ELBOW AND HIP DYSPLASIA: Pray for my Dog
Dear Mr. Thompson,
I am appealing to you for help with the dog that I purchased from you. He has both Elbow and Hip Dysplasia. He also has severe arthritis that is very advanced for a two year old dog. He already has soreness and limps. If I do not have the recommended operation for his elbows done soon, within the next few months, he will eventually be crippled and in great pain and not even be able to take walks. A year from now, it will be too late for this procedure to do him any good. He cannot ever play with other dogs, or hike and it is recommended he only walk on grass. As you know, Dysplasia is a hereditary condition and this is why I am appealing to you.
Unfortunately at this time, my husband and I both having great hardship and are suffering from the downturn of the economic situation. Our earning power has just been wiped out, and we are trying to stay alive.
It turns out that almost immediately after I brought my dog home, many issues came up about the dog's health that had not been disclosed by you. After only owning this dog for three months, between vet bills, lab tests, skin scrapings, and veterinary specialists and medications I have already spent over $4000.00.
The above is the beginning of a letter I sent by e-mail to Eugene Thompson. As much as I hated to have to deal with him again, I was hoping that he might feel some ethical responsibility for the dog and help out. I also cannot bear the agony of watching my dog go crippled and be in constant pain. The rest of my letter goes on to remind him of health issues that came out when I got the dog home, like the severe case of Demodex Mange, that he said was only Tapeworm and sold me six months of medication for Tapeworm, (which my vet cleared up in three days with a very much less expensive medication), the Irritable Bowel Syndrome as well as the Food Allergies, which meant that I had to donate the over $1,000.00 of Dog Food that he insisted that I buy from him to the Animal Shelter.
Mr. Thompson phoned me and denied that my dog could have Demodex mange and that he must have gotten it where I live.in fact, as both my vet and the veterinary dermatologist told me Demodex mange at my dog's age is evidence of extremely poor care for a long time and a very bad immune system, also evidence of inbreeding. Therefore according to Mr. Thompson, my vet, my dermatologist, and the skin scrapings must be wrong. He said I was ruining the Dog's immune system by taking him off his recommended diet. Why would I fly to Texas, rent a car to pick up the dog and to be able to purchase a huge supply of all that food to drive back to my hometown, only to have to donate it to the Animal Shelter?
He said the reason the dog has Dyplasia is because of not feeding his diet. (It is on every one of the countless veterinarian medical web that Dysplasia is hereditary). His claim then would also discount all findings of my vet, the orthopedic surgeon, the Exrays, the Board Certified Radiologist and Professor of Radiology at Colorado State University Veterinary School.
Mr. Thompson started screaming the names of some antiquated meds that he said my vet had given the dog.in actuality my vet did not use those meds. He blamed me for everything that was wrong with the dog. He then started to scream that my vet and I were going to kill the dog, if I did not listen to him. That is when I hung up.
Besides watching this dog become crippled, he still has all the other issues I described. We are still working on trying to clear up the mange. My dog will always have to be on a severe diet and only eat prescription allergy free dog food. My dog will always have to take meds for the Irritable Bowel Syndrome, He will always have to take Glucosamine, Omega 3 and Adequan Shots for the Dysplasia. He will have to take pain pills, and sadly there is a limited amount of those that a dog can take. I cannot afford the surgery.in a few years the Hip Dysplasia will start to take its toll.
With this economy and the way we have been personally affected, I pray that I can afford the $300.00 plus per month that it will cost to maintain this dog. Because of his health issues, and our economic situation, the writing is on the wall about what his end can be. Pray for my dog.
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