Fat Ninja

This is Keesha. She’s a Husky/Malamute mix, and I’ve had her since she was just a little bigger than a football. She’s been a great companion of mine for the past eight years. In college she would ride shotgun with me everywhere I went, shedding all over the interior of my car. There were very few places that I went without her. Of course, when I became a father things changed a bit. I didn’t have as much time for her as I did before. Pretty soon she started putting on some pounds, but her demeanor never changed. She has been an absolute joy and just about the best dog I could ask to have around my kids. She’s patient and protective, loving and affectionate. Her affinity for our son and daughter is boundless, and her way of jumping between us in the midst of horseplay really shows how much of a mother she would have been if she hadn’t been spayed.

Unfortunately, we found out a few weeks ago that Keesha has bladder stones. The veterinarian prescribed some antibiotics and a special food to fight the infection while breaking down the stones. Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be working. Laura came home to find that Keesha had had an accident while she was out, and there was a blood clot in her urine. The vet had told us that if the food/antibiotics combo wasn’t effective, our only other option would a $1200 surgical procedure. Well, with all of the money we’ve put into the house and the previous vet visits for Keesha and Angel, we’re in no position to afford the surgery. I’m afraid that the only other option that they’re going to offer us is to put her to sleep, and I’m in no way prepared to make that decision…

UPDATE: Well, I called my Uncle Paul, who is a veterinarian. His prognosis was quite a bit more optimistic than that of our local vet clinic. He explained that the blood clots were fairly normal, given the circumstances. He has offered to look over Keesha’s lab results and give his own official diagnosis and recommendations, though he was fairly confident that if we keep her on the diet, she will get better. He told us to keep in mind that it may take a good 6-8 months to dissolve the stones completely, so we need to be patient. He also told us that we might want to get a new vet, since he charges under $500 for the same surgery that our vet wanted to charge us $1200 for. Of course, the fact that they were ready to push us into an unnecessary surgery doesn’t win them any vote of confidence either.

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