13/10/2023
‼️ Long Post Alert ‼️
The paramount importance of pain in dogs.
Ask yourself, do you enjoy being in pain?
Because just like us, dogs sure as hell don’t either - so why treat them any differently?
And I can tell you for absolute certain, having lived this nightmare for the last three years, the worst type of pain isn’t the sort of pain you can physically see. It’s not the pain that is obvious to diagnose and in time will get better - it’s the hidden pain.
It’s the pain that comes and goes. Completely unpredictably. That one week has disappeared, they are on the up and thriving! But, the next week they are crippled in utter agony. And, for no real reason or obvious explanation?
Maybe it’s the weather? That walk was 5 minutes longer yesterday, it must be that. She turned a bit funny getting out of the car?
Pain can show in so many different forms. In our experience, it manifests not only physically but mentally too.
A dog should want to go for a walk right? It should be the single most important aspect of a dogs day to day, aside from eating of course!
Unbeknown to us, Mila’s tried to show us she was in pain from when she was 6 months old.
In one of these memory photos - October 2020 - the week prior to this she was diagnosed with panosteitis.
Quite a normal diagnosis for a very young, large breed dog given how quickly they grow. Growing pains, basically. She started with a stiff gait and limp. A week of lead walks only, some Pardale and she’d be right as rain.
Looking back at our journey so far after this early diagnosis, she showed us pain in so many other ways.
Ignoring us when asked if she’d like to go out. Literally cowering away from us and ‘buckarooing’ when we tried to put a collar or harness on her.
Refusal to move off her bed, but also pacing around because she couldn’t get herself comfortable.
I remember vividly the times I’d get her in the car which took LOTS of cheese for persuasion, and she would throw herself in to me with all of her might to get out, DESPERATE to not go wherever we were going.
On walks she’d repeatedly lay down after ten, fifteen minutes of walking. Then stiffly continue with all of her might.
These are just a few examples.
Then there’s the mental aftermath! The anxiety she experiences related to going out means pain! The lack of confidence through not wanting to do anything because it hurts.
The final final straw was when in the middle of the night she chewed through the plasterboard on a wall, the corner of a radiator and skirting board in the hallway. Mila had NEVER destroyed anything in the house. Tell a lie, two cushions, but that is it! She was never destructive. She was bloody brilliant frankly as a pup.
Blood tests, scans, X-rays, joint taps, behavioural intervention, we threw EVERYTHING we could at her. Yet, she still wasn’t the Mila we used to know. Pain was still gripping her somewhere that the eyes couldn’t see!
Through the dedication of some truly special people who have helped us over the years, I have learnt how to read Mila.
They have taught me how to read Mila’s body language. How important it is for her to feel safe and comfortable and how imperative it is to give her choices, given that I have control over every other aspect of her life.
But most importantly, I have learnt that absolutely any change of normal behaviour needs exploring. Or, it at least needs documenting with yourself and monitoring.
We have off days, but generally we as mere humans are able to communicate exactly why we aren’t feeling ourselves, if we want to. Often it can be the other way round with dogs. They want to tell us what’s wrong.
Dog’s have a harder time doing this, but they absolutely 100% try to communicate their feelings to us. Just watch them.
As owners, we are our dog’s advocate.
We are their voice in the good times, the bad and outright ugly.
In fact, the first vet Mila saw when she was 8 months old to explore her change in behaviour and limp further, told me I was imagining what I was seeing and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her! I was completely shocked - however I refused to give up! I KNOW my girl and I knew something wasn’t right.
Do not be afraid to push the professionals. Ask for second opinions, ask for referrals.
These two posts fill me with so many mixed emotions. They were only a year apart yet in that year we’d been through the mill.
We.. more so I, couldn’t come to terms with the fact we didn’t have a “normal” dog.
A dog in pain consumes you. Especially when you are SO desperate to help them.
You throw everything you have at trying to fix them. God, SO much money. MANY hours researching, crying and coming up with ideas of how you can explore what is happening to find a solution to this silent pain.
It’s emotional turmoil. It’s feeling like you have failed them over and over again, they are better off elsewhere. The constant frustration of WHY is this happening to us?
Something new to deal with - AGAIN!
We grieved for that “normal” dog and adjusted our life so as to accept the beautiful girl she become.
People say I’m crazy. I’m not crazy.
I merely treat my girl like the member of our family she is. You wouldn’t let another human suffer, so why would we let her?
She’s three and a half years old now. We’ve been riding this pain wave for almost three years. And we’ll ride it for however long we need to, however. She is doing brilliantly in her recovery.
She isn’t a pain - but the very definition of it.
We are always hopeful 🤞🏻
