There's bad news and even badder news

I've experienced a life-altering injury. Mom had to take me to the emergency vet this afternoon. I've partially torn a ligament in my left hind leg. No more running. No more jumping. No more Frisbee. No more ball. Worst of all, I made Mom cry. 

It's been bothering me off and on for a bit. Mom and Dad have been watching me and how I move and walk. Today was the worst, though. It really hurt today and Mom could tell. 

I can still go for walks with Mom. I think if I couldn't that would be the worst thing of all. The lady vet said there's nothing to do right now except to take care of the inflammation and the pain. So Mom says that's what we'll do.

What has Mom really upset is the medicine the vet gave her - Carprofen. She looked it up on the Internet and it can make me really sick. She's afraid to give it to me. My regular vet says baby aspirin can hurt my stomach. It hasn't yet but Mom is really careful about how I take it. 

But this Carprofen can make me bleed, too. It can damage my liver and kidneys. It can cause urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections. I might get diarrhea and I've had that before and I didn't like it much. Carprofen can give me pancreatitis which could kill me. And what is acute tubular necrosis? Isn't that when something inside me dies??? And here's a kicker - Labrador Retrievers make up 25% of all the adverse hepatic reactions to Carprofen. 

Hey! I'm a Labrador Retriever. This is not a good thing for my liver! 

Carprofen used to be given to humans but they had to stop that. What's that tell you? And Carprofen and Rimadyl are the same drug under different names. I think that's sneaky of some drug manufacturer to try and confuse human parents. 

I'm glad Mom took the time to research that drug. We'll figure out what I can and can't do to have fun. Mom and Dad are smart that way. We already play a lot of indoor games that keep me engaged and some of them we can do outside. I can still walk with Mom, no problem. And I have Loki to play with now, too. 

My days of being a Frisbee athlete might be over for the most part but I'm still Deuce. I can still do the most important thing of all and that's be Mom's best dog ever.