malleerr

Hey Bilby, Hoping that Bouf is feeling a tad better and coming along well, and that you to are feeling ok and coping. Mallee had a different surgery to Chloe and Bouf, but hopefully Kelly will be along soon to give you some words of wisdom..... But please yell out if you have any questions for any of us. Take care Antoinette and Mallee Moo P.S. - More pics please - he is just too boutiful

Rest in peace Kal - run free girl Erny - nothing i can say or write can ease your pain - treasure your memories and know many people have you in their prayers and thoughts. Take care of your self. Antoinette

Thinking you you both - you are in our prayers and thoughts........

Hiya, Here is a pic of our girl Mallee with her towel sling on just to show where it should go and to get the general idea of it - sorry i don't have a photo of her standing with it on. Not a very good photo mind as you can tell she had had enough of the sling when this photo was taken. Mallee had severe HD which resulted in two ops being done first a TPO which was unsuccessfuly (her pelvis shattered and collasped a week later) then a bilateral femoral neck and head excision. So understandably she had had enough by this stage - she was in the sling for around 3 months. BTW she is fine now - 8 months on. If i can help you with any questions at all just send me a PM if you like.

Got it Kel

opps double post

:p Yey for Chloe I am soo glad that she is doing well.....it makes me happy to hear. No Mallee has not eaten any foreign objects as such but still does have a liking for the couch legs, but only when she feels that we need to be punished for something. She is coming along in leaps and bounds literally, and we are beggining to wonder if the surgeons actually did anything to her........lol.... :p We are walking Mallee everynight at the shortest she is going for 1 kilometre which we are rapt with even though short its a hell of a lot further than we would have imagined walking her 6 months ago or even 4!!! She is such a cheecky devil, if we miss one walk during the weeknights god does she let you know. Next part of her journey to recovery is socialistation with dogs again - which if i am truthful makes me quite nervous. We are suppose to be looking after the inlaws staffie for about 2 months in August/September but i am just not sure if we can do it or not. I would hate for Mallee to injury herself once she has come this far along!! I know I am chicken and that i should just let it go but Mallee and Heidi(Staffie) used to play so rough together that i am sure an injury would occur either of Mallee or Heidi....argghhhhh having to tell the inlaws will be something!!! But on the other hand i understand how important it is for Mallee to start interacting with other pooches again....maybe i will suggest that we start taking the two of them for walkies together for a start. Talking about muscle tone, Mallee is looking fantastic in the muscle development, Brock only said the other day "can you imagine how much more tone she is going to get once she starts swimming again"....i reckon there is not much difference in her now from pre surgery to post surgery! Although her front end is massive in comprasion to the back end - she is like the Hulk in teh front legs and shoulders...and strong...i have only just lately been able to walk her again by myself (getting her back into walking properly on the lead has been a task) as she was just pulling soo hard. Anyway must fly - take care Lots o love Antoinette and Mallee Moozle

WOW - 4 pages back. Just checking to make sure all is alright with you Kel and the beautiful Chloe Alls well here - i figure no news is good news but still want to check up on you both. Hope to hear soon. Antoinette

I can really understand where you are coming from. Mallee also had to be rushed back to hospital only a day after we brought her home from her TPO when her implants failed her and her pelvis totally collasped. We too did not know what to do - whether to PTS or do another completely different op, we went with the second option on the advice of our surgeon. We had already gone so far with Mallee it did not seem right not to give her another go at life. Things will seem hard for awhile but trust me they do eventually get better. Its been nearly 8 months since Mallee's last op and we are just starting to see the benefits of it now and having a somewhat normal pup again,....welll one thats making up for lost time in a big way. We were told with Mallee that she would never chase a ball or run again, and may not ever be able to walk again by herself. But let me tell you she does all of the above. We rested Mallee for alot longer than our surgeon advised ( she was crated for around 4 months only out for toliets and sanity breaks in the house, and is still in the house while we are at work to minimise her activity). Mallee let us know when she was ready to do things, and i think Ruby would do the same with you..... I think they know what they can and can't do. One thing i wouldn't do would be walking Ruby so soon next time after she comes home, and if she is being tolieted outside i would do it on a lead to stop any accidents or her trying to run. Do you have to have her in a sling or anything to assist her in taking a bit of the weight off the leg.?? We had to have Mallee slung to go to toliets and walkies for about 3 months after the op, but she did have a different operation to what you had!! Hang in there it must be hard esp having a human bub to look after as well. If you need anything advice or just to vent just give a yell.... Take care

