My poor dog :-(

ftbworried

I know this isnt moneysaving but its kinda money-related I guess.

A few of you may remember giving me advice on taking on a rescue dog all the way back in April (9 year old lakeland terrier with terrible ear disease from a rescue centre that had rehomed him without vaccinating or worming his etc. http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/umistgirl/bear/?action=view&current=DSCF0005.jpg ). Thank you to all for the advice and suport over the insurance issue etc. He had his ears operated on and although they took a while to heal he is now a MUCH happier dog without the ear disease. The 'rescue' centre never coughed up for the vaccination/fleaing/worming costs- ive given up now. Thank GOD that the insurance company paid out for his ears- vets fees came to a massive £2500. We had to pay £165 in excesses + the costs to get him up to date with vaccinations etc.

He WAS on the raw meat and bone diet but we just couldnt keep up with it- we changed him to normal food but he went completely beserk, the vet said it was because of the levels of protein in regular dog food. He is now on a low protein dog food which is £44 a bag!!!

All these costs aside- he is finally settling in and everyone comments on how healthy and happy he looks, no one believes me when i tell them he's 9!. Yesterday though, I noticed he was not putting much wieght on his back leg- today he wont even stand up- and if he does he just holds his leg in the air. I got him a vets appointment but its not till 5pm and im going out of my mind with worry, has anyone had any experience of their dogs doing the same? He's doing a LOT of sleeping- infact thats all he's doing. I'm so worried for him- I dont want him to have to go through operations again, the poor little mite has only just recovered from his last ones.

So (although i would NEVER resent him for it) we'll be faced with another £100+ excess, it seems like its just never ending with him at the moment.

Thanks for listening to my rant :-(

punk_football

edited: .............

bulchy

I'm so sorry to hear your dog is having yet more problems, I hope the vet can sort him out. Sorry I cant really offer any advice regarding whats wrong with your dog, it could be anything, has he hurt himself while hes been out walking?
Its just as well you've got pet insurance. fwiw, we have made 3 claims on one of our dogs insurance policies so far this year(probably totalling about £30000+) and hes still got at least one op left to have :eek: I was worried about how much his renewal was going to be, we're with M&S, and have no excess to pay, but when the renewal came through, it had only gone up by a few quid, I was expecting more, my other dogs insurance went up by £1 and the cats went up 50p each, so I'm not shelling out much more for the peace of mind of knowing his next op is covered.
Please let us know how you get on at the vet, good luck
Sue xx

bulchy

What happened at the vet today??
Sue

sheryldoc

So when I get a dog.. I will DEFF be getting insurance!

Hope the dogs ok such a wee shame to have gone throo so much.. Thank god your there to look after him.. many people would have gave up on it by now..x

livinginhope

Morning ftbworried
Just wondering how the dog got on at the vets? has he twisted or fallen on his leg?
Best wishes
LIH

Penny_Watcher

Just generally for info -

If your dog won't put it's foot on the ground check for glass / stones etc anything obvious in the pad of that foot. Look in between the toes too.

Also have a look at the dew claw. One of my dogs managed to pull one of her dew claws from the nail bed which must have been really painful. One small operation sorted that out (God Bless PetPlan :rolleyes: ). Check to see if the dog has ripped any of it's claws.

Hope your hound is feeling better.

ftbworried

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the interest. Luckily, he hasn't broken anything. They kept him in to do an xray (which involved sedating him as he is a little devil with the vet- not surprising after what he has been through!). They didnt find a break- and his muscles seemed to be ok. They shaved his foot (he has curly hair which tends to hide things) and there is was...a big swollen red toe.

While he was under sedation they tried to find any foreign objects but there were none. They said that he was probably got a thorn or something in there which has caused an absess or infection- although they cannot find the offending body. He is on antibiotics to clear up the infection and if it comes back they said they will open his toe up to see if they can find whatever it is. For now, they working on the assumption that the perpetrator has left his foot.

Phew, at least no broken bones or torn ligaments and the little thing is happy now (he's already putting his foot back on the ground). I went to the desk to pay afterwards and I said "erm, i dont know whether it is worth making an insurance claim as our excess is £105". The receptionist said "yeah, i think you better had". The bill came to £400!!!!! THANK GOD for pet plan.

EVERYONE- PLEASE INSURE YOUR PETS!!!

WelshWoofer

Yeh!:j
At least he'll get better.
My dog is my best friend (only doggy people wil understand this) and everytime he's poorly I go through the mill!
We're off to the vets tonight for booster injections - always fun!

bulchy

rachelmk wrote:

Yeh!:j
At least he'll get better.
My dog is my best friend (only doggy people wil understand this) and everytime he's poorly I go through the mill!
We're off to the vets tonight for booster injections - always fun!

I certainly understand, my 2 are deff my best friends.

Thanks for updating us on your dog ftb, hope the infection clears up and the offending article has left his paw.£400 just for sedation and x-rays :eek: I'm so pleased we've got ours insured.
Sue

Turning_into_scrooge

Yep. My dog does it regular. He knee joint occasionally comes out of the socket but it slips back in on its own. Vet says to leave it and not operate on it but she does have arthritis in that leg and sometimes she yelps if she jumps off the bed etc. It happened when she was just stood doing nothing and screamed. Phoned the vet who diagnosed it correct over the phone before i could get her to the vet and told me to give her half a paracetamol, Boy was that a job and a half, the vet said mix a a small spoon of calpol with her food, worked wonders. I always have a bottle of baby calpol in these days lol. Its probably nothing to worry about but better to be safe than sorry. There is one thing if my dog wants attention she sits sniffing at me and then holds her leg up.