KJ

Thanks. I did walk Vic park at the weekend and we were approached and followed by what we thought was a lost/stray poodle! Turns out its owner was standing about 200 meters away not giving a rats about what her dog was doing

Thanks :)

Is Victoria park off lead? I am moving into Ballarat so have started walking my Lab there (to get her used to being walked in public not in the bush where we live) Does anyone else walk their dogs there? It it an ok place to walk? I did notice a lot off lead dogs, which is something that I am not too keen on! Thanks

She was happy with a great quality of life until she was unable to urinate properly. As soon as this started to happen she became very uncomfortable and unsettled. The straining to urinate came on suddenly, she was pts the day after it started. She was a great dog and there was no way I could watch her suffer. She really showed no obvious signs of suffering until the day before she was pts.

I lost one of my Labradors to this 13 year old Asha was originally being treated for a urine infection but scans revealed an inoperable tumour in her bladder. She was put on Piroxicam and for 3 months she was fine, you would not have known there was a thing wrong with her! She was very fit, happy and not in pain. After 3 months the tumour grew and she was unable to urinate. As there was nothing that could be done, I had to have her pts. I still miss her Good luck with your girl.

Fantastic photos, I love them all!

I currently have 2 old Labrador girls, one 15 and one 13. I don't really care what other people think about then as I know they are happy, healthy and well loved. It always makes me happy to see people out and about with old dogs :)

Sorry to hear this. I lost one of my Labs, Asha, to bladder cancer. Her cancer was inoperable so she was put on Feldene and had a good quality of life for 4 or 5 months before the cancer suddenly grew and I knew it was time. She was 13. Really until her final day she was so happy and energetic , just looking at her you would not have known there was anything wrong . I still miss her

I am often at the You Yangs MTB riding and there are signs everywhere about 1080 being used yet there are still people letting their dogs run around off lead

Yes, it increased by almost $500 a year.

The premium, for my 6 year old Lab, increased by almost $500

Sam Snelling at Advanced Vetcare in Kensington is great :) He had performed several surgeries on my Labs and I could not recommend him highly enough!

I have a 3 year old Lab who has been having monthly cartrophen injections since she was about 18 months old, she has had no ill effects and I really notice a change when she does not have the injections. She has had multiple joint surgeries and the monthly cartrophen was recomended by her specialist.

I had a Lab pup with neosporosis, a few years ago. At 10 weeks of age, her back legs became paralysed, she was responded quite well to medical treatment and with hydrothearapy (in the bath) she regained the use of her legs. She then suddenly became paralysed again and when she gave me "that look" I knew she could no longer fight and she was put to sleep at 12 weeks of age. Hope you friends pup is ok!

Glad the surgery went well. What how long does hehave to spend in a cast? Will he actually have some movement in the joint. Henrietta's hock is fully fused....no movement at all. This is what her hock looked after her first surgery, and then after the second surgery, notice how all the little joint spaces have become one solid bone.

Henrietta coped very well with the rehab, for the first 6 weeks she was crated but after that was confined in the house but on the lead most of the time. She did have little pressure sores, that is why the cast needs to be changed weekly. About few months after the surgery, the plate begain to irritate Henrietta, so after more xrays it was decided to remove it. She began to limp a few days after the surgery and after more xrays it was discovered that a tiny joint had returned to motion so the procedure needed to be repeated. Not much muscle wastage in her leg. The fused joint does look different and she does move differently on that leg. She looks slightly limpy....but has no pain. What sort of dog and what sports do you do? YOur dog will not move the same way as he did before.

My Lab Henrietta has had a tarsal arthrodesis.She had very bad OCD/arthritis of her hock and arthrodesis was the only way to take away her pain. It is a salvage procedure and it not a common surgery. It involves the surgeon getting into the joint, and removing the articular cartilage then plating it so the join will become one solid bone. For Henrietta it involved 2 nights in hospital and then 12 weeks rest with the first 6 weeks in a cast. The cast required changing each week. She was not crated the whole time just kept on the lead. Probably cost around $4000 for the specialist surgery, cast changes, follow up xrays, removal of plate etc (thank goD for pet insurance)!! She did need further surgery to help with the fusion which required more time in a cast(and another $4000) but now nearly 18 months since her last surgery she is like a new dog, so happy and pain free ! She can run, jump and play just like a normal Lab, something I never thought she would be able to do. She is very, very active and is not at all hindered by her fused joint. Having a fused joint is not really as bad as it sounds Which specialist have you seen?

Having claimed around $18,000 in 3 years....yes, pet insurance is worth it

Probably not much help to you but......... My Lab Henrietta had very bad ocd of the hock, she had surgery to remove the ocd leision but her hock was already damaged and became much worse after the surgery. Hock arthrodesis was the only way to take away her pain. Henrietta had the arthrodesis in Melbourne, 2 nights in hospital and then 12 weeks rest with the first 6 weeks in a cast. The cast required changing each week. She was not crated the whole time just kept on the lead. Probably cost around $4000 for the specialist surgery, cast changes, follow up xrays, removal of plate etc (thank goD for pet insurance)She did need further surgery to help with the fusion which required more time in a cast(and another $4000) but now nearly 18 months since her last surgery she is like a new dog, so happy and pain free ! She can run, jump and play just like a normal Lab, something I never thought she would be able to do. She is very, very active and is not at all hindered by her fused joint. Has your dog seen a specialist?

I paid about $2000 to remove a stick from the stomach of one of my Labs, this included 4 nights in hospital. A few years earlier it cost about $1300 to remove a sheeps foot from the same Lab!!

My 3 year old Lab, Henrietta, has calcium deposits in both eyes! They are in exactally the same place on each eye, no idea what caused them but they require no treatment (at this stage!)

I was also told the shoulder is the "best" joint to have ocd and the hock is the worst. I was also told that only about 40% of dogs with hock ocd do clinically well after surgery as joint becomes arthritic quickly. My Lab Henrietta had surgery for hock ocd when she was about 6 months old and a year after the surgery her joint was totally "trashed" with arthritis..She was on arthritis meds, pain killers, cartropehn injections, joint powder but still in pain. After having her hock fused she is a new dog

Can't help you with any alternatives to surgery but there is a very different prognosis depending on which joint is affected.

So sorry

Henrietta had her surgery with a specialist in Melbourne. I now remember before the arthrodesis, she did have a cortisone injection into the joint which greatly reduced her pain for about a month. Before her surgery her hock joint was so swollen it was like a golf ball. The arthrodesis surgery is a last resort but with Henrietta, her leg was so bad I really just felt like I was being cruel keeping her in that condition:( What pain relief does your boy get? As you can see, she can still manage a decent water entry!!