Finally...Time for Vacation!

Well it's finally here, it seems like Tim has been home for so long even though it's only been a couple weeks. We finally leave tomorrow morning for our first vacation...Vegas baby! We will only be there a couple days, fly back home and then leave next Monday on the Carnival Elation for our Baja Mexico cruise. Since Tim has been home, we've made several visits to the vet's office for Ron. First it was a urinary tract infection that we thought we cleared up pretty easy with the antibiotics that Dr. Anderson gave us. Little did we know that we would be right back in his office again in a week with a whole new problem. Ron had been yelping lately when going up stairs, jumping off the couch or just rough housing with Zoe. We noticed that he would walk with his back, left leg up and wouldn't put any pressure on that leg. And if you went to touch him, forget it...you might as well bite your own finger off because he wasn't going to let you anywhere near it and he made that very clear! We took him back to the vet, thinking that maybe it was a reaction to the antibiotics that he was given for his UTI, however after x-rays were taken the doctor told us it was the beginning of hip dysplasia. We knew that it was common in certain breeds of dogs especially smaller ones. Basically Ron's joint where his leg meets his hip isn't perfectly rounded, it is more sqaured on the edges, causing him discomfort. He will unfortunately be on pain medication for the rest of his life, but Dr. Anderson said that some dogs do just fine with that and never need the surgery later down the road. We have also added a Glucosomine supplement to his food every day, thanks to the recommendation from Grandma Koshi-Shen! (Thanks Grandma) We are thankful that in this case we have many options and the medication is a quick fix...after only a week Ron has managed to make it upstairs on his own once or twice, he's still feeling it out! From now on we'll take it one day at a time and hope for the best, after all we would do anything for our "kids"! So after a few of the most eventful weeks Tim and I have had in a long time, we can say we are definitely ready for those vacations. Check back later for pictures and we'll be sure to have a drink for you all on the lido deck!