All Lappies have loose joints...

Mega-esophagus--what a bummer.  My husband and I were looking at a future without vacations (still haven't had one) because who would take care of Hobbes?  He needs to be fed three times daily, in his box.  What if he came down with AP (aspiration pneumonia)?  The liability issues are huge.  So, my wonderful six-month sabbatical was turning into a angst-filled period that made me miss work, and the comforts of the daily routine away from the house.

One evening, as we were walking the three dogs, Hobbes seemed to come up lame.  He would walk about a block or two, and then just stop.  It looked like his back hips were popping out of their sockets.  Great--hip dysplasia.  So, being the ever vigilant owners, back off to the vets we go for hip x-rays.  At this point Hobbes is only about 6 months old.  Indeed, the x-rays showed a huge amount of space between his hip joint and socket, and our vet said he could easily pop the legs in and out.  Because of the mega-e, our vet suggested giving Hobbes shots of Adequin rather than any kind of oral medication to protect the joints and attempt to prevent arthritis. 

First of all, giving a shot to a puppy in the muscle--not fun.  My husband had to lie on top of Hobbes while I did the honors.  This was very unpleasant.  Secondly, Hobbes' breeder went berserk, essentially accusing us of abusing this poor dog.  Her claim--Finnish Lapphunds all have loose joints, especially puppies, so Hobbes' condition was not unusual.  Huh?  All Lappie puppies come up lame when they walk?  We couldn't believe her righteous indignation.  We  knew she wouldn't be happy (Hobbes has 7 siblings, all of whom should be prevented from breeding if he indeed has dysplasia), but thought she would take the diagnosis seriously, rather than accuse us of stupidity and abuse and our vet of incompetence.  

After a couple of weeks of administering the shots, we didn't see any improvement in Hobbes.  When we took him for a walk, my husband would inevitably have to carry him home.  So, the shots stopped.  Our vet did one final test--the standard test for myasthenia gravis.  (Just a note--Hobbes was tested for MG when he was first diagnosed with ME, because the latter can be symptomatic of the former.  The test came back negative).  Hobbes was exercised to the point where he stopped, and then given a shot of mestonin--the medication usually prescribed for MG.  Unfortunately, Hobbes reaction was not pleasant, although not unusual.  He started to drool and vomit.  This in addition to the diarrhea he had already.  The results of the test were inconclusive.  At this point our vet strongly suggested we take Hobbes to see a neurologist, and asked where I would like to go.  Without hesitation, (and for no real reason, except that I had no desire to drive to Philadelphia) I said Cornell.