Kevin Page: George howled in pain and we had a very important decision to make

It was off to the animal version of Shortland Street for assessment, x-rays, more assessment, a bit of time to consider our options and eventually a decision. Photo / 123RF

OPINION

So, this week we’ve had a bit of drama with George The Dog – and I’m definitely not pulling your leg.

In fact, the “leg” connotation is rather apt. You’ll see why once you reach the end of this little snapshot of life in good old NZ. But for now, let’s start with Mrs P and I returning from a little holiday some 10 days ago.

Having said that it feels much, much longer. But let me explain.

So, we’ve returned from a little break and just picked up George The Dog from the lovely couple who look after him on the very rare occasions we can’t take him with us.

Naturally he’s very excited to be home and promptly charges around like a headless chook for 10 minutes reacquainting himself with the sights, smells and sounds of our humble abode.

He’s just about settled back into licking his private parts – as you do - when a neighbour pops over to drop off the mail they’d been collecting from our letterbox.

In his already excited state – I mean excited to be back not because he had his head buried in his private parts - George races outside to greet our friend, charges down the stairs from the deck and promptly snaps tendons in his right rear leg.

Of course, at the time we didn’t know that was what it was but with a fair amount of howling and limping going on it was pretty obvious this was something major.

So then of course it’s off to the animal version of Shortland Street for assessment, x-rays, more assessment, a bit of time to consider our options and eventually a decision.

We had three options.

Firstly there was an injection that would allow him to travel over what I am told is called the “Rainbow Bridge”. If you are a non-doggie person it means euthanasia.

Actually, I’m a little confused with that title. My understanding is/was anything “Rainbow” these days is related to your sexuality. It took a while to work out Option One was not about giving my dog a sex change.

Anyway. We ruled that out pretty quickly. He’s family.

Option 2 was a complex procedure involving major surgery and then up to 12 weeks of rehabilitation with a special brace from America. It sounded to us like one of us would have to give up full-time work to care for him. I was keen but Mrs P said no. I’d need to keep working to pay for the surgery and brace option . . . and the new car she wants.

But I digress.

So then there was Option 3. Full amputation of the limb.

It has to be said none of the options exactly filled us with delight.

We were still a bit stunned I suppose. I mean barely 24 hours earlier we’d been in holiday mode and looking forward to welcoming our bundle of fur back into the fold. Not trying to decide how much pain or suffering our decision might put him through.

Nonetheless a decision needed to be made and the vet - who I must say has been absolutely amazing even though she does look like she is wagging intermediate school – gave us a couple of days to have a think. Naturally we had to keep George calm and off the leg as best we could during that time.

Now, for starters, I should point out George is an 11-year-old dog with, we are told, a lifespan of 13 to 15 years. He enjoys nothing more than a cuddle on the couch each night. The rest of the time you’ll find him sleeping or, licking his nether regions as mentioned earlier.

I explain this because we’ve had a few people we know who are somewhat surprised we didn’t decide to just have him put to sleep. I’d be interested in your thoughts.

Our view is it’s all about quality of life.

If his is all about dozing with his family rather than charging round chasing rabbits or posties then he can do that no worries with three legs. So we were leaning towards full amputation.

But to be 100 per cent sure we did our research into the operation/brace/rehab option. It sounded quite complex and we weren’t sure if we wanted to put George through such a lengthy period of discomfort. And that’s after the major surgery.

As it turned out George made the decision for us.

He’d had a couple of days bouncing around, keeping the leg up. But then one morning he just kind of forgot about it as he came to greet me in the morning and let out a yelp as he put the leg down.

Another examination revealed this time he had done something to the bits in between the leg bones and there was some doubt as to whether it could be fixed.

And so that’s why at 8.30am the very next day I bit my lip to stop it quivering and took my four-legged mate to the vet and came home to Mrs P with a three-legged model a few days later.

So far he’s doing OK. In fact the recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.

Obviously getting around is taking a bit of getting used to but he’s managing it and we are taking little hops around the cul-de-sac just to keep his exercise levels ticking over.

His Mum and Dad are feeling very guilty but enjoy hearing him farting and snoring instead of crying and whining. We’ll get there I’m sure. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep in my own bed again sometime soon rather than on the floor next to his bed.

For now we are trying to make things as comfortable as possible for him. We’ve even arranged a visit from some relatives who have some experience in this area.

My brother-in-law and his wife will be coming our way very soon. He lost his right leg in a motorbike accident many years ago and his wife lost her right leg to cancer a few years after. I kid you not.

They are keen to see how George is getting on but they’ve told me they won’t be bringing their three-legged cat along.

Just their sense of humour.