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My
almost seven-year old Rottie, Bella,
was diagnosed today with severe
spondylosis. The clinical signs came
on quickly, splaying while walking
on slick floors and yesterday a sort
of dragging of her back end. While
she is not paralyzed, our vet
explained that compression on her
spinal cord could cause paralysis;
there is some definite nerve damage.
We are considering seeing an
orthopedic guy for a second opinion,
which our vet recommends, but I do
not feel that a hemilaminectomy is
something I want to go thru or put
my Bella thru.
I
want to explain how Bella came to be
in my life. I was not looking for a
dog, had never even really
considered a Rottweiler and had a
lab mix already. When my son
was 16 he came from the neighbors
carrying this rather large puppy in
his arms with the usual, “Mom can
I keep her? I promise to take care
of her.” Our neighbor (and friend)
had just had to put his Rottweiler
down and someone gave him this three
month old puppy that he did not feel
ready for, so he told my son to
bring her down to me and see what I
thought, knowing full well I would
fall in love, which I did. The sad
part was Bella was about three
months old at the time and had been
abused, or mistreated, and was very
fearful. Loving, but fearful. I of
course said yes, we will keep her.
I
took her to the vet a few days later
and he explained to me in no
uncertain terms that if I did not
get the proper training and
socialization for her I would not be
able to handle her in a year or two.
Believing every word he said I
contacted a lovely lady named Laura,
and Bella and I were off to puppy
class. She learned the basic
commands easily and became the most
social, loving, sweet tempered dog.
Her hips were x-rayed and were very
good, something which made me quite
happy, she has never had any medical
problems, always healthy. I
should also explain that my vet is a
Rottweiler devotee, having had his
for thirteen years and losing her
just three weeks ago after a year
long battle with bone cancer. Bella
is wonderful with children, I have
nine grandkids, other dogs (though
she is afraid of very small dogs
that bark at her! And will walk away
if they start), and cats. One of her
favorite pastimes is shadow chasing,
which she does little of these days.
She is protective of me and my kids
and grandkids, but not in an
aggressive way. I just know that it
would hit the fan if anyone ever
tried to hurt one of us. So instead
of my son getting a puppy, mom got
the love of her life.
Spondylosis
is a degenerative disease. At this
pint we have opted for no pain meds,
I believe the vet mentioned Rimadyl?
But he and I both agree that to rid
her of all pain may be dangerous, as
it may cause her to do something and
actually “blow out” the disk,
which can result in spinal cord
damage and paralysis. I guess the
paralysis is my worst fear because
at that point I would have to put
her down if she becomes
incapacitated or is in a great deal
of pain, which she seems not to be
at this point. They still sometimes
do hemilaminectomies but I have
already ruled that out, I think.
Bella
seems to be in no pain, thankfully.
In my life I have had several dogs,
but Bella is my special one. She is
such a part of me and my life.
We will see how things
progress, or more hopefully do not
progress.
~
~ ~
More
info on Spondylosis:
UPDATE
ON
BELLA...
Submitted
by Patricia McCarley
July 14,
2003:
I
emailed
you
a
few
months
ago
with
my
story
of
Bella.
Now
I
have
more
bad
news
but
nothing
definite
as
we
are
going
to
see
the
specialist
tomorrow.
Bella
has
many
white
spots
in
her
chest-on
x-ray;
the
emergency
vet
that
we
took
Bella to says
cancer.
I
took
her
today
because
something
was
just
not
right,
nothing
major
and
I
did
not
notice
the
blood
in
her
eye
until
we
got
to
the
vet.
Her
right
eye
was
bloody,
she
is
panting
much
more
than
usual.
His
differential
diagnosis
is
Hypema,
lung
nodules,
possible
neoplasia
or
disseminated
fungal
infection.
(I
doubt
the
latter).
So
we
will
go
see
her
regular
vet
in
the
morning
then
on
to
the
specialist.
I
needless
to
say
am
heartbroken,
but
for
tonight
Bella
is
home
with
me
and
happy
and
comfortable. I
will
let
you
know
how
Bellas
story
turns out.
Later
that day:
After spending
two days with vets, the specialist
did an ultrasound and aspirated her
spleen, her best guess is
lymphosarcoma. We will have the
results back tomorrow about noon.
For today she is home and
comfortable.
July
15, 2003:
Bella
has hemangiosarcoma. While my vet
is talking with an oncologist
today, my understanding is that by
the time it has spread to the
lungs the prognosis is poor. She
is at home today with my son and comfortable
but my dear old friend and I will
probably take our last ride
together in the next couple of
days. This is the hardest thing I
have ever done Liz.
July 16,
2003:
At
5:10 p.m. today my best friend Bella went
to sleep for the last time. It was
peaceful, she was with those she
loved and who loved her. There is
emptiness in our house that you can
see; the hole in my heart is less
visible but there none the less. I
like to think that she can again run
and chase shadows and that she is
with my mom and dad. They can take
her to the race track and my dad can
feed her all of the ice cream cones
she wants, there is no weight issue
where they are. We spent our last
day lying on the floor and she ate
two ice cream cones and even a cone
full of baby food meat, treats she
loved and never got. Last night was
a rough one for her with breathing
and today she was having some
trouble walking. You were right, she
told me and because I love her so
much I listened. I saw her pathology
report today, what a mess. I will
have her ashes returned to me and
keep her with me and someday we will
again be together.
Thank
you Liz for your support.
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