[Mom of 2 Beagles]

RC: How is Bernie doing?

 

[ricksconnected]

bernie is doing ok. i found by accident that his back is still sore. we were playing and i ran my hand down his back and i got a yelp.
hes had this scab at the lower point of his scar.
its been there to long in my opinion. so it keeps getting my attention when im rubbing on him. so finally i HAD to move in for a closer look.
/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif
it was a blue scab. so i looked into it a little more. just picking at it a bit. looking.
nope. thats no scab. the monofiliment they used to stitch him up with on the inside has grown up through his skin. "what the ....."
i freaked out big time. i called his regular doc this morning (david sewell) and asked about it. he was busy but the guirl said that it sometimes happens. im taking him in next thurs to get it snipped away. im tellin ya, i freaked out.
bernie still has a bit of a drunken walk. i asked her about that too. she said that that might not ever go away. she explained the "degenerative disease" thing to me. said this could happen over and over again to bernie.
lord knows i hope not. has this ever happened multiple times to any dogs you folks know of with degenerative disk disease? is it really possible? murphysdad?
bernie is still eating real good, drinking too.
still sleeps on the floor w/dad at night. :thumbup:
im still worried about his back. not sure if im a worry wart or i have good reason. as ive stated before, ive never been through this before. not sure if bernie is where he should be in his recovery, falling behind, or what. in my head, he should be healed up and ready to kick butt.
but im just not sure ya know?

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Glad to hear he is doing ok. I too hoped he would be running and frolicking back to normal by now. But I have no idea how long it actually takes to recover from something like this.

Hopefully Bernie will continue to improve.

Keep us posted.

 

[Genie]

When you go in next Thursday to have the "blue thingy" snipped away, will you be seeing his regular doctor? Maybe he'd have a better idea of where Bernie is in his recovery. Sometimes it's hard to see much of a change when you're there day to day, but someone who hasn't seen him in a while might think he's progressing really well. I sure hope so!! Give sweet Bernie a tummy rub for me!

 

[ricksconnected]

bernie is still wanting to be pretty active. like i said, at night he sleeps on the floor with me beside his crate. hes very active and wants to romp about like hes 3 mo old. i put the brakes on it though. he thinks he cured and ready for battle. that lady i talked to said he sounds like hes right where he needs to be as far as his recovery goes. she said its gonna take months before bernie is ready for a normal life. months.
murphysdad said the same. i guess its a little hard seeing him every day and not being able to notice a difference as it happens. over the long run i can tell changes. i just want him to have a quality life, and get him back in it.
im so worried another disk is gonna fail him. then theres the knee thing thats being talked about on here now too. ive never seen a breed have so many health issues. it sucks to. beagles are far my fav dog. i just need to think long and hard if i want another one or not. way way way to many health issues. ive just never seen anything like it before. its just sad.

 

[Murphys Dad]

RC: Don't give up on the beagle breed!! In spite of Maggie's long and complicated medical history, I wouldn't trade in one second of our time together and I definitely see beagles in my future. I believe that one of the things that makes this BW forum so great is how involved we get in each other's lives, albeit, for the most part, only over the internet. For that reason, I think we feel each other's pain when our pups are sick -- is this because we have beagles and not another breed? Who knows - but, for every beagle that has health problems, there are hundreds more that don't. Also, keep in mind that many of us have rescue beagles who may well have not received the best of medical care when it was most important during puppyhood and early adulthood. I know that you could not resist another set of beagle eyes and beagle ears! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Our male Pooh Bear has been very healthy (knock on wood). He is 7 years old and so is Sadie. Sadie has just had some bad luck with her herniated disk and now we find out she has this hip problem. Pooh Bear has not had any problems other than being a bit too chunky. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[Murphys Dad]

Actually Rick, Beagles are a rather healthy breed. That is one of the biggest reasons why so many are used in laboratories and experimented on. It's just that we tend to talk here about the health issues we encounter to get some advice and encouragement when things are bad. Lots of us have (knock wood) perfectly healthy babies. So far (knock wood again!), the only problems I've had with Jersey have been from her Beagley nose leading her to things her Beagley belly shouldn't be eating. Beagles are known for disc issues, but I don't think any breed doesn't have a common problem that they are known for. You know you couldn't pass up on another little Beagle face...big floppy ears, soulful brown eyes... :heart:

 

[kgh]

From my experiences, I totally agree. The back and leg problems seem to come from the 2 beagle speeds - fast and really fast. Mine will skip the last four steps from upstairs and just launch if they are trying to get somewhere. I have seen them cut corner chasing squirrels that almost has them 90 degrees or better.
The stomach problems all stem from the nose! :angryfire:
Cricket lived to be 16 and I always felt that she deserved the best care I could give her after having been treated by "man" the way she was. Considering her start in life she was very healthy. Anyway, I am blathering on again, but I think you get the idea. :eyes:

 

[littlemo]

Hi Rick,

Daisy is going on 8 and she's had no health issues yet (knock on wood!) She's always eating all kinds of things in the yard that I don't really want to think about, ukey: but she doesn't seem any worse for it, except for very rarely throwing up.

I do agree that all breeds have their particular health problems. Beagles seem to be strong and pretty hardy dogs, in my opinion.

Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Monica and Daisy /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[ricksconnected]

believe me when i tell you that i love the beagle breed as much as anybody does. they just seem to have a lot of "life threatening and quality of life threatening" issues going on.
i would love to have a beagle puppy in the house
again. bernie would love it too.
im just having major second thoughts about it.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Rick,

If its IVDD, it can affect all disks. But like I said, a full recovery takes time. Bernie is still early in his recovery. For now, be happy he is walking. As for his back bing sore, you world be too if someone opened you up and kept pushing on the scar. :eyes:

Time will tell the tale. Again, patience is a must.

 

[ricksconnected]

murphysdad

lol, i wasnt actually pushing on it,just kinda rubbing him a little. im just not liking seeing him there day after day in his kennel.
that poor little boy. lord how that must suck.
im not sure if its IVVD or not, i'll have to reread his papers. is that what murph has?

 

[Murphys Dad]

Murphy had two herniated disks where the lumbar and thoracic meet. The repair removed the pressure on the spinal cord, so there should not {knock-on-wood} be a re-occurrence. But there was bruising of the spinal cord, hence his issues. Sadly, if his regular vet would have been on-call that weekend, things mightt have turned out differently.

IVDD is degenerative and affects all the disks.