Boy, didn't Denim give us a scare last night!!!!

Darcy and Denim

As many of you know we have two beautiful canine boys, both Weimaraners, Darcy and Denim. Some of you are also aware that Darcy is our problem child with a rare spinal condition called Myelodysplasia, a form of spinal cord malformation. He has had it since birth and it is not painful, but means he is very wobbly and kind of bunny hops when he should be running. There are also a number of other "issues" that he has, from skin problems to gut problems. Because of his condition he is a regular visitor to our wonderful local vets. So when we had to make a call at 10pm last night to the on-call vet, it would have come as a suprise that we were seeking help about our other boy Denim.

Denim (modelling for me with my new camera)

Denim had been fine all day. Ate his dinner as usual, and had retired to his inside bed whilst Brett and I watched television. When Brett went to let him out for his usual toilet stop, he had alot of trouble getting up. Normally he flies out the door and does a few laps around the yard before peeing!

I was off getting ready for bed and came back out to see what was taking them so long. Brett then told me that he was walking funny. He was staggering a bit and looked like the messages from his brain weren't reaching his back end like they should. Having experienced this with Darcy, we were pretty concerned. Knowing that we were looking at an after hours call-out fee of $135 for the vet to meet us at the clinic, Brett reluctantly decided to make the call.

Well, I'm glad we did, as it turns out he has damaged his spine. After many tests and an eventual X-ray the vet found that he has injured his spinal cord, and was in significant pain, hence the walking very gingerly. The injury is not life threatening, but enough to warrent 2 weeks "bed rest". Now anyone who knows Denim, knows that he is not very good at lying around all day. He is very active and runs laps of the yard most of the day. The vet feels he has probably been doing this when he has done the damage. So we are trying to come up with some sort of cage for him - poor bugger! The vet suggested boarding him at the clinic, but we have decided we just can't do that to him. So now I am on "Denim watch" for today and tomorrow until Brett has the day off on Tuesday and can rig up some sort of enclosure.

So all up a pretty crappy evening. I must say we have been very lucky with our vet clinic. They have been wonderful with Darcy's issues and very rarely charge us much for any of his visits. They have however - due to our dramas with the cat Oscar, Denim tearing his foot open and Darcy having a nasty gut infect (all happening since January) - received well over $3000 from us this year. As Brett keeps on reminding me, we should have got Pet Insurance. Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing!!! So the moral of today's story is, if you love your pets - and your wallet - GET PET INSURANCE. We may have been particularly unlucky this year with our lot - but any new pets in the future will be fully covered. And yes, $3000 is a lot of money, but we wouldn't have it any other way! I just wish that we had held off buying my flash birthday present - oh well, it's too late now!

Hope you are all having a better weekend than us!

Love Cass xoxo