Oh! the Agony!

My poor little puppy Della!

Bassets, in general, usually face a painful part of life sometime before the age of 18 months. Their front legs become a little lame, one leg at a time. This actually has a name: Paneosteitis, or just plain "pano." It is a wandeing lameness which means that YOU, the mom- or dad-slave think you're going completely nuts! One day it's "Hey, the pup is holding her left leg up and won't put any weight on it." A few days later its, "Hey, the pup is still holding her right leg up, er, wasn't it her right leg? I could have sworn it was her right leg, but maybe it was her left leg?" At any rate, you get the idea--the pup is lame, in pain and you are going to sell your soul in order for her to be "healed!"

There was thought that Della was not going to experience this. She was already 10 months old and it still hadn't reared it's ugly hear. Well, just as one gets comfortable with that thought BAM! her left front leg is up in the air and she really doesn't want to touch the ground with it.

Having Buford still in the home and living through his pano days, as well as the king, the original, Walter (ATB) having gone through it, I instantly knew what was wrong. But still, any momslave worth her weight in bisquits has to get down on her hands and knees and make completely sure that her baby doesn't have a cut pad or a thorn or something else wrong with her paw that could cause her to favor it.

So that is what I did--I lowered myself to the ground to inspect the baby's left paw and like all puppies, she rotated directly under me! OK, WHAT IS UP WITH THE WORLD GOING INTO SLOW MOTION THE INSTANT SOMETHING DANGEROUS/TRAGIC IS ABOUT TO OCCUR?! As Della rotated I saw my knee coming in contact with he ankle joint and i did everything I possibly could to avoid contact but there was nothing to be done. Della's rear right leg got trapped under my knee with full body weight leaning on her!

Ok everyone, breathe! There was no crack or anythng like that, but she did jump away holding her rear right leg AND her front left leg in the air. In a little while she walked it off and everything seemed fine...or so I thought.

A couple of days later I called her to come into the kitchen and there was no movement. She couldn't stand up. I FREAKED!!! She finally stood and limped severly as she came over to me--everything from her butt to the ends of both rear paws was painful for her. So I called the vet, made an appointment for first thing in the moring, and put her in her crate in order to avoid any further damage....and my mind was reeling! "What if...this, that, and God forbid THAT!??"

Della's vet is GREAT! After pushing and pulling etc,. he was convinced she suffered from soft tissue bruising and from favoring the hurt leg (that I inflicted--terrible parent!) she caused inflamation in both hips and both knees.

So, Della is on 2 aspirins per day and if she is still exhibiting symptoms (limping, pain, etc.) on Monday we go back for X-Rays.

How is she doing? Well, she taught the kitchen towel a lesson this morning, chased Guinness up and down the stairs for about 30 minutes, had a play session with Buford, ate my best bra, systematically emptied the CLEAN laundry from the basket.....I think she's going to be JUST fine.