Seamus is hurt ... long post *UPDATE - home from follow up visit *

[L.M.]

Hi all.  Though I've been checking in every so often, I haven't posted in a while.  Baby plus dogs, work, and grad school has been time consuming, but things have been going great.  My son turned one in April and while this year has been a whirlwind, Seamus, Stella, and Patrick (my son) have become the best of friends.  

Unfortunately, we've had a really bad week.  Seamus had begun limping last weekend.  I came home one day after work and he didn't come to greet me (not AT ALL like him.)  He was acting strange all day and limping a bit, but nothing I couldn't explain with maybe playing too rough with Stella the day before.  Well, he behaved like this on and off all week, but not constantly.  Last night, Seamus and Stella were outside.  Seamus came trotting over to my husband and all of a sudden began yelping in pain.  He was crying and holding up his front leg...putting no weight on it whatsoever.  *Little side note- this happened a few months ago....same leg, same symptoms...took him to our regular vet who said it was simply a sprain, did no X rays, gave us some pain pills and that was that.  I should have trusted my better instincts and paid more attention to the fact that he never COMPLETELY healed and still walked a bit with a very slight limp.  

Well, last night my husband took Seamus to a wonderful veterinary hospital in Red Bank.  For those of you from NJ, I'm guessing you've heard of it?  Everyone tells me it's the best of the best and so far they seem to be wonderful.  They were there from 7:30pm to 11:00, checking his vitals, doing x rays, and all that.  Turns out he either has a fracture in his shoulder or it's dislocated.  They gave him morphine so when he came home he was in an awful state....panting, completely dazed, and just about passed out.  He woke up at 3am crying, so I brought his water bowl to him and he took a huge drink...that seemed to be what he wanted.  He stayed in our dining room all day today...he likes the carpet under the table, and this is where he's been since 6:00 this morning.  Ate a little, has been drinking, but won't walk and cries a little now and then.  It's terrible.  When he does walk, his front left leg is up and his back leg on the same side shakes because all his weight is there.  

We have an appointment back at Red Bank Vet on Saturday with a surgeon who will do more x rays and examine hi to determine the next step.  Does anyone have any experience with either a fracture or dislocated shoulder?  We will undoubtedly get this treated, but any ideas how much it will cost?  Will the surgery even work?  Can this happen again after surgery?  (Of course I'll ask the vet all this, but I just wanted to reach out to those of you who maybe have experienced it firsthand.)  Are there other questions I should ask the surgeon?  As always, thank you so much for your help.  

UPDATE:  Well, we just got home from the vet.  We met with a wonderful surgeon...everyone there is so friendly.  EXCEPT for another little dog patient who snapped at Seamus and bit him in the nose while we were in the waiting room...lol what a way to start...the little thing actually drew blood!   Anyway, so far, all we really know is that it is not a fracture or dislocation.  It seems to be something systemic...an infection of some sort.  They drew fluid from Seamus' shoulder joint and immediately knew that something was wrong...the fluid itself was abnormal, had blood in it, there was a lot of fluid itself, and whatever else would lead the doctors to believe something was off... But of course we don't know exactly what is wrong with it because they will be sending it out for testing.  She said any number of things.....lyme is being considered, bacterial infections, and she said the dreaded word (cancer), but I'm trying to stay positive.  We will know probably mid week.  For now, we still have his pain meds and she prescribed antibiotics for him to start immediately in case it is, in fact, an infection.  Any other ideas you all may have in terms of what else could cause fluid in his joint?  Please keep sending positive thoughts our way.  

[L.M.]

We are in Sayreville.  We go to Holmdel Park all the time....beautiful town!  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Poor Seamus, I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm in Chicago, and I'm familiar with Red Bank. I think you have put Seamus in very capable hands. I hope the consultation with the surgeon goes well and Seamus is soon feeling better. 

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I had my Beardie, Maggie, treated there many years ago with her last Addisonian episode. They were wonderful!!!

I, like F, am a bit confused they they are waiting to do further treatment.

I have not had a dog with an issue like this but questions I would ask:

what is the best approach to relieve Seamus' pain?

what is the long term outcome for that approach?

I would take the xrays with you (you will pay for them!) and get a 2nd opinion with a Vet Orthopedist. I live in Short Hills  and if you want I could call my vet and ask who he would recommend.  If you do, just PM me with your email address or phone #.

I will tell you that you need to be careful that he rests and does not put more strain on his other legs so you can avoid injury to them.  

[L.M.]

Thank you so much, Adrianne!  I keep second guessing the reasons why they didn't treat him immediately too.  I don't even want to say it, but I'm terrified that the general doctor saw something (a tumor) on the x rays that she couldn't confirm and wanted a surgeon to look at them and be the one to consult with us.  I know I could be jumping to ridiculous conclusions here, and I know Seamus is fairly young (4), but when I did a little of my own research on the web, bone cancer kept popping up as a possible cause of his symptoms.  Seamus also has a fever which I thought was strange, but they attributed to just stress from his pain.  I'm praying that I'm totally wrong!      

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When your husband was there, didn't they tell him what to do until Seamus is seen next and how to manage his pain?

One suggestion, if you think it is at all possible that they could do surgery when Seamus is seen next time, be sure to follow pre-surgery type rules regarding food and water. That way he would be ready.

[L.M.]

Good point about the pre-surgery prep.  They gave us pain meds and ordered him on strict bed rest, but other than that, it's just a waiting game for us now until Saturday when he meets with the surgeon.  

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

I'm so sorry to hear about Seamus. I hope he rests easy today, I bet tomorrow can't come fast enough.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so sorry to hear about Seamus...hoping you get good news tomorrow.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Poor baby.  Are you giving him the pain pills on a regular schedule.  Pain can get ahead of you and if the vet said to give him the pills, you might want to give them at the prescribed intervals to keep his pain level down rather than waiting for him to be uncomfortable so that the pain relief has to work uphill...

Hope he is able to rest and that the surgeon can relieve the problem Saturday. 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Poor Seamus.  My neighbor accidentally ran over her beagle and one of the injuries was a dislocated shoulder.  Surgery was done and she is all healed now.  She does throw her leg out as if the cast was still on it but otherwise all is ok.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

I am so sorry this is happening to you all.  I am sure you are all just worried sick.  Sorry, I have no experience with this to share with you, but I hope that he gets well really quickly.  Feel bad for the poor guy.

[Pam & Trixie]

Poor Seamus, I hope they can figure out what is causing his pain tomorrow.  And they can fix it easily.

I hope today he feels ok while you wait for tomorrow to be here soon!