coogie

So sorry for your loss MsDani, I think you made a very selfless and brave decision for your boy. Hugs to you, and wishing you strength for the coming days. "We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. 
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. 
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, 
never fully understanding the necessary plan." Irving Townsend.

He looks very comfy, hope the results are all clear.

Ms Dani, I really, really feel for you, have you considered that you are not coping because he is not coping and you can't bear watching him? Maybe that is your "sign". If you know he is sick and maybe in pain and won't really ever recover it is not wrong. As many have said better too early than too late even though it feels unbearable, I hope today brings a decision for you all whatever it is and I hope you have support of those around you. It sounds like he is so loved, I am sorry you are having to struggle with this.

Hi bianca.a, really pleased to hear you have a plan for Cooper. Just one thing I would say about the lake, is there any way you can check the suface on the bottom of the lake? Only mentioning it because we were taking Issy to the beach on days she couldn't go to hydrotherapy and found that whilst the swimming was great for her core muscles and all over fitness unless the "bottom" was firm it was very hard on her walking in the chest height water,very different to the submerged treadmill at the hydrotherapist. On checking with the physio she recommended we did not walk her on a shifting surface with or without water ,so soft sand/mud small pebbles were out. I'm sure the locals at the dog beach thought we were crazy carrying a 21 kilo dog across the sand and into the water and I would definitely swim him but just be cautious with the surface underfoot.

So sorry for your loss Tralee, beautiful poem. RIP Chalice.

Bianca.a, just want to start by saying I'm so sorry. Our girl is not a GSD she is a Shar Pei but that x-ray could be her hips at 11 months. Issy had to have patella surgery when she was 1, she was x-rayed prior to the surgery and it was discovered she had severe hip displasia. We were advised to go ahead with the knee surgery and to wait and see with regard to the hips, keep her as lean and fit as possible. The hardest part of the recovery from her knee op was keeping her quiet enough, she hated being crated for the extended time even though she was previously very good in her crate for short stretches.She recovered quite well but dislocated her right hip just before she was 2, she went into the ER near us and it was relocated under GA, as soon as she stood the following day it dislocated again. She was transferred to an orthopaedic specialist and we waited an extra day for his partner to return from the US as he was there doing some follow up training on a new titanium hip implant and he felt she might have a better chance with this. She was found not to have enough viable bone for a transplant. The surgeon suggested a femoral head ostectomy in which they remove the top of the femur, I was horrified initially (not because of the cost - she was fully insured) but at the thought of putting her through the surgery and possible longterm outcomes for her in regards to pain and her quality of life. We knew her other hip was as bad and that her other knee was not great either. The specialist was fantastic and explained everything thoroughly, we went ahead and again the hardest part is the rehab - she had physio and hydrotherapy which continues now 8 months later.She took painkillers and anti inflammatories for a prolonged period so we monitored her bloods very carefully in the post op months. I was able to take three weeks off work to get her through the initial recovery period. If you did not know she had had the surgery you probably would not notice her very slight limp now,she is off all pain killers and able to run around on her walks, there was a rotti who was in at the same time as her for a total hip replacement and I have seen him at a couple of Issy's follow up appointments, his owner has said he is doing very well, shows no sign of pain and runs around quite happily. We are very aware that her other hip could go at any time - the physio she sees at UQ has a dog that has had the same surgery as her bilaterally and he is doing very well also but again he has tons of aftercare. We are hoping that smaller implants will be available by the time she needs another surgery. I don't regret going through with the surgery and will most likely go ahead with the other hip when the time comes whether it is a replacement or ostectomy, if your boy can have the total hip replacement which generally has an even better outcome than Issy's I would probably go ahead if it was me and I was able to to all the follow up work, but every dog is different and I agree I would look for other issues first. Issy's front legs, spine etc were checked at the time and she is very sound in these areas so this has helped her a lot. We do our best not to wrap her in cotton wool,she is only just rising three and is a rufty tufty girl, my heart is in my mouth sometimes when she makes a dash across the beach or off leash oval but she so enjoys it I am not willing to stop her and after much discussion and soul searching decided that her quality of life would not be great if she had to spend all of her time cooped up or on leash. We don't walk her for long stretches on very hard surfaces and we do lots of stretching exercises and swimming as well as the hydro. She has cartrophen injections monthly and takes Sasha's blend daily. We do have to limit her play with our other dog as Pei play very roughly with each other, both have coped fine with this and Alfie gets playtime with other family members dogs so he doesn't miss out. It has been a tough journey so far in some respects,made harder by the fact we know it might not be done with yet and we have agreed to review at each stage and not just carry on because we can't let her go. I really hope things go well for you.

