Meet Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs! We just call him Mr. Gibbs or Gibbs, but he’s as feisty as the character on NCIS. Okay look, my husband is a man’s man, a hunter, a tough guy. I couldn’t name him Fluffy. We have two other dogs, a black Lab named Storm, and a King Charles Spaniel mix named Miss Molly. You will meet them later. Mr. Gibbs rules the roost!
This is the first of what will likely be many posts about our furry babies. I have wonderful step-kids and step-grandkids and love them dearly, but have no natural offspring, so some may say our furry babies are spoiled…I just say they are loved and adored. And they’re much cheaper to raise! 🙂
He may look pampered, but the sweater is for a camping trip and he definitely needed it! His personality bodes more for a leather bike jacket with spikes, but nah. We also have to protect him – as rambunctious as he is – due to an injury almost two years ago that had us torn in the middle of having to decide surgery or euthanasia. One day out of the blue, he was shaking and acting strange. His back legs started to cross over slightly, and then he started losing use of his back legs and were dragging. We kept an eye on him that night and ended up taking him to the vet ER. That’s where they discovered some spinal distress and damage. They gave us medication and told us to take him to our regular vet the day which we did. That’s when our vet diagnosed IVDD, and told us our options. Intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) is a condition where the cushioning discs between the vertebrae of the spinal column either bulge or burst (herniate) into the spinal cord space. These discs then press on the nerves running through the spinal cord causing pain, nerve damage, and even paralysis. We don’t know what caused the injury but suspect that he jumped on or off the sofa and landed the wrong way, or was possibly overrun by our Lab (more on that below during dinner time).
Naturally we couldn’t stand the site of him in pain or discomfort or not having a good quality of life, so the choice was obvious to us for surgery and we started racking our resources for the $8,000-$10,000. That night after the vet visit, I was doing research online and came across a virtual vet site. I started chatting with the vet explaining the situation. She recommended acupuncture and laser therapy. I’ve done both, but did not know they performed these procedures on dogs! I was shocked, but hopeful. She gave me the names of the two vets in town that provided these services (at the time) and I made an appointment the very next morning at West Flamingo Animal Hospital and met with Dr. Sheila Billingsley. In short, she literally was a life-saver.
Mr. Gibbs had his 1st acupuncture treatment in a quiet vet room with dimmed lights, soft music, a candle, and a mini-water fountain. Yes. True. It was awesome. And it worked. We got him in the car and on the way home, he was perky and wagging his tail. When we got home, he had no crossing or dragging of his back legs. We couldn’t believe it. We called Dr. Billingsley, she was stunned as well. In the course of a couple of months, Mr. Gibbs had a few rounds of acupuncture to continue the healing process. We have never crated our dogs (no judgement on crating, we just didn’t). We had to keep him crated 24/7 for six weeks, carrying him in his crate outside to do his business, and keep him crated on the sofa with food and water. He didn’t have any flare ups until last year, so we took him in for three laser treatments, and he has been fine. We are still careful with him, but we also want him to have a good quality and enjoyment of life, playing, running with his sibbies and being his rambunctious self. Otherwise what’s the point of restricting him forever? That’s no way for a dog to live. We are super-careful about his level of play and being around other bigger dogs.
We’ve discovered some neuroses in the past year which we in-part contribute to his injury and not wanting to get hurt. While he still displays his dominance with our other dogs, he is hesitant to go near them during dinner time (the excitement and jumping is now intimidating), and he hides in his playpen crate more often. I know, safe haven. But he’s still our loving, adorable, protective, sometimes obnoxious Mr. Gibbs, and we love him!!! He is so smart, has a huge vocabulary for a dog and we can’t get nothing past him – it’s a little peculiar. He is so in tune with our feelings and moods and responds accordingly. He protects us as fiercely as he can muster with his little 10lb body, and we know he would give his life to protect us. He truly is a man’s best friend.
