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.  

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Poor Seamus!  I hope it's nothing serious and he is feeling better soon.

[Seamus & Haidee]

Im so sorry to hear this about Seamus. Our dog is named Seamus also and he is sending his healing thoughts to you.  I would also recommend a second opinion and hope he gets immediate attention soon.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Oh poor baby, I hope he is feeling better soon.

[Carol and Banjo]

So sorry to hear about Seamus.....keeping you in my thoughts for a full recovery.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I hope you get some answers soon.  I second the second opinion :)  And happy late 1st birthday to Patrick!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

So sorry that Seamus is injured and in such pain. I hope you get some answers and resolution for him tomorrow. I have no experience with this type of injury so no help there I'm afraid. Please keep us posted.

[Sheila & Finnley]

Sending speedy recovery wishes for Seamus, and good thoughts and wishes for all your of your family.

[Christine & Shelby]

Oh my.... so sorry to hear that Seamus is hurt.   I don't know anything about cost or treatment for this type of injury, but what I do know is that I hope you are able to control his pain and that the doctors are able to fix him right up.  Please do keep us updated!

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

I'm so sorry to read this about Seamus and hope that you get all your answers tomorrow! 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Sorry to read your post about Seamuys - I hope they can make him feel better quickly.  Keep us posted!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Please keep us posted on Seamus. I'm so very sorry and pray there is a simple cure for him

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I hope Seamus heals well.  Just a bit of information about one of my son's rescue dogs.  This dog, Blue, was rescued by a reputable breed rescuer of Siberians.  The vet said he and his companion must have been on their own for awhile before being rescued.  Blue had fractured his shoulder and it had healed untended.  You can clearly see the healed slightly displaced fracture and he toes out a little on that leg.  He was about 18 months at the time.  When my son rescued him, he took him to his vet to consult about fixing the shoulder.  That vet brought in an orthopedic vet to consult.  Long story short - cost aside, the decision was to leave the shoulder alone as the best option.  Blue is now 5 and doing well.  He does favor that leg after a very long walk or hard play.  He will run (miles) with with my son, but it leaves him very sore and after consulting with the vet, Blue goes only on long walks as overall the running is not the best idea.  Maybe that will give you some idea of the long term effects of a shoulder injury.