[1of2mommies]

My puppy had some xrays last night to recheck the source of her limping, and the vet says she has serious hip dysplasia and probably needs a hip replacement surgery to fix it.

We have two choices right now: fix the dog or keep trying to have a baby. We can't afford both.

This really, really, really sucks.

[CryingInside]

Crystal I am sooo sorry. I can't imagine trying to make that decision. I have no idea how much a hip replacement will cost, but I know it has to be outrageous if a simple hip dislocation is expensive. Would they allow you to make monthly payments on it?

I will be praying for your family and Jaida.

[evita]

Ohh Crystal, i know how much you love Jaida...but this is a precarious situation. I would be praying for Jaida. Good luck!

[sharonla]

How old is Jaida? I had 3 labs. When I was pregnant we had to make the horrible decision to put MOcha, the baby to sleep. It was terrible she was only 8 1/2. I cant believe I didnt need prozac. Now a couple weeks ago we had to put Dusty down, she was 14 1/2. We only have Rusty now. I can tell you my dogs were my babies until I had Dylan. Things change so much after a baby. I still love them, but its different they become 2nd class now.

So, if I were you I would invest in your future baby! I know its a hard decision but you can always have another dog. Its hard to understand what I just said since you dont have the baby yet and I know each dog is different and has a different place in your heart. I hope I made some sense.

[1of2mommies]

Jaida's only 17-18 months old, just a baby. We know that we don't want to let "just a dog" get in the way of our dreams for a family, it's just such a hard, heart-wrenching thing to have to consider. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I'm hoping that at the very least we can manage her discomfort for the summer.

[MustLoveDogs]

Crystal-I'm so sorry to hear about Jaida. I'll so God can give you a clear mind on what to do. I have 4 dogs at home, and each one of them is so special. I don't know what would I do in your situation.

[dherbert]

Crystal, I am so sorry about your poor little puppy.
I have 7 mini-daschunds at home and one of ours had hip problems a few different times. When the episodes would come on he could not walk,hop,jump etc... his back would become hunched and he would take a step and then fall. It was very scary to hear that we may have to put him down, but thank goodness they gave him some anti-inflamatory medicine and he got better each time. Have they tried that on Jaida yet or are they rushing you into surgery?? I have known a lot of vets to try to get you to go straight into surgery to line their pockets. you may want to get a 2nd opinion and see if they can do steroid treatment/anti-inflamatory medicines first.

If you do have to do surgery just be sure he will definately recover before putting the $$ out. If he will get better with surgery than what other option do you have, pets are family and they need us to take care of them just as a baby does. Good Luck, I will be praying for you and Jaida.

[lovingwife]

Oh Crystal, I'm so sorry. Seems like it's been a bad month for pets here. We ended up putting our sweet Tyson down last Monday because of the slipped disk in his back. He was in terrible pain and was wasting away in front of our eyes. Poor Jaida, she's just a baby. Did the vet give you any options other than surgery? I know how heart wrenching these decisions are. Keep us posted on Jaida.

[lovingwife]

Crystal, Just a follow-up. I re-read Danielle's post about steroids/anti inflammatory meds. We did the same thing with Tsyon to see if he would recover. He had been able to pull through in the past with this regimen, but just couldn't pull out of it this time. Could this maybe be an option for Jaida?