The Arthritis Adventures

You know that feeling when the veterinary technician takes your dog in the back so they can “start the procedure?”

Worst feeling ever. Especially when the dog puts on the brakes when you reach the point that you can’t go with them anymore.

Ugh. The worst.

Today is joint injection day for Tango. I know he’s in good hands. We’re at a sports medicine veterinary specialist for freak’s sake. These people do this kind of thing every single day. It’s not even surgery, I keep telling myself.

If you’ve been following along, you know that Tango’s arthritis has gotten worse.

Our real trouble started when the NSAIDs he was taking for pain caused an ulcer. While the NSAID was a great pain reliever, it’s now not a tool we can use to help manage Tango’s pain. Dang it — it seemed to be working great when it wasn’t eating through his stomach.

Because NSAIDs were off the table, we added laser and massage therapy.

And exercise. And stretching. And muscle relaxers. Now, we’re adding joint injections.

Tango is 13 and we knew arthritis was in his future.

It’s the reason he was released from the service dog agency when he was an adolescent (no symptoms, but x-rays showed definitive trouble early on…). So it’s not like any of this is a surprise. It doesn’t make it any easier to watch him go through the stages, however.

So now we’re at the joint injection stage. This seemed like a long way away when the options were laid out earlier this year.

Denial?

Oh yeah, that’s my middle name. “He’s only 13 years old!” I’d tell myself. He’s got a couple more years left before we have to even think about this level of treatment.

Denial is a great thing sometimes. But then real life says “Hey you! Pay attention! This sh!+’s REAL!” Sometimes real life is a buzzkill, y’know?

Time will tell how much these injections help.

And time will tell how expensive they’ll be. I got an estimate that ranged from $250 – $1,000. It all depends on sedation, if I’m remembering correctly. And how frequently he needs the injections.

I’ll write a post-injection blog post a little later — with hopefully rave reviews.

Anyone out there experienced joint injections (hyaluronic acid) for their arthritic dog? Any pointers? Helpful information? Please leave a comment and let me know!