We saw this all the time when we were in LA, we were at the Farmer's Market Shopping Centre and lots of people had dogs in handbags, at the table,under the table and in one case ON the table. The very blingy young lady next to us had a small dog sharing her meal whilst she was eating, the dog ate from one end of the plate and she ate from the other,nobody batted an eyelid but one of our party had to turn her chair around because she said it made her feel ill.She also left most of her meal because she said all she could think about was a dog licking her plate after licking it's own bum/eating poo blah blah blah.She said it didn't make any difference that she knew the plates were washed,the thought still put her off. Wouldn't be my choice, but mostly because I don't like my chances of getting any food with our piglets - I don't lick their bowls and I don't let them lick our plates, not because I am worried about germs but I just don't want them to expect it and harass guests who may not be so comfortable with it. I wouldn't give them anything off someone else's plates or cutlery either in case someone took offence, I tend to think people moan enough about dogs in public without giving them any further fuel. We go to a local cafe where the owners allow dogs at outside tables and will give us water for them, we take water bowls and a food bowl each for them and they get a kanga banga each for brekky, I love that we can take them there and so for purely selfish reasons would be annoyed if someone did something that might jeopardise the dogs welcome.

Thanks dancinbcs, I didn't know that. MrsD it was definitely someone who wouldn't know - it was a petshop, it was only after I asked about the cross that I started to wonder - conformation/coat wise the puppy was very like the other two which did resemble Border Collies but the colour was not something I had seen before. Just being a sticky beak really because the shop in question was selling puppies some time ago that were definitely not what it said on the tin, so I always have a look; although not a long look because it is pretty vile. One of the staff just happened to come out to see if I wanted to buy, so out of interest I asked but she got pretty huffy.I think they get quite a bit of negative feedback so are a bit defensive. Doesn't stop them selling puppies sadly.

Maybe SparkyTansy! She was really offended and insistent. Not that I was bothered -I hate the place, but after mulling it over I wondered if they really do come in that colour and I was actually the ignoramus - so thought I would just ask here to see if it was even possible to have this colour combination.(Before I ran off at the mouth anymore) :D

He's gorgeous, congratulations. Hope you will post lots of pictures of him.

Can any Border Colie savvy Dolers tell me if it is possible to have a pure bred Border Collie that is the colour of a red and tan kelpie? The puppy in question was a reddy brown and a tan colour - no white, I was told it was a Border Collie and I asked what it was crossed with as I have never seen a Border Collie that colour.The person selling the pup insisted it was pure and they come in that colour,the other two Border Collie puppies they had for sale looked like a merle and a black and white,they were all supposed to be from the same litter. I have no intention of buying the puppy but am genuinely curious about the colour and don't know a great deal about the breed and colours.

Hoping he is feeling better today Grove burger.

For me having access to the money to pay a huge unexpected bill is very different to being able to afford to pay it,sure when Issy dislocated her hip we "found" the money to pay for it. However we found it in the full knowledge it would reimbursed except for the $100.00 excess. If that had not been the case there is no way we could have afforded her second surgery or ongoing treatment . My first question is also always about the likely outcome for the dog in terms of quality of life,pain ,ongoing issues etc; I agree everyone is different and you have to make decisions based on your own circumstances but for me the decision was hard enough without the added stress of the financial factor. We were told she would most likely have a good outcome after a fairly lengthy rehab and she has so we have been very lucky. She was only two at the time of her surgery I may have made a different decision about putting her through the op if she was much older. She has lifetime cover with Petplan so we also have the added peace of mind of knowing if she has issues with her other hip she will be covered up to $20000 a year,we simply couldn't afford that kind of emergency fund regardless of likely outcome for her. It hasn't always been easy to find the premiums and we both work so are fortunate,based on our experience I would give up a lot of other things before I gave up the insurance premiums for the dogs. That said if I could change things I would still pick paying the premiums and being "conned" as some choose to see it to have a totally sound dog. I wish we had never had to use it but we have and for us it has most likely made the difference between having our girl get the best outcome or euthanasia ,and I could never ever see that as a con.

