ness

The other thing to consider with conservative management is the dog is still needing to be strictly confined (and sometimes more so) then if you go down the surgical path. Is the knee stable? Is there meniscus damage? If the knee is unstable rest alone won't help and if there is damage to the meniscus then its painful for them. I guess when my old girl did hers I was primed because of having had a youngster with lots of orthopedic issues. My thoughts over resting an oldie that heavily was you could rest them for 6 months and still not be any better off least with surgery you go through the rest period and the dog will improve. As for the surgery - my old girl bounced back much quicker then my youngster did from her patella surgery and she was only 4. Happy to answer any questions you might have. Ness was the family dog so it took a few weeks of no improvement for my parents to come around to the idea that surgery was required whereas i knew it needed to. Anesthetics are much safer then they use to be and we had full blood work done before going any further along with considering the operation.

My old girl did her cruciate the day after she turned 13. She had surgery - a traditional repair done at one of the specialist centres here. In part we opted for the specialist because the price difference wasn't hugely more and they had more up to date monitoring equipment and figured she would be in good hands if anything went wrong. She went to my parents to recover - the recovery was pretty hassle free and at about 4 months post surgery she came back to me because she was to much dog. Fast forward nearly 12 months - she is now coming up for 14 - helped plot 4km worth of tracks last weekend over a few hours and is back having significant walks (4km at a time). Her repair is stable, she has regained all the lost muscle and the chiro is super impressed with her condition. The chiro did comment that usually the surgery is pretty successful with older dogs. Ness was borderline the 15kg but a BC (15.4kg at the time she had surgery). She was otherwise in good health and still super active (achieved her tracking title 2 months before she did the cruciate) and still having long walks. As far as surgeries go I wouldn't opt for any of the bone cutting procedures - a traditional/lateral suture repair is fine. Here are a few videos - Ness at 14 weeks post-op - Ness over the March longweekend -

Yep Piper that was going to be the next suggestion if Kenz couldn't eat it - to try the equine version.

Happy 15th Birthday Mac . Sounds like it was a good one.

Cowanbree - There was a post this afternoon on the rose-hip vital canine facebook page that says the product will soon be available in New Zealand. Not sure if your the one who already commented but just a heads up :).

Its interesting my really picky girl was super fussy but I persisted with her because it was a case of had tried most other options and nothing was really helping and now she eats it no problems at all.

Mine are also on the RHVC and my oldie doing brilliantly.

Cowbanee - try contacting the company either via the website or facebook (if you haven't already). There might be a way you can get the product sent over.

I have both my two on Rose-Hip Vital Canine and fish oil. Works well for both my Border Collies (a 6 year old and a nearly 14 year old) who have both had orthopedic surgery of some description. My oldie is 14 next month and still comes out on long walks. Only yesterday we went out for about 4km or so. I had tried a number of other products with my youngster which weren't as good for her. Its also a little bit of trial and error to see what the dog responds to the best.

$12,000 sounds like a lot to me for a patella repair especially based on the quotes I got for repairing one knee by the specialist centre here. Get your friend to inquire where I suggested. Definitely a reputable place and I am sure its not going to be $12,000 to repair. Unless its a small lap size dog normally the soonest you can do back to back patella repairs is 8 weeks - once bone healing has happened. Regarding grading - grade 1 you normally wouldn't do surgery, grade 2 is borderline and depends how badly the dog is bothered by it was to whether you would do surgery. Recovery is your standard orthopaedic surgery 8 weeks of fairly strict rest, then gradually rebuilding and return to normal activity. Luxating patella surgeries are normally highly successful with few complications.

Patellas are back legs - I totally missed that bit of the post.

I just sent you a PM Shazaam.

My 14kg BC had a luxating patella repaired at the specialist centre and it cost ~$3,000 for one.

I didn't really notice to much incidental shedding (as in noticeable amounts of fur around) when we just had one Border Collie. I have been neglecting there grooming a little bit lately as we have been super busy and even then its not bad. What I do find extremely useful with a coated breed is a dog dryer. Great for blowing out loose coat when they are dropping coat and just generally. Mine are both desexed bitches though and don't really drop huge amounts of coat. I have been told that short hair breeds seem to lose more fur around the house year round then a coated breed.

Hence my suggestion of possibly considering an older rehome when the temperament might also be more clear. I know there are some smaller BCs around who breeders end up having to rehome because they haven't met the height standard or alternatively they are quieter and not flashy enough for the ring and I presume the Aussie's are no different.

I would have thought some of the smaller end Aussie bitches would definitely fit into the medium category and I know form having BCs training/mental stimulation is more important then necessarily just taking them for a "walk". There are also much higher drive puppies and more cruisy chilled pups from within the same litter so whatever breed its definitely worth finding a good breeder. Again with amount of coat - different lines seem to carry heavier coats then others. Go out to shows and have a chat to breeders or email them and ask if they mind if you call at a set time with questions. Worth getting the right breed and match. Maybe even a slightly older rehome from a breeder might be suitable to if you weren't necessarily looking at a puppy.

Kenz brag - We had our first attempt at a Track 3 today and she passed with a "Good" rating which now gives Kenz her Tracking Dog title. Way to go Kenz.

Looks similar to a Jolly ball - you can get ones with rope through the middle.

Yep Rose Hip Vital Canine is what my girls get. My oldie is doing fantastically on the product.

Is that a follow up consult rate or the normal first appointment rate. My girl has had on-going specialist consults and the on-going rate is less then the standard first appointment rate. I can't say I look carefully how long her appointments are but she does get a thorough going over each appointment (its on-going ortho related issues).

I wouldn't walk a dog in that type BC Crazy - the strap across the front restricts movement.

Oh Kenz has BC collapse on top of her joint issues and that problem got worse the minute we tried her on gabapentin so after cutting the dose by half and her still having issues the neuro suggested she come off it. We then put her onto Loxicom and on that she has remained. Funnily enough on three times a week dosage as well which people thought sounded a little odd but doesn't appear to be totally an odd recommendation.

Westiemum - the neuro had Kenz on gabapentin and was happy for it to be combined with whatever anti-inflam she needed to be on. We ended up cutting the gabapentin because it caused an increase in her collapse - bit of a pity as it was the most effective of everything we tried. Not really sure I have anything constructive to add but hope Mac recovers quickly.

There are a couple of articles out there about selecting a proper harness for walking that doesn't impede movement. Here is a link to a blog post about selecting a harness: http://www.pawsitive...y-you-are-doing The ones with the chest straps can cause problems so things like the comfortflex one can be problematic as they impede momvement. Suggestions were something like the Hurtta y-front or the Walkeeez. I have recently purchased a black-dog y-front harness for tracking but would also be suitable for a walking harness which doesn't impede movement.

I would query any unsuccessful operations if any and how they were handled. MPL surgery is normally a relatively straightforward surgery with relatively high success but having had a dog go through the procedure (a 14kg BC so not a toy breed and not a large breed either) with very poor results you can't always presume you may not be left dealing with complications. I was certainly much more upfront asking those sorts of questions when my other girl had her cruciate repaired.