Update on Dixie

Just got back from the vet and here’s the scoop:

The urinary tract infection is probably under control since she’s not going in the house, but we have to wait until after she’s done with her antibiotics before they can do another urinalysis.

All her other symptoms (finicky appetite, restlessness at night, sluggishness, leg shaking, confusion) are caused by old age and/or senility. They gave us Anipryl, which treats cognitive dysfunction disorder (senility), and we’ll see how that works. The vet said it takes a month to see results. She also said to feed her whatever she wants. Old dogs get finicky and it’s okay to feed them people food as long as it’s not greasy or fatty; it’s not ideal but getting them to eat is more important. She ate chicken out of the vet’s lunch bag with no problem.

Lastly, they did an x-ray and discovered she has slight arthritis in one hip and a severely dislocated other hip, which is why she’s falling down all the time and is in constant pain in her hindquarters. Tomorrow they’re going to anesthetize her and pop the hip back into place while she’s asleep. She’s probably been walking around on it like this for months, which means it may not stay once they set it. They’ll keep it bandaged for a day or two, then see if it stays set after the bandage comes off. If it pops back out of joint, we can either do bone surgery or just keep her the way she is. The vet seemed to think at her age she’s better off not having the surgery, since she is at least able to walk.

Hopefully her hip will stay fixed without surgery and the Anipryl will get her acting more like herself again.