My puppy and I have the same painkillers

Last week, I brought Logan home from day care and fed him dinner. For the first time in his life, he didn't chow it down and just layed down. I KNEW something was wrong - my chowhound wouldn't eat! Strange. He did the same thing the next morning - he would eventually eat it all, but my little Pac Man just wasn't feeling well. After he nearly exploded in my truck because he was SICK and HAD to go potty (bless his little puppy heart, he didn't go in my truck and held it until I could pull over, though he was soooo ill) I realized that this wasn't going to get better by itself. Last Thursday, I brought him to see Dr. Fish. Logan's got a stomach bug. No big deal, some antibiotics and he's good to go... right??

His belly started to feel better right away. On top of this, he's teething and that's bugging him. Then I realized he was sitting funny. I paid more attention... he had a little limp too (hard to tell, since he has that silly german shepherd swagger combined with puppy clumsiness). I checked out his paw and his leg and couldn't find anything wrong. It got worse and worse over the weekend; he would whine and get up and readjust when he was trying to sleep - he just moaned and ached. I got worried, of course. I didn't know if he sprained something, or played too rough at day care... but he didn't even want to sit up anymore, his leg bothered him so much.

I brought him to the vet first thing this morning. Guess what's wrong with him?

GROWING PAINS.

Did I mention he's 40 lbs at 4 months old?

This is relatively common with large breed dogs, and it's called panosteitis. He's a little on the young side to get it, but he's just a big boy and he's definitely growing! The good news is it's temporary; the bad news, is that the only thing you can really do is give him pain relievers. The doctor said that once, a bassett hound came in SCREAMING in pain from it; the only thing they could do was give him morphine! Fortunately, Logan isn't in THAT much pain, and hopefully it doesn't get to that point. So now he's on two pills... one of which is Tramadol... Which is what I take for MY back pain when I hurt it at work! Go figure, my dog and I share narcotics. :P

What else is new with me?? Well, today is a holiday (president's day; I would never have known if I didn't work for the feds!) and I am going to see my friend Maria, who just moved back to Fort Collins from Flagstaff. I only have maybe 9 days left of work (running out of funding), but if I get that hazard tree lead position I might be starting mid March. Tim reserved the North Fork cabin for March 2-3, so a bunch of us will be snowshoeing up there and hanging out in the woods. We got tickets to see Yonder Mountain String Band in Fort Collins on the 28th. I am trading my old trombone for a violin with some lady over Craigslist - I think I'm getting the better end of the deal, since it's in great condition; she just really wants an affordable brass instrument and has an extra violin lying around!

And the last lame little tidbit - I made Logan a profile on Dogster. It's like myspace, but for dogs. I know. Lame. Lame. Lame. I just couldn't help it. He's making lots of doggie friends though! ;)