malleerr

NAO - I am so sorry - i don't know what to say Hugs to you and your family, special pats to your pups. Tresure your memories and know that he is now pain free and will watch over you and be waiting for you at the bridge. Hang in there and take care of yourself. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Run free Ernie :rolleyes: Antoinette x

Hey Shoemonster, Mallee i think slept better than she has in the last three months. She snored her head off all the way home in the car, and i have never seen her so happy to be back in her cage!!!! Off there again tomorrow night, so hopefully it will go as well as it did on Saturday. She has been so much more contented since the swimming and once again smiling all the time which is sooo good to see!!!

Hi Scat, When you first saw the vet didn't he give you a list of specialist surgeons in the field of HD - maybe if he did you should get one of those to check out the x-rays and make sure they were done in the correct position. When Mallee was first diagonised, one vet did x-rays, then a more senior vet with experience did x-rays in the correct position, and then she was sent on to her spec surgeon who also did x-rays to be absolutely certain. They have to have the legs positioned correctly to get the right angles etc. After the specialist surgeon did the x-rays and confirmed that yes she definately did have HD and she was worse in one leg than the other, he said to us before he would even consider surgery he wanted to know if she actually displayed any clinical signs of HD, as he said HD is not only a radiographical diagonised disease but a clinically diagonised disease also, i.e. some dogs have the worst x-rays ever but do not present any clinical signs and if this was the case with Mallee he would have preferred to leave surgery until she was showing definate signs.

Last one..... Grumpy Mallee after swimming wanting to go back for more!!!!

And another........POOPED!!!!!!! A stuffed Mallee (but happy)

Hello New Age Outlaw - good luck and keep us posted. Would love to see pics!!! Hey Kelly, Mallee went swimminng on sat and LOVED IT - YAY!!!!!! So here are some pics for you - i could not getting any of her actually swimming as we were to busy leading her around the pool, but hopefully next time we go i will get some. Here she is after her first big swim - 12 LAPS!!!!

Well the people at Kepala Canine Country Club could not have been better. Mallee had an absolute ball swimming and took to it luck a duck, well dog to water. Here is a pic of her after her swim, still in her life jacket, with a big smile of her face - mind you looking a little pooped - first exercise in three months.

Hey Kim, Actually i am a bit anxious about the first swim, and hoping that they are going to be as helpful as they sound, they say they have had quite a bit of experience with the dogs that have had or do have orthopedic probs etc, but also Mallee has never seen water, so am hoping that she does in fact like it. She is like a bull at a gate atm - being locked up in a cage for three mths has done nothing for her lead walking skills, and lately is so excited when she is walked she basically runs on the spot!!! not quite what we wont. So we are hoping that with her being able to swim aleast instead of walks it will calm her down a bit..........heres hoping anyway.

Hi Scat, Another thing you can try besides Sascha's Blend is Cosequin, you can get it at most good petshops like Petstock etc, or at your vets, its got glucosamine, i think calcium etc in it ( i can't remember all the ingredients) but is made for joints. It can cost a bit i think maybe around $70-$100 mark for a bottle of caps (i brought some awhile ago so can't remember exact amt) - get the capsule form not the powder like we did as its too hard to measure! The op you were talking with the plates would be a TPO i think - thats what Mallee had done first - they cut the pelvis in three places to change the angle of the pelvis and then plate and screw it back together. It can only be done on pups under the age of 12 mths with no arthritic changes. You are probably feeling a bit overloaded with info at the moment. But let us know how it all goes. Good luck

Thanks Guys - will try the Diggers Rest one. Yay - thanks Mcosta - have rang Kepala and spoke to a lady there named Tina who was so lovely Mallee is booked in, fingers crossed she will like it!!!

Hey Scat - i believe there are plenty of options available for you so don't give up - give your wife a :D and let her know that things can be worked out. Is it the Femoral Neck and Head excision that your surgeon suggested to you. When we had it done we are so afraid that Mallee would never walk again, esp when we collected her after her 3 weeks in hospital, she looked so bad and we wondered what have we done to her. But now three months on, although not fully recovered as i said there seems to be no stopping her, i think the biggest thing now that will assist her is building up those hind leg muscles. She may never walk the same again, may not (probably) wont be able to do the things a normal dog can do, but as long as she is free of pain, comfortable and happy thats all we could hope for, cos the thought of her being in pain all the time and on medication for life was a really hard thing to get our heads around. I believe what ever decision you make will be the right one by you guys, you know what you can and can't do.

