Friday, April 6, 2007

Herniated Disc?

On Wednesday morning, Benny did a really odd thing.  I poured the Cheerios into my bowl and Benny did not get out of bed.  Now, Benny loves Cheerios and as soon as he hears the sound of Cheerios hitting my bowl he comes running.

Seeing that there were only two pugs at my feet, I asked Henry and Luna, “Where’s Benny?”  They didn’t know and really weren’t interested in where Benny was at that moment.  They just wanted some Cheerios.

I went to look for Benny and I saw that he was sitting on the edge of the bed.  He looked anxious to get off the bed, but he wouldn’t jump off of it.  So I picked him up and put him on the floor and mentioned something to him about being a silly pug.

We ate breakfast and then I took Benny out to go potty.  The walk started normally and then when we crossed the street Benjamin would not jump up on the curb.  Instead he just sat down.  Now, this is nothing like Baby Benny.  Benny jumps up and down just for fun.  The curb is no match for Benny, he can conquer that with ease.  So at this point, I was getting very worried.

Throughout the morning, I noticed that Benjamin would not jump up or down from anything.  It didn’t matter how high or low the object was, he would just sit next to it instead.  He was also very lethargic and not his typical self.  So, I called the veterinarian.  Of course, they did not have any appointments until next week, and I talked to the receptionist to see if she would deem this an emergency.  Benny still had his appetite and he had not thrown up or had any diarrhea, so neither she nor I thought this was a dire emergency.

My mind could not rest, however, so I called a friend who is a veterinarian.  She asked me a ton of questions and walked me through some things over the phone.  By the end of the conversation, we had come to the conclusion that Benny most likely had a herniated disc.  She recommended that we give him some baby aspirin and keep him very quiet.  No walks, no time in the yard, no jumping, no anything.  And if Benjamin was not feeling better by Friday (today) we needed to take him into the vet.

So that is what we did and fortunately, Benjamin is doing much better.  He isn’t 100%, but he is acting more and more like his usual self - which is making it hard to keep him quiet.

I am very relieved that Benjamin is doing better, but ever since Wednesday morning, I had been wondering how he hurt himself.  Then it hit me.  The pugs get up for breakfast every morning at 5:30am.  At that point, I have one hour left to sleep before it is time to get up.  Rather than spend that hour having them lick my face and beg me to get out of bed to feed them, I just get up and feed them and go back to bed.  It has become such a routine that I am sure I am not fully awake when I am doing it.

I do remember that on Wednesday morning before Benjamin ate that he was his normal bouncy self.  He poked his head in the refrigerator and jumped up and down for his food just like any other morning.  I also vaguely remember that when we were on our way back to bed that Benjamin missed landing on the bed on his first jump.  So I just picked him up and put him on the bed.  I think this is where he hurt himself, because he was fine before and while he was eating, but an hour later when I got up for the day, he wouldn’t leave the bed.

So, the mystery has been solved and Benjamin is well on the road to recovery.  We will still have to keep him quiet for the weekend, but I am just glad that the little guy is feeling better.