Kelly Thanks for the pics - she is just too beautiful, i love her eyes, she looks soo loving and friendly. I love the pic of her poor shaved leg, very fetching look. ohh and love the pic of her and the watering can. Give her big pats from me and Mallee

Heya, Glad to hear that Ruby is home and recovering. When are you getting the other leg done?? Mallee has been on Cosequin now for about 9 months and we have found it to be execellent, there are different forms of it that you can get either the dog caps or the horse powdered form, we have Mallee on the horse powdered form after the recommendation of that by her surgeon - he says it works out cheaper, but i think i would have preferred the tablets as they would have been easier to deal with. Mallee was also on Rimadyl - and i am not sure if i actually liked it or not - it helped with the pain but after she came off them she has had terrible problems with her stomach and bowels and i have a tendency to believe its because of all the Rimadyl that she was on......i preferred the cartrophen injections and carprofen (spl) tablets.........i think it depends on the vet as to which one they will prescribe. What have you decided about her hips, have any operations been suggested to you or are you going to see how she copes once both knees have be done???

Good to hear from you Koza. Glad that Stella is somewhat fine. Fingers crossed for the second knee!!!!!

YIPEE FOR CHLOE Glad that she went well......They never seem to go as well as you hope though...hey....but atleast it is basically almost over Kel!!! WOOHOOO Not long now and Chlo Bo will be legally tearing around and behaving like a normal pooch again........You are not going to know what has hit you when she is allowed to do whatever she wants.....you forget what it is like to own a "normal" dog trust me!!!!! Anyway take care just wanted to let you know how pleased i am of your news. Big Hugs to you and Chloe. I reckon its time for more Chloe pics actually...................................

Hey Genevieve, I would call the "breeder" as soon as you can - did you have any type of agreement in place with them as to hed diseases?? I know the pain your are going through, our R Ridgeback was diagonised with elbow dysplasia (4mth) and hip dysplaisa (6mths) both bilateral and she is just now becoming a somewhat of a normal dog again nearly 12 months on!!! In regards to the HD, if i had my time over again i would not have rushed into any surgeries straight away, even though Mallee was diagnoised with severe bilateral HD. I would give the meds and alternate treatments a go before doing any ops, as the ops for HD are pretty extreme and severe on both the dog and owners. Mallee first up had a bilateral Triple Pelvic Osteotomy which is where they cut the pelvis in three places and twist it around into a different position and pin and plate it back into place so that the hips joints are now in a different position releasing pressure from the joints etc. This operation failed Mallee and a week after surgery her pelvis collasped on her nearly causing her to die, and had to be rushed back in for emergency surgery which was a bilateral femoral head and neck excision - thats where the cut the top of the femur bone so essentially your dog now has no hips at all.......very extreme...the xrays really freak you out. Besides being hard on the dog it is quite a costly experience - we have spent well over $10,000.00 on Mallee with all her ops and dramas. But that was us and each case is different..... My opinion would be that if you and your dog can cope with dealing with the HD by exercise, diet modification and medication and/or alternative treatment, do so until the dog is in too much pain and/or her quality of life is really going down hill.....but that is just my opinion. We went through a lot with Mallee and i hate the thought of other people having to go through with what we did...HD is a nasty nasty disease... Anyway again they are just my opinions - i really hope all goes well for you and Ruby and with what ever decisions you make. let us know how you go and whether you ever hear anything back from the breeder - please get in contact with them, if they are ethical they should stop breeding from the parents so that no body else has to go through what you are. Oh and pics are also a must Take care Edited cos...i can't spell to save myself

Hey Kelly, Know all too well what you are feeling...fingers are crossed that all has gone to plan and that if she hasn't fully healed that Chloe is well on the way. We can't go mad at Mallee either lately when she acts up - as soon as you raise your voice or even stand up when she is being naughty she just thinks its all fun and zooms around the place like a nut jumping from one thing to another. Oh the joy of having confined hounds, i think their energy just keeps building up in them!!! Alls well at our end of the woods, Mallee is as well as can be expected, well actually better than we ever thought. Brock and i are beginning to wonder if the vets didn't just slice two big scars down her back and charge us an arm and leg for the pleasure of it as there is just no stopping her....lol.... Must fly - will watch out for your news today on how it all goes...thinking of ya. Special hugs to Chloe and one for you too. Antoinette and Mad Mallee Moo

Thinking of you Erny - i don't post here as i have no useful info to add, but, would like to let you know that we are thinking of you and you are both in our prayers each night. Hang in there - heres hoping for some improvement for you both. Hugs to you both and a big special one for the lovely Kal.

