Off to a Bad Start ...

So Day 2 of the deployment started off with a bit of a scare. Sgt. Major was a bit sluggish when he finally got out of bed today, onlt going so far as to leave our bedroom. No amount of coaxing could get him to eat or go outside for the bathroom. I thought it was just hid depression that comes whenever George leaves, so Jamie and I went to run errands.

When we got back home, I put Jamie in his playroom and Sgt. Major was sitting on his bed at an awkward angle, but I thought it was more that he got "caught" chewing on his foot or scratching his ears so I went and put groceries up. Realizing he still hadn't gone out as I finished putting away groceries, I tried to coax him out and realized he'd lost all control/movement in his back legs. His whole hind end was dragging on the ground. Of course I panicked, called my parents to watch Jamie and started searching for vets ... another item on the ever growing to-do list that hadn't gotten done. Thanks to friends, I had a few reccommendations and called until I found who would see him.

I spent about 30 minutes massaging his back and legs and about 10 minutes before my parents arrived he started to stand and then take haltered steps. When they got here, I loaded him up and we headed to the vet.

Long story short, they did a bunch of blood work, x-rays and had to sedate him for that and other exams and they think that he had some inflamation and swelling, essentially the early signs of arthritis, and from his x-rays they want to watch him for Spondylosis, a digenerative spinal disorder that can cause loss of normal spinal structure. Basically, his spine and hips may grow to be fused together causing pain and joint issues.

The poor guy is so miserable he spent to next 2 hours growling at me whenever I got near him. Of course, if I'd gone more than 12 hours without food or bathroom breaks, I'd be one heck of a grump too!

We're home now, with meds that will hopefully help. He still has periods where he can't walk or stand, but hopefully we'll see some progrss with the meds. I'll keep you updated on our grumpy guy ...