I need some serous help. I adopted a new pet. I went to the local animal shelter and found a dog I liked and went back to see if he was still there and he was and I got to be with him for a little while until I adopted. I got him home and he was scared but started to get along. I made an appt with my vet to get him updated on shots and low and behold that morning of the appt. he cesured. Not once but twice. So now I rush him to the vet and a lot of tests and money later I get he has hip displaysha and has epilepsy. I am torn. I don't know what to do. I can't afford insurance or the surgery for Hip displaysha and I don't want him to suffer. I feel like I was taken thru the ringer. The german shepherd rescue says the displaysha is nothing to worry about. But I have kids. Do I want them to see this wonderful personality dog be in pain and can't walk? Do I listen to the vet and give him a chance? Does this get worse? Do I take him to the shelter? If I do, he will be put down. Do I do that to him? Help, I don't need these decisions now. I don't want to go through what I went through putting my Indy down when this one is so young. Do I put all my other animals thru this crap? I am at a loss. I emailed best friends to see if they might have any solutions. I don't know if that was the right thing to do. In a way I feel raped! Thanks for listening I hope this helps me and I hope I can once again do the right thing. I hate these decisions.
ChrissyW

Hi Chrissy:

WOW!

First, let me give you a couple of links..................

www.canine-epilepsy.com/Resources.html

and

www.offa.org/

(Orthopedic Foundation for Animals)
They have info on "hip dysplasia"


I really have to wonder about the animal shelter that you adopted this lovely furdog from.......
Did they "know" that he had seizures AND hip dysplasia???????

I know that hip dysplasia "is common" in large breed dogs....

I have only had "furcats" all of my life.................so, I don't really know that much about beautiful "furdogs"........

But, knowing about seizures in cats, I think that my concern with your new baby would be the fact that he had
not one........... but two seizures, already......

Does the animal shelter know ANYTHING about his history, Chrissy??????

I really wish that I could be of much more help, but I am at a loss.......

My concern is his seizures............
I can truly understand how you feel........

I know that better qualified help will soon be on the way....
And, I will be watching to see what everyone advises..

I am so sorry that your new furbaby has these problems.....
I just cannot imagine that he didn't "show these signs" while under their care.....

Know that you and your family, and your new sweet boy are in my thoughts and prayers......

There are plenty of people here at LS who are familiar with dogs/large breed, and I'm sure there will
be some advice coming your way soon.....

God Bless you All!!!

Love, Denise & Ben, Ms. Lucy and Mr. Yoster

Oh Chrissy!

My heart is breaking. I can't believe this!

Everything Denise said was right on---how could the people at the shelter not have seen this, etc.

I am praying that the links she provided will help, and that all the resources/answers will come your way so that you can make the decision that feels right.

In the meantime, a sort of "revelation" came over me that, for whatever outcome, this beautiful creature was placed into your hands at this time, for some purpose, even if just to know love for a short time while in his body.

In saying that, I'm not assuming the worst---I'm just feeling that he's with you right now for a reason.

I wish I had some knowledge to share with you. I can't even quite imagine what you are going through. This must all seem so unreal.

I will be following this journey of yours and praying for you and your sweet dog and that the "right" decision is reached. If I can do something to help out (some research, perhaps), don't hesitate to PM or email me.

Much love and support and prayers,

Kathy

p.s. Don't feel guilty for thinking about the financial aspects, ok? These are very real considerations! The main thing I guess is (if his life is meant to continue) his quality of life, balanced with the other factors involved. Good luck, Chrissy! We're there with you!!

