So, Lina had her follow-up appointment today. The good news: The plate in her leg is stable, the bones healed very well, and the arthritis in her knee didn't get any worse. They showed me the X-rays, and the plate is huge! Way bigger than I imagined. It's got three or four giant screws in it too. I had envisioned delicate little screws but these looked like drywall screws. They almost looked like they should be sticking out the other side of the bone. I asked for a copy of the X-ray but they said no because it would be too much hassle for them to duplicate it for me.
The doctor talked to me a lot about rehab exercises. She's still limping and the leg with the plate (I will not call it "the bad leg," that's a defeatist attitude) sticks out at a funny angle when she stands still. He said the range of motion exercises aren't necessary anymore, but there are other exercises we can do to retrain her to walk evenly. We get to do longer walks, "obstacle course" walks on uneven terrain like the Duke Forest trails, and we can work up to jogging together again. He even gave me a couple of papers he had written on dog physical therapy (apparently this is an area of interest for him).
I don't have to retrict her movements at all anymore. Yay! No more walking around the yard in my pajamas in the middle of the night so she can go to the bathroom! I asked him about letting her sleep on the bed. He said that jumping isn't good for her, and recommended that we get a ramp so she can get up without having to jump. But he did reluctantly say something to the effect that the occasional jump wouldn't kill her. So we are going to both sleep in the bedroom tonight and see how it goes. Yay! No more air mattress!
Now the bad news: They think she has Cushing's disease. Apparently this is overproduction of hormones by the adrenal glands. The doctor said that her body shape (narrow waist but low, big abdomen) and that bald spot on her back are both indicative of Cushing's disease. They did blood work while she was there and she has a couple of indicators there too. I don't know what they are though. The doctor told me but I'm looking at the handout and it only says the abbreviations "Alk Phos 166" and "ALT 86." I can't remember what those mean.
Anyway, they said that I should see if my regular vet can do a more definitive test for Cushing's disease. Apparently not all vets can do it. They think that if she does have it, we caught it really early so she should respond well to treatment. I read online that there are a couple of different drugs that manage the symptoms pretty well. Without treatment, it causes all kinds of nasties including skin and gum infections, diabetes, liver and kidney failure and heart failure. So I'm really glad he noticed it. I never heard of Cushing's disease so I certainly wouldn't have been looking for the symptoms.
Sounds good to have a vet take care of Lina who specializes in dog phisical therapy!
Not good news about the Cushing's disease, though. I have heard of it (don't know much about it) but only in humans.
Still, it is good to catch it in time.
Hi Hedera! It turns out that my boss has a horse with Cushing's disease so he was telling me a bit about it. He says that the drugs do manage the symptoms very well, but they are expensive -- $75 a month in his case! I hope that it costs less to medicate a dog than a horse.