Wasn't there a post once before about reported deaths from eating greenies?????? ETA - our dog eats a carrot atleast once a day with no problems

Our RR puppy who is just on 13 months old, is a master a wreaking things. Just this week alone we have lost 4 shoes, a jug, several accounts and letters, a remote control, a cd, a hat, sock, a towel, she chewed my OH's bow in half, eaten a hole in the wooden leg of my brand new couch and she put herself through the lounge room window!! The list could on and on. I have tried to puppy proof the house but its getting near impossible - you get everything you can think of out of reach and you get home and yeap she has something. Arghh the joy of it!!

I am so sorry Pauline to hear of poor little Cooper' s passing - i have not posted here before but have read this thread several times. My thoughts are with you and your family. Run free little man - rest in peace

Hiya Glad to hear that Chloes still doing fine Kel. Hopefully well and truely on her way to healing. Heres hoping that this one heals quicker than the last. Also glad to hear that she is ok after her little run the other day!!!! You just have to close your eyes sometimes hey....esp when other people are concerned, gee its frustrating try to get people to understand......... Hey Corine, Mallee had arthritis in her front legs at 4 months old so maybe its worth getting Dunc onto some joint guard or similiar. Mallee is on Cosequin and we have found it really good. There are also several dry foods you can get now that have Glucosaime and Chondrotin (spl) in them. Give Duncan a belated birthday hug from me Talking about other people not listening to you when it comes to your dogs. We had Brock parents over last night, and Brock's Dad has this uncanning nack of stiring Mallee up all the time. No matter what we say to him he will just not listen. Brock finally got Mallee to calm down about 1/2 hour after their arrival, when she was just about to nod off to sleep Brock's Dad started waking her, i told him to stop it but of course he continued, and she woke up. Then he started complaining that she was annoying him, argghhhh :rolleyes: We have told him soo many times don't stare at her as it excites her and she takes it as a challenge so anyways he continues to stare at her, speaking to her stupidly and she starts jumping around, next minute he lunged at her and she jumped back, Brock went to grab her as she was going to hit her bum on the coffee table and as she was all stired up she jumped back again and..............smash crash put her shoulder through the lounge room window THANK GOD the curtains were closed otherwise she would have been ripped to pieces. Thankfully she was not hurt.....my heart stopped and I was already processing in my head how i was going to get her into the car bleeding and the fastest way to get vets. Just so happy that that was not needed. I was fuming at him. So spent last night in a very cold lounge room with the heater on high but not doing anything, got down to 3 degrees here and with a bodgy board nailed to the window frame not good. Anyway i am just glad that Mallee is OK, but it definately drives me crazy that people don't listen, my father is the same always trying to get Mallee to play rough with him. Anyway must tootle off. Antoinette and Mallee Moo BTW - my new couch - well - Mallee says it tastes good

