[NAGDU] An update on my retired guide, Pascal.

Wed Nov 30 04:32:27 UTC 2016

Deanna,
It's Sharonda and I have a pet dog named Puddun. She is a 6-yr-old
female Pitbull. Starting in April, we noticed that she was having
trouble walking. This was truly odd for her, seeing that she was the
life of the party at any dog park or at doggie daycare. I took her to
one vet and they could find nothing wrong with her hips after
manipulating them for a while. However, my intuition told me that
there was indeed something wrong, so I took her somewhere else for a
second opinion. This particular vet took her out walking around the
grounds and immediately saw her knee popping out and told us that she
had a torn ACL. She was scheduled for surgery at once.

By May, she had torn her other ACL. So on May 25, she had them both
operated on. This meant she was unable to walk at all. Yes for the
first night, she whimpered and moaned; she inched closer to me and
slept right under me like I was her doggy mom. It is true that for the
first few weeks, she had a strict regimen of pills that she had to
take. the casts came off next, but she still was quite unsteady and
needed to be lifted and carried. Later on, as the number of pills
dwindled, she was given a shot that we administered three times a
week. This was to help her joints get stronger. From what I can
remember, within three months, she was doing short walks only, but she
was happy about that. Her bones were growing well within the
structures and everything. Unfortunately, she had a setback in early
September so we've had to take a tad bit longer than normal. But now,
our girl is walking and gliding normally. She goes to the dog parks
every once in a while and loves them. She still plays with other dogs,
but sometimes, you'll catch her resting.

A few things that we've done to help Miss Puddun:
1. We bought a product called The Missing Link Ultimate Hip, Joint &
Coat Dog Supplement from Amazon for $20.99. The link is:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SSN04M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2. We have also given her 1 tsp turmeric,  and 1 tsp flaxseed along
with her food.

I think we are friends on Facebook, so if you have any other
questions, please feel free to ask. As someone else said in a prior
email, the process is slow, but recovery is sure! Here's to Pascal's
health!

Sharonda

On 11/29/16, Charlene Ota via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi, Deanna,  Well, not that long after I got my guide Irish, I had gotten
> to
> work one day without any mishap, but I noticed that as the morning went on
> he was getting gimpier and gimpier till it seemed like he could hardly even
> walk.  At noon, I called the vet in a panic and she told me to calm down,
> the office was very busy that day and she wouldn't be able to fit him in
> but
> she told me to give him an appropriate dose of baby asprin and take him
> home
> and let him rest. If he wasn't better the next day she would see him. I was
> in such a panic, so called a cab and the driver had to help me get him in
> the car. When we got home, I had to get help getting him up the stgeps to
> the back door, too. When he got in the house he managed to get to his bed,
> which, he never wanted to lay on any other time. I had to feed him before
> giving him the asprin, so I got his food ready, and being the good lab that
> he is, he drug himself over to that bowl to eat. I got the asprin in him,
> and my husband and I got him outside so he could relieve, and then we jusr
> let him rest on his bed. A few hours later, I was so shocked because he was
> up running around like nothing had happened to him.  I called the vet and
> she told me he may have pulled a muscle or something but she wanted to
> x-ray
> him and see to make sure he was all right.  About a week later, I took him
> in and she sedated him and x-rayed his hips and such and then manipulated
> his joints as well.  Turns out his left knee pops out very easily and most
> of the time, he can pop it back in but that particular day for some reason
> he couldn't but given a chance to rest and with the help of the asprin, I
> guess you could say it took care of itself. At that time, sshe told me that
> if he did end up having knee troubles at some point, that he could have
> surgery to repair his knee.  I had never heard of dogs having trouble with
> their knees before. I just thought I would share that situation as it kind
> of relates. Fortunately, it's probably 8 years later and Irish has never
> had
> that happen to him again. He'll be 12 years old in January. He's really
> slowing down now and his joints are really starting to give him trouble. We
> use the lift on the paratransit vans now for him and that gives him the
> opportunity to still go to work with me which he still wants to do. I'm
> sorry your guide had to retire early, but keep us posted on how he's doing.
>
> Best, Charlene
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Deanna Lewis via
> NAGDU
> Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 12:11 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> (nagdu at nfbnet.org) <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Deanna Lewis <DLewis at clovernook.org>
> Subject: [NAGDU] An update on my retired guide, Pascal.
>
> Hi all,
> I hope all of you are doing well.
> I just wanted to send in a quick update about my retired guide dog, Pascal.
> Pascal retired early, so he is only 9 years old. Pascal injured his leg
> while playing a few weeks ago. My vet worried that he may have torn his
> ACL,
> but wasn't able to tell for sure. So, he referred us to an orthopedic
> surgeon. It turns out that not only did Pascal tear his ACL, but he also
> dislocated his patella. He will be needing surgery to repair the damage.
> Apparently, this is a pretty common injury for dogs. Have any of you all
> faced this issue? Did your dog need surgery? And how did the surgery go?
> Pascal is going in tomorrow morning for his surgery. He will not be able to
> eat or drink after midnight, so I know he won't be a happy camper! LOL. I
> will keep you all updated on how things go.
> Deanna with Mambo and retired Pascal
>
>
>
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-- 
Sharonda Greenlaw
National Federation of the Blind
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