The things we do for our kids...er...pets

So, everyone knows I love dogs. All dogs.

But especially our dogs.

We have been married for four years and have had Samson and Sienna for almost our entire marriage. They are our children.

They're loyal. They make us laugh. They get obnoxiously excited every time we come home...even if we've only been gone for 10 minutes. They listen and don't talk back.

So, you can imagine how it felt when our Fourth-of-July-Weekend-of-Fun came to a screeching halt when we came home last night to Sienna completely paralyzed from the waist down.

It was literally the saddest sight I have ever seen as she came hobbling out of the bathroom using her front legs only...and her back legs/behind were dragging behind her. She was disoriented and appeared to not even know where she was. We immediately took her to the Pet Emergency Center, and they gave us a couple of options of what could be going on with her. We decided to bring her home for the evening and take her first thing to our vet this morning.

And after many pokes, prods, tests, they came to the conclusion that she has a herniated disc in her back.

Long story short: She has struggled with pain/yelping prior to this, and we've taken her in multiple times. But, just like when you take your car to the mechanic and it stops making that noise...she suddenly was no longer in pain and the doctor could never localize the pain.

But now, the disc has gotten so bad, it has squeezed out the "jelly" (as the vet called it) so that it has infiltrated throughout her back and caused her to no longer feel pain and remove all feeling and control over her back legs.

Needless to say, we were prepared to put her down this morning. It was just that bad. I was sobbing all the way to work. Mr. Ruby was fighting back tears all morning.

Final Diagnosis: She is in stage 2 (there are 3 stages) and has to have surgery. They are very positive that she will recover and have a happy/normal doggy life.

Final Blow: We had to pay $3,300 upfront. No, I did not miscalculate the zeroes: $3,300. And the worst part? It wouldn't cost that much, however, we are having to pay double because it is considered a holiday weekend. Sienna, couldn't you have waited until normal business hours to have emergency surgery? I mean really.

Are we crazy for spending that much money? Probably. But you know what? She is only four years old and incredibly healthy. It would be just wrong to rob her of a healthy, happy life.

So, if everyone could say a little prayer...the surgery is going on right now!

How could you NOT want to save that cute face???