Karl Katzke

Most people who know me know how much I love my dog, Eowyn. She’s been my constant companion for the past two years. She got me out of a bad relationship, taught me how to love another unconditionally, and gave me the confidence, support, and company I needed to mature from a twentysomething brat into a mature adult.

She has juvenile-onset hip dysplasia. For all intents and purposes, she has no hip socket for her femur to fit into. Which means it rides right there on the pelvis, and basically just grinds itself in. She’s got it so bad that there’s no socket at all for that femur to fit into. It just jostles and clanks as she walks.

We’ve known about this since her one year old checkup. I had a slight suspicion before that, but it wasn’t anything that I could confirm. She’s a rescue mutt, so there’s no genetic history or breeding records that I can walk back through to find hints as to where it entered her genetic makeup. It could also be because she was torn away from her family at 4 weeks of age and wasn’t properly weaned, and likely wasn’t fed well. She was a wormy, flea and ant-bitten, undernourished mess when we got her.

Last night, she cuddled really closely to me in bed. That’s a sure sign to me that she’s not feeling good — normally she’s as independent and strong as they come. This morning, she was unwilling to put any weight at all on the right rear leg. When I touched it, she cried. Off to the vet we go.

A couple hundred dollars later (And thank you, Courtney, for all your sins — you did send me to a GOOD vet here in College Station, Booneville Animal Hospital), the vet sent her home with a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon.

This evening, I’m icing it. We’ll see what happens when we can get in to see the surgeon. She’s on bed-rest and kennel-rest (if I’m in the house, she wants to be curled up with me) and some serious anti-inflammatory drugs until then. I’ll have to make a decision on how much it costs and see what kind of help I can get through Eo’s pet insurance and other sources. If you don’t have insurance for your pet, it’s a good idea. It’s mostly if something catastrophic happens, but it can mean the difference between a chance or a painful decision to put an animal that is in a lot of pain and can’t do anything about it … down. I don’t want to do that, but I won’t keep her alive and in pain just because *I* love her and don’t want to let go.

Cross your fingers, everyone. Here’s to another great couple years at the very least with the love of my life.

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