Hiya!!! Wow eveything must be going well for all pooches as it took my ages to try and find our post - 3pages back, at first i thought it may have been deleted for some reason. We had the most wonderful weekend with Mallee Moo. Finally, its beginning to feel like we have somewhat of a normal dog again. Yipee. On Saturday she had a great day at home, the MIL & FIL came around and low and behold she behaved herself and actually displayed some manners... On Sunday we finally bit the bullet and took her out on an outting to a local Sunday market. We have been really nervy on taking her out anywhere in public since the op, beside walking up and down the street she has not really been anywhere besides my parents house. We have not so much been worried about her behaviour, more worried about whether she would physically be able to cope with walking around for a distance, and uneven ground etc etc etc, and other people's dogs behaviours. We are such worry worts. Anyway, she had the most fantastic day as we did, we were so proud of her. She must have walked about 1.5 kms with no drama what so ever, was so well behaved, except for trying to pinch a little boys spring roll. Mallee was not fused about the large crowds of people and cars zooming around, she didn't even bat an eyelid on a lady nearly running her over in her go go mobile. The only thing that scared her was a young guy busking, and mind you he scared my also......lol...... We did not have one drama with her legs, she did not pull up stiff or sore, no extra limping no whining or anything. Which you have no idea on how worried we were about her legs. So this has been a massive step forward for our brave little girl. She actually got to sniff and say hello to several other dogs which she loved.........as usual the only dogs that showed any agression to her were a lab and of course a SWF whose owner had the gall to have a go at us for bringing "A dog like Mallee out in public" mind you she said this as Mallee stood next to Brock on the lead with the most worried look on her face as her dog complete in a matching jacket to hers, went off its head growling barking and trying to jump up a grab Mallee's face.....some people....huh Mallee even got to met another Ridgeback, she has not seen one since she was a pup, and my god he was GIANT. We thought Mallee was a biggy till we met him, Mallee only came up to his belly.....not sure what the owners feed him but he was more great dane size then RR. I hope that Chloe is coming along Kelly and making you proud also. How long has it been now since the op, it must be like 3 weeks which would make it half way over, am i right???? Hope she is going well and not limping too much or showing any signs of pain. I can't wait till she is fully recovered for you and she can once again go for a walk in her beloved park. Hows Duncan going? Hope his bowels are doing ok and all other dramas are getting there. I wonder how Stella and Koza are going? I suppose no news is good new. Must love and leave you all Hugs Antoinette and Mallee Moo

Hi All I hope i didn't give the wrong impression before in my previous post in that Mallee was driving me crazy with her puppiness! I am over the moon that she is back to being a terror of a puppy, the main concern i had with it all is the constant zoomies around and doing crazy things like jumping onto and off things. I would sooo hate for her to hurt herself or do damage that may restrict her rehabiliation in the long term. I am so glad that she of course can do all these things, its just worrying at the same time I don't want the puppiness taken out of her, well...................... maybe just a tad, but to have her slow down a bit would be nice, why does she not understand that walking will still get her there......lol....... I suppose we are finding it difficult in that we still aren't too sure of what she can and can't do, when she should do things etc etc etc. I would suspect that we are holding Mallee back a bit out of our own fear that she might injure herself or something. She soo just wants to play all the time run around after a ball or stick, and its hard to deny her all those things when she looks at you with those big eyes and she seems so fine and able to do them. Hopefully i will hear some more from the surgeons soon on where to go from here, but i think they are in the same prediciment that Brock and I are in as they also are not too sure on what to allow us to do with her as they have never seen the result of the ops Mallee has had, as they have never experienced a collasped pelvis caused by a TPO that required a bilateral femoral head and neck excision!! I suppose we just really need to wing it and take some more chances with her....be a little brave at times. In relation to the obediance classes - i think we will have the same problems as Duncan had. Although Mallee is very food driven and was really good at classess before all the ops. The main concern i have is the contact with other dogs, she definatley needs to go back to socalise its just a worry though of rough play i suppose. I can limit what she does, its the other people there that don't seem to understand that even though she is a big pup she is still delicate esp her pelvis. We took her back inbetween the elbow op and the hip op and had problems then with people allowing their dogs to jump all over her......... Arggh the joys and stresses of having a recovering doggy............ I also would love to hear what Duncan's issues are and what Chloe's odd habits are. Anyway guys i must fly - hope to hear from you all again soon. Hugs to both Chloe and Duncan. Hope the workshop is informative for you Corine maybe you could give us a few pointers... Take care and enjoy your weekends. Luv, Antoinette and Mallee Girl

