Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Montana appears to have a bulging disk in her spine by her hind legs, which causes nerve pain and is the reason for her poor mobility. Prior to her amputation surgery she had pain in her spine but we were told this was not going to be a problem and that her hips, knees and hind legs were good on Xrays. Our problem is that to confirm this and to fix this she would need a MRI and surgery at the total cost of $3500 to $4500. We already with diagnoses and surgery for Bone Cancer are in for $5000, plus we were planning to do chemo, for another $2100. Now with this new dilema, we are not sure what to do. Surgery for the bulging disk is supposed to give instant pain relief and the dog should be up and running the next day. We love Montana so much, but I do not want to sound cold hearted she is a sinking ship we can throw money into it but to keep it afloat but it is still sinking. I do not want her in pain. We can scratch chemo and fix her spine and roll the dice on the cancer coming back. Or do the chemo and find a way to manage her pain. My wife asked me about acupuncture I could not find pet acupuncturists online. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do or alternative medicines?
There is a great integrative vet on Elvas in Sacramento.
sacvetrehab.com- 454-1825 it is called the Integrative Veterinary Center. We took Wrigley there for alternative treatment after her chemo failed. We met with Dr. Beebe ( consult is $125.00) They offer accupunture there, and hydro therapy. Accupunture there is 85.00 a treatment. I think it would definitely be worth a consult with them. Just be prepared- Dr. Beebe has lots of information, and talks really fast, but she has an excellent reputation. You can read more about them on their website.
Good luck-.
Seanne and Wrigley
Seanne and Angel Wrigley
Thank you Seanne! I have calls out to 3 people right now (including my horse chiropractor) but haven't heard back from anyone yet. I'm going to look up this place right now and see if I can make an appointment. My husband posted above after coming home with Montana from VCA....we're both at a loss and hate seeing Monty in so much pain. She's sleeping right now with some of my magnetic horse boots across her back. I've had great luck with alternative therapy for my horses, so I am hoping that we can use it to help her. I hate the idea of putting her through another surgery.
Seanne, I'm looking at the staff and Dr. Stevens who works on my horses works there! Thank you so much! Dr. Stevens has been a miracle worker for my horse and one of the calls I have out is to him! What a small world:-)
Oh poor Montana-It is so awful when they are in pain. I think you will like this place- I would definitely see what they have to say. when you check out the site, you will see that she has done quite a bit. She is very knowledgeable. She writes most of her stuff down, but she also has a pad of paper and pen so you can take your own notes- she gives you a lot of information. One more thing, and be prepared if you go, she will probably recommend to you doing an alternative /chinese herb treatment for the cancer and not going ahead with the chemo. She is very confident in her success with alternative treatments.
Seanne and Wrigley
Seanne and Angel Wrigley
Oh my - a small world indeed- that's great that you already know one of the staff members. They were really wonderful there.
Seanne
Seanne and Angel Wrigley
Thanks for the heads up...for the time being, we're going to put chemo and/or anymore cancer treatments on hold until we get her back fixed. We decided that it's not worth starting the chemo if we can't give her a good quality of life. I'm going to call lin the morning and see if we can get her in ASAP. She has an appt. at VCA on Tuesday to get her stitches out (with Dr. Gabby). I'm just hoping to get her looked at by someone else sooner than later. Right now, she is sleeping with my magnetic horse boots laid flat against her back. Dr. Stevens did so much for my horses, if he can do half as much for Monty, I know we'll be in good hands. I also like the idea of acupuncture and I assume Dr. Beebe would do that.
Seanne, you have been such a big help! I don't know how we can ever thank you or this site for all the help and support you have given us. Thank you so much!
I know - this site was lifesaver for us too- just let us know if you have any other questions. I've pm'd you my phone # and other email address so feel free to get ahold of me if you need to- It sounds like you have a good plan for Montana. I really think you'll like them.
Seanne
Seanne and Angel Wrigley
wrigley said:
There is a great integrative vet on Elvas in Sacramento.
Please consider posting this in our veterinary specialist referral forum. Thanks!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
The following links will take you to websites of organizations that offer certification/education for veterinarians who are interested in offering acupuncture and at least the first two can help you find an acupuncturist in your area:
The third link is for an international organization. Any of the above should provide you with information on the subject.
Thanks, just reposted the links in Jerry's original ACL pain acupuncture thread.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
So very sorry to hear of Montana's complications. I always believe that since you know your companion best, you will make the best decision for treatment. For us, the chemotherapy was far worse than the amputation, and I would agree that you do not need that complication now. We also fully understand about your discussion of a sinking ship. We have already sunk $11k into Cherry's care and while I do not regret it for a moment there is a limit to what I will ask her to go through. We picked her up from a short stay at the kennel which had daily assured me that she was doing fine only to find her unable to get up and as bloated as a soccer ball. My mind immediatly thought of torsion. This is a great concern for me since I have had it in two of my previous standard poodles and with Cherry's hooping motion, it is a further concern. I have already decided that I will not ask Cherry to undergo the surgery associated with torsion. Point here is that we all have limits and while we all would like to selfishly hold onto them forever, their quality of life is most important. By the way, x-rays show that it is not torsion or blockage so by default it's a bug.
Keep us all posted and know that we send you our best (from Livermore CA)
Bob & Cherry
I hope that Cherry is doing better!
Thanks to everyone for all the support. We were definitely down last week as you can see by Torsten's post. Luckily tomorrow will be a big day...we have an appointment at Sac Vet Rehab at 1:30 with Dr. Beebe (vet) and Dr. Stevens (chiro) and then will head over to VCA to get stitches out and talk about surgical options for the bulging disc. We'll update everyone tomorrow, but hopefully we'll get some good news.
On the bright side, Monty wanted to go for a car ride today so that was a positive thing.
abc said:
The following links will take you to websites of organizations that offer certification/education for veterinarians who are interested in offering acupuncture and at least the first two can help you find an acupuncturist in your area:
Thanks so much for those links, we're going to add them to our resources page now.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
yordmiester said:
I hope that Cherry is doing better!
Luckily tomorrow will be a big day…we have an appointment at Sac Vet Rehab at 1:30 with Dr. Beebe (vet) and Dr. Stevens (chiro) and then will head over to VCA to get stitches out and talk about surgical options for the bulging disc. We'll update everyone tomorrow, but hopefully we'll get some good news.
Good luck, we'll be thinking of you. It's gotta be good news, it's St. Patrick's Day after all!
Just keep in mind, the important thing is quality of life, not necessarily quantity. That's all we dogs are about. Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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