Poor Nash

My dog Nash is having a hard time.

Yesterday, he tripped over Dasha while trying to jump up on a bench and fell smack on the floor, against the bench. Then he walked across the room and peed all over the place, looking at me helplessly all the while. Later yesterday I noticed his urine had blood in it, so I took him in to the vet. The vet said it was probably just a bruise to his bladder that he got when he fell, but put him on an antibiotic, since it could possibly be a bladder infection.

This morning he was laying on the bed, and I noticed he was trying to get up and was having trouble. A similar thing happened a couple of weeks ago, but he was sort of in an awkward spot and finally did get up then, so we just kind of laughed it off. This time I tried to help him, and he still couldn't get up. I picked him up and tried to stand him on the floor, and he fell down. He kept trying to stand and walk. He would take a few clumsy steps and fall down or run into something.

I was panicked. I called a friend who lives down the street and asked her to come over, which she did right away. By the time she got there, he was doing better, but I wanted to take him to the vet anyway. My vet is closed on Fridays, so she called hers. She went with me to take him in. He didn't have any more of these episodes. After examining him thoroughly, the vet said she didn't think it was a neurological problem (I had thought it was a seizure), but rather that he had deformed kneecaps. She thought probably his kneecap had locked into place so he couldn't bend it, which is why he couldn't get up or walk. Still, she said to watch him, if it happens again, and make sure he isn't disoriented and that he is breathing okay.

He has given us a lot to worry about and cost us quite a bit of money in the past couple of days, but hopefully none of these things is too serious. Nash is our "boy," and I think we both realized anew what a big part of our lives he is when all this happened. We are thankful for him (and Dasha), and hope they both have many years of good health ahead of them.