Oh Chrissy, I am SO, SO sorry that you are going through this. It's just not fair! You opened your heart, family and home again to a needy furdog and this happens. My heart is just breaking for you, your family and that poor new furdog that is experiencing all this discomfort.
I can't advise you what to do. I've been trying real hard to figure out what I would do. I know I would be angry first that the shelter didn't tell me about the health problems and let me decide if I wanted to take them on or not. But in the end, it's the poor furdog who is a victim of poor health.
I have always owned labrador retrievers, so I am VERY familiar with the hip dysplasia. We rescued a little black lab furboy several years ago that was left on the road. We quickly discovered that he had this problem. We had no idea how old he was, but the vet guessed about a year old. My heart was already broken that this cute little black furdog was just dumped, probably because of his problem. I just couldn't bear abandoning him again. We chose to get the surgery, and it was very expensive. However, I can tell you, that the furdog DOES suffer alot of pain with this problem. Over time, the pain does get worse. I would suggest that if you keep him, you get the surgery. If you are not prepared or able to finance this surgery (my vet let us make payments), you should think seriously about not keeping him. The pain will show and trouble your family and other pets. We watched poor Taz whimper in pain at times when he would move wrong getting up or down.
Now you have to consider the epilepsy problem too. Maybe that can be controlled with medication, but I'm not sure. I haven't experienced a furbaby with that ailment, so I can't help you with that consideration.
I think writing to Best Friends was a good idea. I think that if you decide not to keep him, you should try to locate an organization that would care for him and place him with a family that afford to care for him. I really don't think I would be able to place him in a shelter that would just put him down, but then again he is suffering....that places a terrible burden on you.
Well, I probably wasn't much help, but know that my thoughts and prayers are with you and this new burden that you are facing.
Hugs and prayers for you!
Cheri

Thank all of you! You all have wonderful big hearts just like me! I know my new pet hasn't been with us long but he is slowly fitting in. I don't know much about dysplasia but everyone seems to think that this is a catastrophy or not a big deal. I keep getting torn between the two. He is a good dog. He is beautiful and has a good heart and shows it. The cats don't see it yet but they will if he stays. My husband says it is okay to keep him but the minute the dysplasia gets bad we will put him down. The vet said to give him a chance and see what happens this week. I don't want this wonderful animal to hurt because that is not fair to him. He didn't ask for any of this. I am so confused. I don't know which way to go. But right now he is fine and very playful. The other dogs don't want a thing to do with him. . . yet. He does chase the cats but we are working on that so the cats don't get cheated either. I guess the more info I get the better but everyone seems to think or tell me this is not a big deal and others say it is. What to do? I am at a loss. Kathy, thanks so much for the websites . . . it will help me to make a better decision. I will always be here for support for all of you here. You help in all of your own ways and thank you for listening and being there. Bottom line it helps me!!! And will help my new furbaby, Max!!!!
Thanks everyone, Chrissy

Chrissy,

I don't want to tell you what to do but here is my story and maybe it will help. About a month after losing my "heart" dog to a brain tumor I got two little Westie puppies (Rosie and Basil). They are the light of my life. However, when Basil was 5 months old he was diagnosed with Legge Perthes disease in his back left leg. We took him in to see an orthpedic surgeon and it was decided that surgery was the only option. At this point I had two choices, I could give him back to the breeder who would most likely have put him down or I could go ahead and do the surgery. The surgery for Leffe Perthes is the same surgery that is done for Hip Displaysia. My husband and I elected to do the surgery (which was quite expensive). As soon as the first surgery was done it was discovered that Basil had the same problem in his other back leg. Back into surgery he went. Needless, to say this was quite expensive. This all happened in February and March of this year. Today, Basil can run and play with the best of them and keep up most of the time. If you didn't know he had a problem you would certainly not be able to tell by looking at him and Basil is the light of my life now. He brings such peace and joy to my world that I could not imagine ever being without him.

Most vets will allow you to pay off the bill over time ... a good hospital will work with you on a payment plan that you both can live with. I'm not sure how old your guy is but he sounds like wonderful pet. Before making any final decisions discuss all your options with your vet including payment options. You might find that it isn't that bad. You might also find that by giving him glucosomine or other vitamins that the displaysia is not a big deal and won't need surgery. Displaysia in the bigger breeds is actually quite common and not all of them need surgery.

My heart goes out to you though ... this is a hard thing to deal with but as someone else has said he was given into your care for a reason. Give him a chance so you can both know what that reason is.

