Chloe health update

I regret not taking her to the veterinarian earlier.

It turns out she has hurt her thoracic (middle-to-upper) area of her back. She may be in the beginnings of slipping a disk. She may have simply hurt herself. An X-ray at this point wouldn't distinguish the difference and treatment for both conditions is the same.

* She's on muscle relaxers and pain killers.
* For the next four weeks she must be in her kennel at all times, except to go to the bathroom, during which I'm to keep her on a short leash. And when she's on my lap. The vet doesn't want to risk her running around and reinjuring herself.
* The vet taught me how to lift her to not cause further damage.
* I need to put her on a heating pad three times a day, for 10 minutes each time.

She's miserable in her kennel all day while my roommate and her sister, who is visiting from Casper, have a life. She barks her bloody head off and my roommate puts her in another room because her voice is rather shrill.

She may be regaining her appetite, which is delightful, as she has lost weight. She's down to 10.6 pounds. Before she was 11 pounds.

If she doesn't show improvement in five days, I have to take her back to the vet. Most likely, she'll improve and start acting normal again. But I have to keep her in the kennel because she won't be fully healed.

I have to stick with the kenneling and other instructions because if she slips a disk, I will have to make a decision about expensive surgery or... well...

Coincidental, but I have scoliosis and thoracic curve is the one that causes me the most pain. So I'm suffering in solidarity with her.

The above photo was taken in the springtime. I was trying to photograph her sleeping on her back. She likes to stretch her back for about 25 minutes each night.