opinions please - sick dog

[ashjoma]

My little beloved Terrier x chi - he is 11 - 12 years old approx, not quite sure. weighs 3.5 kilos.

He started to have difficulty walking friday evening. Took him to the vet Saturday morning.

Looks like he has some spinal cord compression. xray indicates this

He was started on anti- inflammatory's and cage rest.

today he is less able to use his back legs. Unable to support himself.

He still has feeling / some movement / decreased reflexes. Still able to wee and poo.

He is not in any distress and is happy and interactive.

He has a specialist appt in Sydney tomorrow morning - 2 hour trip for me.

surgery typically starts at $4000  but apparently  does have a quite good success rate if done early.  Also there will be additional costs for CT scan and vet care.

I am already up for  $500, which I do not have the full amount.

I do not have the money now but will by the 3 rd next month.  I had the money a couple of months ago but paid for renovations and that took everything I had saved and more  (so this is the worst possible time this could have happened).

At this stage I am thinking of going to the bank for a loan to get me by.

? vet will do surgery without a same day payment.

hubby is furious / hostile  and says no dog is worth that amount of money and he is an old dog.  Hubby is refusing to assist financially.

He is not interested at all.

What should I do ?

Has anyone has a dog go through this surgery and come out the other side in a good state ?

I know time is critical here.

Personally, I feel he needs a chance - even though he is older. rather than being put to sleep - that is the alternative.

opinions please - I know he is older and I do not want him to suffer  but if he can have a chance  to come through this, I think he deserves this

.

[azureline**]

Honestly, I think it is not a good idea, I am so sorry 😞

I made the mistake of trusting the vet with our last cat ($1200 in fees and that was in the late 80's) and he had to be put down anyway, so since then, we have had pet insurance to make decisions like that easier for us.

It is not that your doggy isn't worth it, it depends on the odds of him being fully functional after, as well. A shorter happy life is better than a long painful one.

:-x

[i-need-a-martini]

$4000 is a small price to pay for 12years of joy that your pet has given you.

So my response is that you do all you can to help him. If that means throwing money to the problem to make his life better, then so be it.

So I agree with you - he needs a chance.

[j*oono]

I'm so sorry Ashjoma.  I do not agree with your husband in thinking that no dog is worth it but your dog has had a very good life and it seems wrong to put him through what must be a major operation at his age.  Would you be doing it for him or for yourself?  I feel slightly hypocritical because I have done similar myself and given my dog another couple of good years but he was younger than your lovely friend.

[lyndal1838]

Are you going to the SASH hospital?

They are very good about doing all the tests and then giving an opinion as to how successful any treatment will be.

We had a similar situation of not having the ready cash when our old cat was sent to them and we were offered finance (through GE Money) with a 3 month interest free period. We were able to pay the bill and then claim on out pet insurance...got $3,600 back from a $4000 bill.

[twinkles**stars]

if your beloved dog was young I would say go ahead but he's not youn and imo unfair to puthim through so much.....time to saygood bye

[1966kelso]

I'm sorry your little dog is going through this. Did the vet say what's causing the compression?

I'm sure if you discuss it with the Specialist they will advise you on how you can pay for it. I don't imagine many people would have thousands to spare so I reckon they'd have some sort of repayment plan

[monstersinthedungeon]

Oh Ash, I feel for you, I really, really do.

Our lovely GSD Tango (my avi), was given his wings this morning and it was a heart wrenching decision to make.

We were going to have him put to sleep last weekend, but he seemed to perk up, but has had too many bad days this week and we realised we were keeping him for us, not for him.  I did in fact think about - if I had the money (about 14k), would I give him a hip replacement?  I finally realised, no, I wouldn't put him through that even if I was a millionaire, the recovery time is huge and it is not a guaranteed success - the replacement joints are known for dislocating. Perhaps if it was done as a young dog, but I couldn't put our dignified old man through all that pain.

I think you need to have a very honest talk to your vet/specialist and know exactly what the prognosis would be for your little friend's age, what the recovery time is and how much pain he would be in during that recovery time. Perhaps ask on a dog forum if anyone has had the op done and how their dog fared. 

The money actually becomes irrevelant - it is the dog's quality of life during recovery and the prognosis for a full recovery afterwards that you need to focus on. If those two make sense, then I believe it's money well spent, but if not, then you need to give him the final gift of love and let him gently drift off to his forever sleep - I can 100% confirm to you that it is very quick and gentle, we held our boy in our arms and he slipped away within moments.

[j*oono]

Monsters.  He was such a beautiful boy.  I'm sorry.  😞

[getting_of_wisdom]

So sorry to hear about your sweet dog's problem, and I hope this won't be too much of a scroller.

If the diagnosis is IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease), and he still has Deep Pain Sensation, which your vet can confirm, surgery is probably a good bet, but of course his age and general state of health will be big considerations.  People think it is confined to dachshunds, but not so, and I have seen a few chis and chi crosses affected.

However, many, many dogs recover with Conservative Treatment, i.e. 8 weeks of STRICT crate rest - I have had a fair bit to do with an international group for IVDD called Dodgerslist, named for Dodger whose family were given wrong advice by their vet and thought they had to have him put to sleep.  Until last week it was a Yahoo group, but now they have moved to an easier website forum format http://dodgerslist.boards.net/, you can also find them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dodgerslist  All the information for you to study up on IVDD - their IVDD 101 - is at  http://www.dodgerslist.com/  where they have articles and support from neurological and orthopaedic vets.  Between now and seeing your vet again, you can learn a great deal about this condition.  

The Dodgers people saved my daughter's sanity when her dachchund went down a fortnight after they adopted him, their volunteers were there to answer her  queries at all times, day and night.  Little Frank did have surgery, before they knew there were alternatives, but he has had a few bouts since all managed with Conservative Treatment.  Their moderators are all in the US, so there may be some time lag in you getting answers, but in the meantime there is a thorough crash course in IVDD if you go to those sites.

If you trust me with your address, message me, I ordered some of their informational DVDs and literature so that I could help any Aussie people who needed them a little more quickly than waiting for US post.  It will be free of charge, I will do anything to help dogs with this condition recover  They don't make a profit on the DVDs in any case, it all goes into paying for their expenses.

Hope to hear from you through the ebay message system.