my dog's not doing very well.

she was attacked by a coyote just over a month ago. The vet now thinks that it may have crushed one of the vertebra in her neck. she seems to be in a lot of pain. I'm very sad about this, but she's an old dog, and she's had a comfortable life, being loved and cared for at all times. We rescued her from the pound when she was just a puppy, and we think she'd seen some abuse before that. she was never the brightest dog, and she never learned certain important housepet traits very well (notably when she was nervous). The doctors gave her some steroids for her neck. I'm not sure what the steroids are meant to do, but they're supposed to alleviate the effect it's having on her ability to move around. She's on painkillers, too. My parents are supposed to see how she's responding to the steroids tomorrow. If she's responding well, then she can continue receiving steroid shots so that she can function semi-normally. If not, the doctor thinks it would be most humane to put her to sleep. Even if the steroids help, they do a lot of other damage to the body, and they aren't a solution that promises more than a few weeks' respite. So I'm a little sad about that.