Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Time For a Fiona Update

Fiona has been to 3 different vets for consultations on her hips (Calve Perthes Disease). All the vets agree that she definitely has the disease, definitely needs surgical correction, and all are recommending the same surgical procedure. We were encouraged that she might only have it in one hip when we heard that only 10 percent of dogs with this condition actually have it in both hips.... no such luck there, it's in both hips.

Cost has been a big factor in this decision for Craig and I. In years past Craig and I have had general conversations stating that we would never spend a huge amount of money on trying to save a dog. Never did we think that we would actually be in that position of having to make that type of decision. When I'm at work I would be telling myself that we had to make this a practical decision and not let our emotions make this decision... then I would get home and see her and I would absolutely melt. Ultimately, our decision was finally based on the fact that she doesn't have some condition that can't be helped. It's not like she has a terminal or chronic condition that can't be cured such as cancer. All the vets have told us that these dogs go on to live long productive painless lives. They said that after surgery we will not be able to even tell that she has this disease. They will not fix both hips at the same time so she will have 2 surgeries about a month apart. The vet we are going with quoted us about $700 per hip which we were very happy with as the other vets quoted us double that amount. We feel this is doable.
Fiona's first surgery is set up for June 2nd. In the meantime Fiona is getting lots of attention and pampering. Her every whim is catered to and we love babying her. Twice a day she is given anti-inflammatory' and amazingly she gets around pretty well.

More to follow.....

2 comments:

Minerva said...

You and Craig are angels.

Ruby Bleu said...

Ruby and I will be thinking good thoughts on Fiona...she's soooooo cute!