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

Wed Nov 30 17:55:10 UTC 2016

Thanks for the information. I find it very helpful. 
We dropped off Pascal this morning and they planned to do his surgery this morning. As of right now, we haven't heard anything. I will call soon to check up on him. And hopefully he should be able to come home tomorrow afternoon. 
Deanna

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sharonda Greenlaw via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 11:32 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Sharonda Greenlaw
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] An update on my retired guide, Pascal.

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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