Poor Little Lily...

Lily is not doing so great and I don't think it is going to have a happy ending. Even though she is only 5, she has been struggling with hip/back problems for a little over a year. It is hard for her to get around and it doesn't help that she is over weight. The past few days have been the worst I have seen it. She doesn't get up to walk around, she just drags her back half. She barely even goes outside because she doesn't want to do the steps. And she sleeps on the main floor every night. Dan took her to the vet yesterday and he said there isn't much we can do. We are giving her an anti-inflammatory to see if that helps, the next step is steroids and beyond that is surgery. We know that we think it would be foolish and can not afford to have surgery done (especially since there is no guarantee it will fix the problem and she has a long back and is prone to these types of problem).

We have both been wrestling with the fact that we are, eventually, going to have to put her to sleep. She is such a happy dog, but her quality of life is not there any more. We have seen a definite change in her over the past year. We really don't have any other options...the medicine may only pro-long this reality. As much as we joke about them being sent to a farm, it is sad because she is a part of the family and we love her very much! Plus, we are going to have to explain to Aly why Lily isn't coming home. Not to mention it may very well kill Sammy not to have her around. I will keep you posted, but our Little Lily Goat may not be with us too much longer...