Oh, My Aching Back!!

Bailey's back hurts. It hurts a lot.

It started earlier this week when she seemed to be limping. I gave her a Rimadyl and she seemed a little better. The next morning she was worse. She didn't want to come out of her crate and didn't want to eat breakfast. I gave her another Rimadyl and told Rob to keep an eye on her when he took them all outside.

He came in and said there was something wrong with Bailey, so we put everyone else inside and examined her. I checked her back legs and feet but didn't find anything wrong. She just wanted to lie down so we started walking her back to the house when Rob ran his hands along her sides. When he got to a certain place, she collapsed. We put her in her crate and called the vet.

This morning we took her in to see Dr B. He said he wanted to start at the nose and work back to the tail, but when he got to that spot in her back, she again dropped . He checked her legs for strength and balance, they were OK. He took her temperature and she was running a fever of 103.5 degrees.

So, for now we're hoping that she has an infection that has settled in her back. We're treating her with a strong antibiotic, a muscle relaxer and pain pills. She has to rest except for outings on leash to relieve herself. He told me certain things to watch for and if she's not better by Monday night, she'll have xrays on Tuesday.

She's being a very good patient. She just wants to stay in her crate and sleep. When I looked in on her a few minutes ago, she was asleep with her leg across her teddy bear. She looks so sweet.