RIP Ned. Sorry to hear that efowler, that must have been really hard after all you had done.

So sorry to hear about your girl KM . I hope she responds quickly to her treatment. We are with Petplan - have not claimed for cancer but for another costly ongoing treatment. My tip is to make sure all the paperwork is in order before you submit,sounds simple but if anything is missing it delays your claim. Petplan allowed us to put in a claim with the largest invoices for emergency treatment first and then submit subsequent invoices quoting the claim number , so we did not have to continuously get the vet to fill out paperwork or keep filling out our sections either. ( although QVS were amazing and helped with everything). I would also photocopy or scan everything before you send it as we had one lot of forms go missing in the post.

Really pleased to hear they are doing well LMS.

Our dogs are both insured - around 65 dollars a month each, as they come under "select breeds". We have claimed thousands for Issy's hip and knee issues in the last 18 months. The insurance has promptly paid everything except for a 100 dollar gap excess without any quibbling. We would have struggled to keep up without the insurance. Ditto for Alfie's on going skin and ear issues, once our insurer has agreed a claim, far from excluding further claims they have a "lifetime cover guarantee" under which they continue to pay for associated problems for the life of the dogs. Ironically I have a similar problem to Issy with my own knee - our insurance is around 310 dollars a month for a couple, top hospital plus extras. I saw the ortho last week following a dislocation, trip to ER, MRI etc. Ortho said I need a knee replacement but when I baulked due to my age, suggested an arthroscopy to see if that would help - called our insurer only to be informed they won't pay for ER trip, MRI, initial consult with Ortho, any costs associated with anaesthetic when having surgery and so the list went on. The "gap excess" for me to have the arthroscopy ended up being around 4,000 dollars. Nobody will convince me the dogs health insurance is not good value, it's a darn sight better than ours. Plus Petplan don't seem to think an anaesthetic is an extra rather than part of the surgery.

Hoping you get good news today.

I'd be careful with the bombs, Mortein website specifically warns you not to use their bombs in cars - "can effect electrics and finishes". They warn not to use them in a space smaller than 5 sq metres. I had the local Natraspray pest guy do mine after transporting a very flea infested rescue,maybe you could see if there is something similar locally? It was more expensive than a bomb but no more fleas and I wasn't worried about any toxic chemicals affecting my dogs afterwards. Hope you can get rid them.

Really hope they are ok,LMS and that you manage to get some sleep,take care of yourself.

I agree you have done as much as possible,we also use powder once we have cleaned up hotspots,just seems to heal them faster than creams. Alfie and Issy get a few every summer and we always used to go straight to the vet. Now if we catch them at the weepy stage before the yellow pus stage we manage them at home (we have discussed this with the vet of course). Just do exactly what you have- clip off all hair leaving a clean margin, irrigate with cleansing agent and then we use human grade antiseptic powder from the chemist - the one we have found the best is called Medi-pulv. One thing I would say and obviously every dog is different but the only time I used listerine, despite the fact I had diluted it; Issy absolutely went through the roof and she is usually very, very stoic so it must of hurt like hell so I wouldn't do that again personally.

Teebs, so sorry you have to go through this,I agree you should be honest - there are a couple of websites that offer some suggestions. I know everyone is different but if being you think having some idea of what you will say in advance would help you links are below.I realise you can't really be prepared for something like this when you are so upset yourself and not sure if you could bear to read them , but for me; in most situations if I have an idea of what I might say I seem to get through it better. Sending love to all your family at this horrible time. Pet loss and children Helping children cope

So sorry to hear this. RIP Atlas.

Glad he is ok, I hope you find the cause,worst thing is not knowing what it is. In our case it was a plant in the yard.It hasn't happened again so fingers crossed yours is a one off as well.