Megabyte Update.

6 weeks ago, Megabyte was playing in the snow in Wisconsin. We were on a road trip. He jumped in and out of the truck by himself, and romped and played like a puppy. Since we've been back to Oklahoma, he has taken a turn for the worse. It started about three weeks ago. He wouldn't jump into the truck. He got up on the side and whined to be picked up. I picked him up to put him in, and he whined like I hurt him. Also, he wouldn't get up on the bed. I felt him over and saw that he was favoring his right rear leg. So I figured he injured it.
Then he started moping and not eating or drinking. Then he quit peeing. I'd have to put the leash on and make him go to the nearest tree to pee. That was intermittent. I would come home from work in the evening and he wouldn't go, but by the following morning, he would go. Finally, he just quit peeing altogether. After he had gone 24 hours without peeing, I went into crisis mode and took him to the vet.
The vet immediately zeroed in on Meg's mouth (and bad teeth) as the culprit. Didn't feel him over, didn't take blood, didn't look at anything but his mouth. The vet gave him a shot of antibiotics and an explanation that he has sepsis from all the infection coursing through his body, and we made an appointment for dental care in 4 days.
I was starting to have my doubts about the Vet, but I was committed to having Meg's teeth pulled anyway.
Thursday morning, I took him to the vet's office and got another veterinarian. I told her of my concerns...
She drew blood and ran a full panel to see if he was healthy enough for surgery. His bloodwork came back good. She felt around his back legs and hips. She showed me his muscle atrophy in the back end and we identified that his hips are bad. She pulled his leg back and he yelped and cried. So, he is down with bad hips.
They pulled 12 teeth and clipped his toenails and sent him home that evening.
I'm giving him his pain pills and glucosamine/chondroitin for his hips, and strong antibiotics, and he's eating soft food: Bil-Jack/doggie crack.
Yesterday he was markedly better, so I only gave him his pain pill in the morning. I wanted to see if he still needed twice-daily. He is drinking and eating very well.
This morning, he enthusiastically trotted outside to go potty. Then he spun around a few times wagging his tail when I let him back in.
I gave him his pain pill and other medicines and food. He ate it all then laid down.
I was just sitting here watching him, when he farted. He startled himself so he looked around, then got up and moved. A few minutes later, he farted again. So he jumped up and moved away from it again. I'm laughing hard at this point.
He feels good enough to run from his own farts.
I'm thrilled that he feels good enough to get up and move around. I was really worried that I was seeing the last days of his life, but he is doing wonderfully.
So, $489 later, my dog is on his way back to being his happy self again.
It was definitely worth it.

Have a great day.
MsAmber