Hugs,
Beth

Thank You all for your continued support. I will be doing more research on my new furbabies condition but for now he will stay with us. The vet said this was probably the biggest expense we will have with him until the dysplsia gets worse. My husband is fighting for him to stay . . . I guess I was thinking could I go through and Indy experience again so soon. Not that he isn't a wonderful dog but it was very hard for me to go to the emergency vet and not have him go home with me. Maybe that wouldn't happen but still. My Indy went so peaceful and I talked to him . . . I just hope somehow he will talk some sense into my new boy. There really isn't anything I can do except give him vitamins and watch for sezuring. Thanks for the web sites, Denise. They are very helpful and make me want to look up more. From these sites I learned that dogs being on sezure medication will eventually make their liver fail but there is a vitamin remedy that can help him come out of his sezures. As far as his hip dysplasia all I can do is give gluecosamine to help lubricate his joints. He has so much energy. You can't tell he has issues. So for right now we are going to go day by day!!! Thanks to everyone here, it helps me sooooo much!!!!
ChrissyW

Okay this is hard for me to tell you but I had to give up my new pet. It was the hardest decision of my life. But for the best interest of my family I gave him up to the shelter. We didn't want to and we called every rescue but got we can't talk right now to youre just killing him. He sezured again (3 times in 12 hours) and afterwards was frightened (understandable) but almost bit my husband and my other dog. At that point my husband didn't want him in the house in case he was to get that way with the kids. He was scared and I understood that but my kids come first. If I had the time money and energy and no kids it might be different but my 3 yr old getting bit because he doesn't understand and the dog doesn't understand. Not going to happen. If I had the dog more than 3 weeks and had him since he was a pup maybe I would go farther but I didn't. I am not a throw away person but when I needed help no one from the rescues would stand up and say okay I'll come and get him. I got you are killing him. I am not a bad person . . . I love animals and wanted to do something special for another dog but I can't afford huge medical on a dog. I have other responsibilities. Maybe this was a bad thing for me to do. Maybe I should just be content on what I have. I didn't want the other dogs to suffer and why should my cats suffer to just for one. Thanks for listening and being there but I think in this case it just wasn't meant to be with this dog.
ChrissyW

Chrissy,
Stop beating yourself up, you did more than a lot of other people would have done and if anyone doesn’t agree with you that your kids come first then im sorry but they should be shot.

The shelters you phoned do not know the full history/story, and I know that they do a good job but that does not give them the right to stand in judgement.

Personally I feel you should write to them and hopefully save some other poor bugger the pain of being treated that way, and you can print this off and tell them I said so.

Once a dog bites it is not only the owner but the dog that lives a life of misery, not being taken for walks in case of aggression and being caged up, and a muzzle for the rest of its life.

If they don’t care enough to take on the responsibility then they should keep their opinions to themselves about how someone else handles the situation.

I wish you peace.

Love Sue

THANK YOU so MUCH Sue and Denise!!!!!!!!! I need to hear that. This was the hardest decision to make and I guess in a way I was not really attached to this dog . . . well not yet. I am the one who spent time at the vet and I am used to it. I am used to getting all the bad news first and then telling my husband. We are healing and I know we did the best for this kind soul in that dog. If he does have to be put down at least in my heart I know that for 3 weeks he got the best of the best . . . the love from our family. I don't know if we will adopt again or soon. This was the worst situation. I know the shelters do their best but I look back on this situation and I think that the rescue person just wanted him out of there and pushed him on me. Then he couldn't come up with a reasonable solution to help me. I don't know about rescues now. I know some people go to the extreme to help animals and I am not in that catagory but I try to do my best to help them. I have learned a lesson though. Thank you all here for listening because it helps me. I know my husband gets tired of hearing about these things but talking helps me and it is not his way of dealing with things. Maybe we will be ready to adopt again. Maybe we need more time to enjoy what we have.
{{{{{{{{{Thanks}}}}}}}}}} for understanding, ChrissyW