Rascalmyshadow

A good vet will only advise to do patella surgery if its 100% necessary due to the problems that can arise after recovery, however if you have a dog that really needs it the sooner it's done the less invasive the surgery and the more likely a good outcome.

Hi I am just going through the same thing, I also live on the Mornington Peninsula, our youngest dog Chloe is a 2.3kg pom x Aussie terrier, she has just had one patella done and wil need the other one done at some stage. We were hoping she wouldn't need surgery but unfortunately she wasn't walking properly and we decided to do the surgery before she ended up with muscle wastage or more damage to the knee. I know it's a bit of travel but we went to Dr Harry Corbett at Thrifty Vet in Bayswater, he has developed his own technique and so far has a huge success rate, he is a really nice vet and does numerous follow ups (unlike any other vet I know of) during recovery to make sure everything is healing correctly. I would give him a call and have a consult to see what he advises.

Have a look at Animal House shampoos/conditioners and Pure Paws they both make very gentle chemical free products, I regularly use both on my own dogs as well as many of my customers dogs.

Good you looked out for the poor dog, sounds to me like its frightened of its owner not normal behaviour for a dog that is loved and cared for. I would ring the council and report the owner for having a roaming dog and also have a chat with the RSPCA about your concerns.

I didn't realise you were talking about a terrier. That sounds about right! I dread lengthy resting for the youngsters, they get the wiggles and squiggles soooo badly. Complex I.Q. puzzles are good for tiring brains. The ones they can paw at and use their nose to spin dials etc. Nothing too easy. A big raw meaty bone (like a lamb shank) can be exhausting but watch they don't stand up and use hind legs as chomping leverage. Plaster... never seen that before. Only bandages. But surgeons are always looking at improving techniques and outcomes so it'll be interesting to hear about it. You're doing amazingly well considering you've got a new baby too! Hang in there. Thank you it's not been easy, especially with our chihuahua having palate surgery the day before I had my daughter then little Chloe's knee got so bad while I was in the hospital.

The saga goes on we went back to her surgeon today, she has been re-plastered as he wants absolutely no movent in the leg for another two weeks. She has worked out how to scoop up toys with the buster collar on so she's quite proud of herself, I tried a nice meaty bone it lasted an hour before she got bored. I'm not keen to put a muzzle on I think she would get more frustrated. At the moment she's quite happy she's allowed with the other dogs as long as the head collar stays on and we keep the lounge suite blocked off. Oh and she is an Aussie terrier x Pom but is just like a tiny Aussie in looks and personality.

We have tried many different foods at the moment we use Canidae bison dry,natures goodness tinned plus raw bones, sardines and the odd treats, so far all five dogs are doing exceptionally well on this.

Amazingly enough she doesn't seem stressed at all more peeved off she can't do what she wants, typical terrier behaviour. I'm not sure what to post about the way the surgery has been done, I don't have copies of her X-rays or anything.

Well a few staples,,plaster cut off, leg bandaged up and another $200 later, hopefully no permanent damage done. Back to the vet that did the surgery tommorow, he's not going to be happy. Biggest disaster I've ever had with a surgery.

Omg bloody dog has now chewed her plaster and pulled out a couple of stitches, on a public holiday. I can't drive and my husband isn't home. Took the head collar off for her to have breakfast, baby woke up and I got sidetracked. Off to the emergency vet as soon as OH gets home, now I'm worried this will change the outcome of her surgery.

Sorry as Airdaler said Barry is a vet and a Chiro

Well we've had a much better day/night, I checked her plaster closely and found some of her long strands of hair stuck under it. I have cut them away so there is no pulling on her skin, I also used a small amount of medical tape over the joins so there is no edges of plaster to try and grab. We didn't have to use the puppy pen once yesterday and she's happy over night because she could sleep in her normal crate. I've also bought a kong cushion collar incase we need it. Thanks everyone for all the good ideas, my fatigued still pregnant brain is not functioning too well.

Barry Haywood is a Chiro does mostly greyhounds.

I don't know that Chiro but Barry Haywood in Cranbourne/Pearcedale is excellent we have been taking our dogs to him for 8-10 years with excellent results.

Off topic- what method did they use for the patella surgery. Can you do some foraging games with food in blankets and bedding for her to rummage through to fill in some time? I find that it can certainly fill in some time and help them feel in control of their situations since she has had much of her normal life things taken away and the barking is something she still can do. Good ideas il try that. I'm not sure what the method for the patella surgery is called but the vet has developed it himself using a combination of dog and human methods.

