It's been a long time

And many years down the road with Honey. We went through two TPLOs, the second one about five years after the first one I chronicled. We adopted in another dog we loved who also needed two TPLOs and then ended up with nose cancer. He almost bankrupted us and we lost him way too soon.
We've seen things get drastically better for pit bulls - people's attitudes seem to be so much more positive. I think it started with the Vick pits and it's really wonderful. That said, we tried to find a home or a rescue for a neighbor's pit and all of the rescues are packed to the gills with pits. DO NOT BUY A PIT FROM SOME IRRESPONSIBLE "BREEDER"! There are puppies, young pits, senior pits - all kinds and colors available at wonderful rescues everywhere.

I swear - half of the human race is constantly cleaning up after the other half - in this case the greedy backyard breeders of pits who are in it for the money and should not be supported. Pits have large litters and shelters are still overrun with them (Chihuahuas, too).  What do you think happens to the puppies these neighborhood people think they will breed for money? The answer is, you don't want to know. Sorry, Yes, it is better for pits but there still is a LONG way to go. If pits were more difficult to find, people wouldn't treat them like garbage.

But, I am not starting to write to get up on a soapbox. I wanted to write because Honey is now going through a lot and I don't know how much longer I will have her and she is dealing with some things I can't find enough information on.

She gets mast cyst tumors, she leaks urine so is inclined toward bladder infections and now, the latest, and the hardest on her: she has serious arthritis. The worst is her right hip which is so misshapen, it doesn't sit in the socket anymore. (I'm going to try and put up her x-rays here - I'll have to get them). Her back disks are also bad and she has arthritis in her elbows and I'm starting to wonder about her wrists.

She is always such a stoic girl, I didn't take her minor aches and pains seriously but, she woke up two weeks ago around 3 in the morning moaning and it broke my heart. I took her in to emergency and they thought it was her stomach. I took her to my local vet and she was going to xray her stomach but...I just knew, so I took her back to her ortho-surgeon, Dr. Schulman. He took xrays showing her stomach was fine but....he ran through the list of degenerative skeletal issues I mentioned above.

So.......here we are and I'm trying to figure out the right things to do for her. I thought I would blog about her again and what I'm trying and what hopefully works. Honey turned "11" (since she's a found dog, it's a little shaky but seems to be about right) in April. I want her to enjoy her golden years.

Here is a picture of Honey from the middle of this month. She went on beach field trips every other month (it used to be weekly) but, I believe those trips are over.  I have the feeling this trip is what set off her most recent pain. :( She's a really good girl and trusts me to do right by her and that's what I'm going to try and do.