Howie has been home from the hospital for two days now. Last night he showed his normal excitement at the sight of Yavuz and I returning from work to take him for a walk. He still is dealing with some level of discomfort as he let out a small yelp when petted near his back left hind leg (this is where is Hip Dysplasia is). He also no longer flops to lay down as he did in the past. Now he either stands in one place for a while or circles a spot until he builds up the courage to lower himself slowly, obviously feeling some pain along the way.
He is eating and drinking again. However, he does not wish to play tug-of-war or fetch, two of his favorite games. Howie is provided 1-2 pills a day that is supposed to dull/kill his pain. Furthermore, a calcium supplement has been added to his daily feeding to help strengthen his bones.
Beth Dimmock, an old friend/work colleague provided Yavuz the name of a Orthopedic doctor from Tufts that she had used with her own dog. She highly recommended him. I plan to call him today to make an appointment for the little guy.
In the meantime, we will follow the doctors instruction to provide Howie daily exercise and will cut back on the amount of treats and food he receives on a daily basis to reduce his weight (although I think this is a bit unnecessary as he is in great shape and not a pound overweight).
Yavuz and I also discussed last night when we think he began to exhibit signs of discomfort due to his disease. For over a month, Howie would randomly stop whatever he was doing and try to reach his head around to his back hind leg as if trying to scratch an itch. He and I always assumed that he had some bug bite or sting he was dealing with. However, we both now recognize that this had to have been a reaction to the pain he was beginning to feel due to the Dysplasia.
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