Covering it is a possibility, it is her back leg and she's only about 3-3.5kg so it would have to be something quite small and something that won't make her hot

We are giving her access to most of the house while we're watching and have put puppy pens around the couch so she cant jump on and off but that causes her to bark as well not being able to get up with the other dogs. The leg hasn't slowed her down because she became used to holding it up and only using three legs before the surgery. Yes she will chew the plaster it's the reason we were back at the vet yesterday morning to fix it. We had the head collar off quite a bit last night but with the baby we get distracted easily and it only takes her a couple of minutes to damage it. Also it's not my usual vet this vet specialises in a unique method for patella surgery that has an extreemly high success rate, patella surgery is one that doesnt always have good results. I really liked him and he comes highly recommended. Il try spraying the plaster and hopefully that deters her and we'll pick up a cloud collar today. If her behaviour gets much worse il just have to push for sedation or call my usual vet.

I'm not coping well with our youngest dog and need some ideas. Chloe went in for patella surgery three days ago, she came home with her leg plastered and a buster collar to stop her from chewing her wound/plaster. Being so restricted (puppy pen in the loungeroom) has decided to bark continuously, usually she is crated overnight but with the buster collar on there is not enough room in her crate so we have put a bed on the floor in our bedroom, she is not happy with that either, it's now 3:00am and she is still on and off barking. I have a two week old human baby not only am I recovering from a Caesar but also from other complications as well as having minimal sleep. It's not even been three days and I'm not coping with her, don't know what to do to make things easier for three weeks. I can't take the collar off because she goes straight for the plaster. Anyone have any ideas, I asked the vet for sedation yesterday but he felt it unnecessary, the situation is so bad if I had the money I would board her at the vet for the 3 weeks.

How exciting congratulations!!! She looks really good, like she was made to be a mum.

Dog should have never been allowed off leash, doesn't sound like someone experienced walking it, if they are they should know better, unless it accidentally got loose. Dogs often behave very differently in a shelter to when they get out. My mums very large dane x mastiff x bull arab tested fine with cats in the shelter but went for her cat (and any other cat it sees) once she brought her home, personally if I had adopted her she would have been sent straight back.

Could you cover the fence with a double layer of shade mesh so the dogs can't see through it, just attach it with cable ties and maybe try one of the electronic outdoor bark deterrents, it might help quieten both yours and your neighbours dogs.

I feel very sorry for the medical person but I don't believe they had killed the neighbours dog, they would have been taken already if that was true, unless the neighbours dog actually got onto their property. Also if their owner was having a stroke there is a very high chance the dogs were acting out of their ordinary behaviour. My first poodle tried to bite an ambo years ago when they came to my aid, he had never reacted to anyone like that before and never again after, he clearly knew there was something wrong with me and became overly protective as soon as he sensed I was in trouble.

Thanks for the good wishes, although aspergillosis is treatable the expense is huge first visit was over $1000 next will be approx the same when they insert her nasal tubes, then we have to take her back to the vet daily for 10 days (not easy when I could go into labor at any time) for treatment, it's then a third anaesthetic to check if it worked, if it did then they will do the palate surgery, another approximate $1000. Everything is being made harder also because I cant drive far being so pregnant and the vet that's managing her is about 30-40mins away.

So after a long stressful day our girl was unable to have palate surgery due to the risk of complications from the biopsies, definate results will come in next week but it's looking like she has 'Aspergillosis' and possibly nasal cancer. If its aspergillosis and no cancer at least it's treatable, although extreemly expensive and difficult and will require multiple anaesthetics and vet visits. If its cancer our time with her is limited. I can't believe this is happening especially right on Xmas and just before our bub is due.

Today our little Chi Claudia is going in to have her elongated palate corrected but at the same time the vet is doing a scope and biopsies. It all started with the typical reverse sneezing not surprising on an apple head chihuahua, but in the last two months her condition has changed to at first something the vets thought was just allergies, now there is suspicion of a nasal tumour. At this stage the only other possibilities are maybe a foreign body (although the vets didn't think so) or a tooth root abscess ( less likely since she had a dental part way through the year). I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant so wasn't able to do the drive this morning to drop her off, my husband has taken her to work with him and is taking her in as soon as they are open. I am stressed out both because I'm usually the one to do everything for the dogs and seriously worried about the outcome since nasal tumours have no cure and are highly aggressive, even if we could afford chemo it would only buy us months. Today is going to be very long but hopefully we have a fixable problem with a good outcome and tonight get to pick up our girl happy and healthy.