Oh No Scat 35 - i know exactly what you are going through. OUr 10 mth old puppy is currently caged at home after several surgeries to get over hip dysplasia. Its such a hard decision to work out what to do. Mallee was diagonised with Elbow Dysplasia at 4 mths which was operated on with great sucess and at 6 mths diagonised with hip dysplasia ( there are several post about her on here) We opted to have surgery, although it did not quite go to plan - she had a TPO done in November, which we believed would be the best option for her, and still believe today if all went well with her believe that she would have benefited greatly from this surgery. Unfortunately for Mallee there was too much damage done to her pelvis and a week after that surgery her pelvis collasped and she had to have an emergency femoral neck and head excision done. My advice would be to speak to your vets and surgeons about all options available, any type of surgery you have done will require a lot of after care The op you seem to be talking about is the one Mallee had done last, the femoral neck and head excision (she had a bilateral - both sides done). Mallee has been in a cage for the last three months, can only be walked with a sling, all toliet breaks are done with me and my husband together, one on the lead one on the sling. I will attach a xray of her after the FNHE so you can see what they do. Get as much info as you can on your options, and think hard about what you want to do. Don't get me wrong as much as our pup has been through she is still so happy, and is always amazing us with her character and personality and there seems to be no stopping her. She can now walk without the sling, but not for long as she has no muscle tone what so ever in her back legs. I would suggest to you to get your guy onto glucosomine (spl) as soon as you can, and swimming should also help. Please feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it more. Let me know what you decide to do. As for your question about them getting old before their time, that was how we first picked up on Mallee's condition - she would sit and get up like my parents old 16yo dog, and would not tolerate exercise of any sort. Good luck with your pup. Take care

Hey Kelly - hang in there - you don't need to thank me for my support cos you have been just as great with me - i'm always saying to the OH and others i don't know what i would have done not having someone to talk about what we are going through who also knows what its like......so big :D to you!! I'am sure Chloe will fully heal, but as you said i do understand how worrying it is, we really expect Mallee to be fully healed when we went back for the first set of x-rays, like as Corine said, she is just a pup and we all expected her to heal quicker, but that being said once we thought about it for a bit her right hand side is the weakest of the two sides, the side she lays on, and when she couldn't really get up and move she would drag herself along on that side, so they might all be contributing factors. Maybe that's why Chloe is taking jsut a little bit longer to heal, as she is older and maybe is taking a little more pressure of her bad leg with the good one, but as i said i am sure she will be fine, the surgeon does not seem to be too worried so that is a comfort. As for them not returning your call, i bet you spoke to the night nurses. The only complaint we had about the hospital Mallee stayed in was the emergency staff and night staff, while i know they can get very busy and stressed at times, common curtosy does not go astray especially when dealing with people who they should know have been through a rough trot with their pets! We had it happen on several occasssions, actually once when she was still staying there after we were told by the surgeon that we can ring at night to see how she was, i basically got abused by one of the night nurses for phoning to see how she was and whether she had eaten (cos she did not eat for nearly a week for the staff)..... ..... i could not believe it!! I would just keep ringing them until the surgeon either takes your call or returns your call. I can understand why you are unhappy to not see him when you are collecting Chloe after the x-rays had been done afterall isn't that what we pay for????? :D . Hopefully it improves next time you see him, if it doesn't maybe make them aware of your feelings. Anyway, i hope your day improves for you. Wish us luck for Saturday we are taking Mallee swimming which i think will be a bit of a drama considering she has nver been in water before. Antoinette P.S - something to make you smile - when we were taking Mallee out for her last toliet break last night she happen to find of all things, a frog. What a DRAMA trying to hold her back on the lead and the sling while she chased this ruddy frog everywhere, Mallee going one way the frog another, me giggling all the way with Brock yelling at me to clam Mallee and myself down!! Poor little froggy, end up chasing it inside the house, it was sooooo hard to get her back into her cage while Brock had to chase this frog hopping every out of the house and back into the backyard. Mallee a bit like an elephant hadn't forgotten about this frog this morning and was still looking for it everywhere......lol.......it was sooo funny nothing like a bit late night drama!!

Hey Kell - not quite the news we were hoping for - hey - its so hard all the hoping that it will all be right and then not quite getting the news you wanted, but she is well on the way. I wouldn't worry about the bone - Mallee's hasn't fully refused yet on the right side and hers was done on 13 November - so nearly 3 months ago. I think it takes around 2 months or so, but, our girls have been through quite alot so their ammune system and such might be down a little which might be why its taking longer. Hang in there. Speak to him when you pick Chloe up and see if he thinks it could be a problem, but i would not worry to much. Hugs to Chloe and to you. pssst......stop biting those nails.............. :rolleyes:

Yeah - she definatley knows how to use those eyes to get away with murder!!!

Hopefully Kelly it is the start of many good things to come your way - its about time you had change in your luck :rolleyes:

Grrrrrrrrr alright :shakehead: :rolleyes: I was hanging out to hear how she went, was so hoping i would hear tonight before i left work......i understand the suspense. I bet your finger nails are almost non existent!!!!! Hopefully by now you are on your way to collect her. We still have everything crossed for you both that all is OK.