Hi Kel, Glad to hear that Chloe is now well and truely on the road to recovery. Its always the best news when you hear from the surgeon that they are doing well, its like music to the ears...huh..... Hopefully she is still behaving herself, and not trying to zoom around like an idoit. I am glad things have settled down at home for you, i hated the stress that having a sick pup brought to the home, everyone being so stretched emotionally that stupid little things became big issues. Mallee is back to her old self, so hopefully the last episode was just a one off thing, heres hoping anyway!!! Mallee is becoming quite the dare devil much to our disgust, trying to stop her and keep her down is something in its self. We are thinking that going back to obedience might be the way to go. She is just a lunatic at the moment, you can't even tell her off without her thinking it is a game and proceeding to run and jump around the house like a flea on steriods!!!!!! Its almost impossible to catch her once she starts one of her zommie runs. Last night she gave us the fright of our lives after we had taken her for a walk, she decided that that was not enough and proceeded to do the nightly zoom when she then decided she would try her hand at flying. We have just gotten a new lounge suite (mmm a nice chocolate brown leather one) and the old lounge is still in the house in the dinning room. Mallee decided that she would zoom around the backyard and into the house and jump onto the seat of the old couch, which was sort of all right not too big of a jump up, THEN she decided that she was not high enough off the ground so she jumped up onto the top of the back of the couch (were your head goes) AND THEN JUMP STRAIGHT OFF into the next room. The back of the couch is about 1.5 metres high. :D MY GOD WHAT WAS SHE THINKING!!!! Glad her legs held up, she did it with no effort at all and just kept on running around until out of breath.!!! I am not sure what we are going to do with her - besides having her on the lead again all the time there is no way we can stop all the naughty stupid things she is doing!! I suppose she is just making up for lost time in a big way. It has been nearly 7 months since all the ops so i would say she is well and truely healed but we just don't want to risk her hurting herself again. Maybe we are being over cautious - i am not sure, maybe we should be walking her further then what we are, its just so hard to know whats not enough and whats too much. This week i have lost 6 pairs of shoes, a jumper, several bills, 2 dog leads, and bowl! Of course all my fault for leaving them in places she can get to, but still makes you cranky!! ARHH THE JOY OF IT!!! Hope everyone else's pooches are doing as well as Mallee seems to be. Keep the updates coming, Love Antoinette and the crazy kangaroo jumping MALLEE MOO

Thanks for the reply Corine, Mallee gets the chicken necks raw, we were thinking that because she had a little diahorrea before she was feed the necks on Tuesday night that maybe her body didn't get a chance to digest them properly. But then again, am not too sure, she is such a scavenger its quite possible that she has picked something up from the backyard, but i can't for the life of me think what it could be out there as there are no bones or anything out side bar sticks??? She still seems ok although she has not done a poo since Wednesday night but that could be because she got rid of so much with the diahorrea and has only had a little rice and steamed chicken last night and a tiny tiny bit of rice yest lunch time. SHe is not a happy camper on the food sides of things - she is acting like she is starving!! Would the vet have picked up a blockage in the physical exam. She did not even mentioned that, we did, we said about a neck being stuck and she said its unlikelyy as she is not gagging or coughing. I am not sure if she really knows what she is talking about because, i explained that Mallee has a tendency to glup her food and if she did not chew the neck it could be stuck in her gut somewhere or something.........Arghhh i don't know. Hopefully she is ok and it all clears up. My fingers are definatley crossed. Kel i am sorry to hear about your OH losing his job that's just real shitty luck!!! Hopefully it wont be long in between jobs. Hang in there you have got to get some luck soon. Must fly - too much work to do and i don't want to be the next to be sacked. Keep me posted as to Chloe and Duncans progress. Love, Antoinette and Smelly Mallee Moo

Thanks for that Kel, I just can't believe it all that we have all been through to have another health issue just breaks me heart for poor little Mallee. Although that being said she does not seem to fussed, the thing that most made her upset was going to the local vets, which she hates, they are soo rushed and make her feel uncomfortable the poor little thing wee'd herself. Not like the surgeons and staff at the hospital who fuss all over her and make it a pleasant experience. Yes, the antibotics are to help clear up any infection if any. The vet said she would not send the samples off as they don't want to incur unnecessary cost, but as Brock said we have spent $10K plus whats $300-$500 for peace of mind, but no go. I just really hope that the diet for the week and the antibotics clear it up for her. God, i know for sure if it was me passing all that blood i would sure as hell want it sorted quickly. But as i said Mallee is still full of life and not letting it slow her down, if she is uncomfortable or anything it only seems to be just before she is going to relieve herself. I must say though as i was doing the fantastic task of sorting through mounds and mounds of poo i did come across lots of little spine looking things that were really sharp, and we tend to think they are from her chicken necks that she ate, so maybe combined with a bad bout of diahorrea, and her body not allowing her to digest the food they have cut/scratch her insides on the way out?????? Argghhhhh i am sick of worry about her, i now that sounds bad, but with all we have been through we have just relaxed and really started enjoying Mallee again. I really feel bad for her what a start to life. Anyway thats enough complaining. Special cuddles to Chloe - I hope that it gets easier for her as time goes on. Poor little mite, she has had as much had luck as Mallee. Hopefully it will get easier again for us both. Hugs to you to Kelly and thanks for your thoughts Update again soon Antoinette and Mallee Moo xxooxxoo