Guess I just shouldnt have German Shepherds anymore.

[MED]

Sorry for all the trouble and heartache; my ex-wife brought home a Husky that we loved; but we lost in less then six months...it was horrible. I hope it works out for you.

In response to your title, the bloodline really matters with GSDs; I can't stress this enough both with temperament and health. The imported German bloodlines cost a lot more, but it is completely worth it. My GSD Amber is 10.5 years old. If you spent time and played with her, you would guess she was 4-5 years old at most; she runs and jumps like dogs half her age. Other then routine check-ups and shots, I haven't spent anything on illness. She came from OFA rated excellent dogs; I don't think she even has any arthritis yet.

[TheGrey]

My God, how terrible for you! It does sound like your vet is dragging heir feet and milking it for everything they can, instead of saying, "Bring him to this vet, they specialize in this area."

Have you applied for Care Credit? When we had an emergency with one of our cats, we had to leave him at the 24-hour emergency vet for four days. Care Credit saved us: it's a credit card for medical emergencies for both people and pets.

Please keep us updated. I hope things get better quickly.

[OneGuy67]

We have a female shepherd mix and she also had eye issues. Both tear ducts just up and quit working on her and she had no way to lubricate her eyes. We tried drops, steroids, etc, but nothing worked. She finally had to have surgery and they moved a saliva duct from each side of the inside her mouth up to where the tear duct was. Expensive surgery, but she is much better. She still gets wetting drops once a day, but if she is squinting any, we just need to hold out some lunch meat and she tears right up, since it actually is saliva. She is over a year now post surgery and doing great.

[COcz]

I hope all goes well for you and the pup. Things can happen fast, but if you love the dog then the amount of money doesn't matter. I dropped $7k on my best friend last summer and ended up having to put him down. It was still worth it in case he would have made it.