Hey Kelly, Good luck today - you were one of the first thoughts that came into my head this morning - i know what you are going through all the butterflies etc. Brock and i were hopeless when we took Mallee back for the x-rays, you would think that it gets easier, but i actually think it doesn't. Unfort. Mallee has not started swimming yet, we are having heaps of trouble trying to find somewhere close enough to do it regularly. Which is a real bummer, don't know wheather it is worth us looking around for a cheap aboveground pool for her - but then its the problem of trying to get her into it!!! Arghhh just not sure what to do with her lately, the surgeons said short walks without the sling, but geez do you know how hard it is to walk a 10mth old pup that he been in a cage for 3 mths slowly......it just does not happen, and what is a short walk........our heads have been spinning lately. Mallee had arthritis in her front elbow joints at 4 mths - which she had arthiscoped and the ulna osteotomy, we have discussed it with surgeons and they can't really give us a time frame, now with her front legs its all about trying to prevent it from happending again, last lot of xrays showed no signs so heres hoping that op was a success.....yay......so hopefully with being on cosequin, sasha's blend, vegies and good food she should be right, but if it happens it happens. The good thing about it all is nothing can go wrong with her hips anymore, cos shes got none....lol.......... :rolleyes: if you don't laugh you will cry hey. I am sure i posted a pic of her missing hip joint xray - i will have to check a few pages back and see if i did otherwise if i didn't i will post it! As you can imagine - she is loving her new found freedom limited as it is, its better than nothing. Short walks around the front yard, and longer ones around the back yard. We have been to chicken to take her past the front gates, as she is just sooo excited all the time, she is not aloud to run or jump, and it is so hard to stop her from doing those things, almost impossible. I think as Brock said there has to be a time when i just let go and stop being so protective and worried all the time, and i have to get over the fact that sooner or later she will be out of the cage, and she will one day hurt herself and there is nothing i can do about it!!! I just stress over her all the time, i think its going dirve Brock to drink......lol........ Anyway i will try and post the pic of her elbow x-rays so you can see how the ulna bone has healed from being cut! They are quite interesting to look at all the xrays. Let me know how Chloe goes, thinking of you. Take Care try not to stress yourself out toooo much today!!! Antoinette The arrow shows were the cut the bone and were it has refused

Thanks Hookey - am aware of Dogs in motion - woul dlove to be able to take her there but its fairly out of our way - maybe we will have to though!

We have to get out pup into swimming to assist in rebuilding the muscles in her back legs etc following recent ortho dsurgery - and we are having trouble finding doggy pools - we have located one at Sunbury but he is fully booked most of the time and only has day appts left which unfort does not suit us. Just wondering if anyone out there knew of any - even Geelong area??? ETA - i have posted this in the General section also, sorry if you read it twice

Hey Kelly, Have got my fingers and toes crossed for you & Chloe. and Mallee has her paws crossed!!! Make sure you keep us posted - when we took Mallee in for her last lot of x-rays Brock and i paced up and down i reckon for about 4 hours and ended up going back into the vets early cos we were going to bust - we just had to know the result. Poor little Mallee was still asleep when we got there...... Mallee has been doing well, although up to mischeif at the moment, loving all this extra time out of her cage. We have been taking her for little walks around the front and back yard without the sling, and she is loving it!!! Although now she has had that taste its harder to keep her in the cage......Can't wait to start her swimming altough having problems trying to find a suitable pool to swim her in All the best again - update is a must with pics - i will try and get some action shots off Mallee girl enjoy her bit of freedom over the next few days. Antoinette

Thats why we are thinking of just opening a seperate account. As then its not really wasted money. But then again i suppose if its a reallly big op or something like that insurance would be a good thing... you are right it is a hard one!!

We looked into it after we spent huge amounts of money on surgeries for our pup. RSPCA have a link on their main web page about it and who does it, costs etc. I do know that your dog has to have no preexisting health issues etc etc - but the RSPCA website will tell you all about it. Its a good idea if you have the spare cash - or even just open a separate bank account and put a little away when you have it - thats what we are going to do from now on!!

Yay!!! We have just had news from our surgeons that Mallee can start swimming and doing short leash walks unsupported by the sling I am soo happy as Brock and I have been starting to worry about Mallee's mental health with all this time locked up in the cage (3mths), and as she seemed to us to be going so well, wanted to start doing something extra with her. This is a very big step, as happy as i am that we are able to start exercising her, i am a little worried at the same time, and definatley wont be pushing it to much or her for that matter. We will probably do more swimming with her than walking, until her muscle in the back legs start to build up a bit. I wonder though how we are going to get her to swim as she has never seen water in that much volume before, and hope to god that she does not get scare as we really need her to able to swim as it will be the best thing for her. Yay finally i can see that little light at the end of the tunnell!!!!!! I can't stop smiling!! How are you and Chloe going Kelly? Hope all is well in your end of the woods!!! Hope everyones doggies are all well and on the mend!!!!!

I have never used a spray, but, i have used Doggy Wipes from PetStock about $4.00 a pack of 8 and they leave a lovely smell on my pups coats (sort of powder smell - like baby wipes, but i can't think who makes them - its Ruddicks) although it does not last for a real long time. But i am pretty sure you can get doggy perfume.....lol.....