Chai's got wheels!

Well, we made it to the rehab vet in Albuquerque. She spent an hour with Chai, doing an assessment, teaching us exercises, and talking about equipment. Chai has, at this point, a moderate degree of degenerative myelopathy, which means she can still walk, but with some difficulty. She also has something called intervertebral disc disease, which I want to learn more about, but it involves pain in the mid to lower back. I tell ya, I couldn't tell that Chai was having pain - she just crashes around like it's no problem. Those Chessies are so tough...

This photo shows Chai "en pointe", where she knuckles over.



So the vet recommended Tramadol, an opiate pain killer. I haven't gotten it yet. I hope it doesn't make Chai groggy - so far this disease of DM has not changed her personality, except possibly made her a little softer and gentler, that could also be her ripe age of 12. Chai was on NSAIDs for about 8 months last year. It gave her about half a year more of vigorous play time, but then she started having side effects - vomiting and depression. No good.

Then, the really good news is that one of the vet's previous clients had donated her dog's wheels and I got to take them home! For $75. They are usually around $400. Chai walked around in her new cart at the vet's, no problem, but now that we're home, she doesn't want to use it. I put her in it for 5 minutes a day, which is the amount of time she's supposed to be limited to for the first week, but she mostly just stands there.


The other great news is that the vet thinks the growth on Chai's side is a wart or sebaceous cyst! So there!