Darcy had an accident last week. I let her out in the late
afternoon while I got her dinner ready. When I went to the door to call her in
she did not respond. I looked in the backyard and saw her at the base of the
deck stairs sitting with her back legs askew.
I grabbed my shoes and ran out. Using her front paws she
tried to move and cried in pain. She trembled, looked confused and could not
get up.
While I called the veterinarian’s office to arrange an
emergency visit, my husband carried her into the house. Writhing in pain, she bit
him on the hand, enough to break the skin.
Gradually, she gained some mobility but when she stood her
back had an arch like a fisher cat. She continued to tremble, a sign of pain.
At 10 years old, I feared we may have to put her down and I was not ready. I
just entered her photo in a Top Dog competition and felt certain she would win.
How could she get that honor posthumously? It made no sense.
The vet diagnosed a slipped disk in her back, probably from
a fall down the stairs due to icy weather. He put her on painkillers and
non-steroid anti-inflammatory meds. A week has passed and her recovery
progresses. By week’s end she will be off the meds and hopefully, fine without
them.
Tomorrow, I will take her for a short walk, the first in
over a week. I will try to build her back up to three miles a day but as the
vet explained, she has a back injury and is more prone to re-injury. We need to
take it slow and careful, as my young dog has grown old.
How quickly life can change. In the time it took to fill Darcy’s
food bowl, our world turned upside down and I felt smacked with the reality of
our mortal lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment