It's been a long time since I've posted on getbig because up until now my dog, Johnny, has been doing great.
I noticed a few days ago that he started walking funny. His hind legs would criss cross and drag on the ground to the point where he'd bleed his knuckles up. He was hesitating jumping into the truck and stopped greeting us at the door, he was hesitant going down stairs.
I found out today through xrays that he has calcification of the spine. Basically the bones in his spine have fused together and are putting a great strain on his nerves. The build up of bone is located in the lower area of his back but doesn't effect the upper and very lowest portions. Looking back, I can now see there were really small indicators that things were not right but I couldn't put my finger on it, (hes the first dog I ever owned). It's amazing how much his walking has been affected in just a few days.
It's killing me to know he might be in pain even though he's been prescribed pain killers. I don't wanna see my dog turn into a medicated blob that lays in bed all day. It's been a great 10 years with my big buddy and we've been through many ups and downs together, its goes without saying that this new news has been pretty hard to accept.
The vet says that she can't perform surgery, (too advanced of a stage?) and all we can do is try to make the rest of his life as comb fortable as possible.
Anyone else have to deal with this crap? What can I expect in terms of how long he can go on with this disease? Any help would be appreciated. There isn't much I wouldn't do for my bud.
[