri get back on track.  She recommended a vet who practices rehab medicine out of her home and suggested that we look into getting an appointment.

I was very sad.  Not only can we not play agility, but Perri cannot go hiking or swimming - and that bothers me even more.  The next morning I sent an e-mail to the veterinarian that our chiropractor recommended, and mentioned that I was available all day if she should happen to have an appointment.   She did, at 8pm that night.  I was loving the oddball hours, it is very hard for me to get to places by 6pm or early (and most places are usually closed by then.)  Since this vet worked out of her home, she had a little bit more flexibility.

I explained Perri's injury in May, and that she was popping weave poles agin.  And that before I consider it to be a training or "brain" issue, I wanted to rule out physical causes.  I explained what our chiropractor had said.  But when the vet examined Perri's right front, the range of motion was excellent.  I saw that with my own eyes!  She extended and flexed completely with no protest.  Just another day in the life of My Favorite Martian?  What to make of this.  The inspection continued and Perri was all over pronounced to be good, except the "first rib", which Perri squealed when touched.  The vet attempted to adjust this area and Perri was in a lot of pain, crying and snapping the air.  I could have cried.  We took a break and Perri received a cold laser treatment, and then more attempts at getting the rib back into place.  This time I sat on the floor with Perri cradled belly up between my legs, which I stretched out.  While the vet worked, Perri laid her head against my stomach and pressed in hard and nibbled me and cried.  And then, I could have just died I was so miserable about the whole thing.   And still no luck getting things back into place.  Perri refused the offering of a peanut butter biscuit peace offering, she simply walked to the door.   

We were to return this week but I was unable to keep the appointment due to staffing at my job.  I have instead decided to get another opinion (yes...a third opinion!).  This time we will go to a dedicated rehab facility.  I feel like I don't have a lot of grasp on what is going on with Perri, and I want diagnostic resources available and sedation available if we need those things.  I will not let Perri experience that much pain again.  So, her next appointment will be on the 15th of October.  Until then, rest rest rest.  (It is hard to keep Perri from pouncing!)

Hoping to get some answers and direction from our appointment in two weeks.

1 comment:

  1. I'm so sorry. It's been the year of rest for my dogs apparently between teh corgi and toller. A specialist sounds like a good answer.

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