Shirley hurt her leg again.
It’s not that surprising as she and Eli are great friends with a shared fondness for no-holds-barred, puppy-brand rough and tumble whenever they meet
but this leg thing is starting to edge into Recurring Injury territory and that’s a little concerning. Thus, a trip to the vet – one of our Shirley’s most favourite places on Earth with all it’s shelves of potential treats and undiluted human adulation – was decreed necessary. Luckily, Kirsten the Vet – aside from being in the top ten of Shirley’s Awesome Human list with the footnote *always check pockets for treats -is as astute as she is wonderful and managed to detect the limp from her position in the eye of Storm Shirley. She suggested further investigation. *gulp*
There were a number of options for the cause of the recurring limp, some pretty sobering, so the Homestead was a preoccupied on Friday once she’d limp-skipped off with The Bean Counter to spend the morning at the vets being anesthetised and then x rayed.
Having been administered some magical anti-inflammatory medication, Shirley was full of beans on her return and keen to show off her battle scar. Colin even managed to get a tug-of-war game up and running, something she’d not displayed any interest in of late
but we humans were a little less so. The x ray had proved inconclusive and we’d opted to have it reviewed by the big guns. I distracted myself with trying to get a decent photo of the chicks
Yep, these are the best ones.
Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long to hear back. The diagnosis: Shirley is suffering from good old fashioned growing pains – Panosteitis to give its proper name. Flare ups can be easily managed with rest (which we’re getting better at initiating in our very active pup) and anti inflammatory meds and should stop once she finishes growing.
We’re all very happy to have our leggy, lovely, happy, goofy girl back again
Colin, so much so, that he even allowed a bit of sofa sharing to occur …”but don’t get used to it!”
Union Homestead 
A creature that LIKES going to the vet? Rare indeed! So glad it’s nothing serious. Now to resist the urge to feel secretly bitter and annoyed about shelling out too many dollars for a x ray, sedation etc for growing pains of all things. Where was all that TLC when I had growing pains 50 plus years ago I want to know?
Both the dogs love the vets…I think it has a lot to do with the amount of treats they have hidden around the place. I’m not even thjnking about the upcoming bill. Exactly re: growing pains. Our family remedy was a cold washcloth 😊
I am glad to learn the happy news about Shirley. Alistair was my only dog who enjoyed a visit to the vets regarding it as a social occasion. He would swagger into the waiting room saying ‘hi’ to all and sundry and would stare fixedly at the drawer where the treats were kept once he was on the examination table. My other dogs have all regarded vet visits with varying degrees of fear and loathing. Those chicks are feathering up nicely.
Colin had a nasty experience early on at the vet and was very scared for a while. They offered a course of three visits to help him resolve his fear and they worked brilliantly although there is one consultation room we avoid. Yes, the chicks are changing every day!