The Glam Life

Yesterday, after spending half the day buying and having a camper shell installed on Bud's truck, I took Copper to the vet. No one can say being a pet detective isn't glamorous. His sister has major hip dysplasia but initially Copper looked fine - he has a funny walk but he romped with other dogs and bounced around like most puppies. In the last few weeks though he has had trouble getting up from a lying down position and though I was hopeful if I closed my eyes and pretended like nothing was wrong it would go away - I knew he needed to get checked out. The doctor agreed it looked like something was wrong and that his back legs were less developed than his front i.e. he's been over-compensating by putting more weight on his front legs. Telling me that was akin to ripping my chest open, reaching in and squeezing my heart. My poor little baby had been suffering while his mama tried to deny there was a problem. To make matters worse, the doctor then took him into an X-ray room and tried to X-ray him without sedation. I could hear him squealing and then the vet came back out and said nope, sorry, we will have to sedate. I felt like Hitler. Since the entire process would take a while, I found a Waffle House nearby and ordered some food. I was the only person there and kind of felt like one of those lonely paintings where the guy is alone in the diner. I kept waiting for the waitress to ask me what was wrong - I even sighed and put my head in my hands once or twice - but I'm not sure her life is exactly panning out, so no Waffle House confessions. When I got back to the vet's office I asked to see Copper even though I think they were trying to keep him in recovery a little longer. I sort of insisted so they brought him out. I've never seen a dog look so shaky and confused. While the vet and I looked at his X-rays and talked about our options, I stroked Copper's side and he relaxed. He is a sucker for touch, just like his mama. His dysplasia is treatable although there is a surgery available. He'd have to have it within the next two months. It is around $3,000. I told the vet if it were an emergency I'd scrape it together but he said his dysplasia is probably not bad enough to warrant that surgery. So now Copper is on 1500 miligrams of Glucosamine a day, a kick-ass pain pill and a special food. The doctor also recommended massage. Something I will try to document by video and show you guys.