Koza

Look at their condition. My ridgebackXgolden is just fine on Bonnie, if he eats something better/more expensive, he gets fat. The damlatianX eats only premium, she' on Eagle pack currenty. As she eats very little, the food has to be concentrated enough. They get bones, fish oil and occasional eggs, too.

Maleerr, that's great!

Well, what we are doing. Stella is still inside during the day, and mostly - when we are home. She actually does't want to go outside at all, unless it' for a walk, and I have to push her out for a wee before sleep:) Vet said, she can run up to an hour, but we need to keep an eye on her when she plays with Solly. She still limps a bit and stands on three. Same time she runs well, both trotter and gallop. So we think, she will gradually lern how to put weight just standing. It's probably not comfortable, but we dont notice pain when we sqeeze the knee. I recon, next week or two we see the vet for the last time, and she basically might return to a normal (almost) life after that. She is more concious with her runs now, too (thanks god, she's 4 already! Shoud get some brains ) )

Yes, they have birthday on the 1-st of May! Stella is turning 4, and Solly - 2.

Hi everyone!

Hope there comes some healing bug after all!

Chloe is just not so young, it will heal eventually, don't rush! maybe some massage will do good, fasten the processes around the bone?

Still keeping paws crossed for Malee! I actually know a dog who was run over by a car, all her pelvis was crushed and she has a lot of metal on it. She's about 7 now, absolutely normal, runs and jumps. She is small (tibbie) though.

Stella had a diarrhea in the cage recently, too OMG I wasnt home than, so my OH had to deal with it, good excersise for him... Whats strange is that Stella didnt eat anything new, she always has same food. I can only think about the water outside, cane toads sit in it sometimes at night.

Stella is still OK, we have seen our vet. She will sit in the cage for another month, but same time she can go for walks up to an hour. She is used not to stand on the sore leg, I dont know haw to make her use it more. Her good leg looks really croocked when she stands on three.

Choe is looking great! Happy face.

Stella is still better, apart from that she decided to get rid of the unabsorbed stitching inside the scar and chewed it out . Big hole!

Had to sit 3 days in Elis. collar again. The sore leg is almost like good one, she keeps it up when turning, but walks pretty well.

And yesterday she deterred a burgular (sp?)!!! The idiots of course didn't expect a second dog inside the house:) Opened the sliding door, but didn't take anything (though broke a treasured cumquat tree)

We never had Prolet, either. Could be reaction to anaesthetic, as I guess, the dog would be asleep during Xray. You can just call the vet and check out, if it's serious. Stella had morphine once, and she looked like dying, it was very scary! But vet said, its normal and not to worry and let her lay quietely.

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Didn't want to open a new topic, so i'll put it here

LOL, the new procedure with Stella - she eats ON ORDER! )) She is paranoic about Solly's food, but he has Bonnie light, wich is absolutely unsuiatable for Stella, as she eats very little and gets poor coat easily. Her food is Eagle pack Holistic with something tasty. Yet she would stay and watch Solly eat, and ask for his food ) (sure, if I swap the foods, she will ask for HIS, again). So we shout "Eat!", and she goes and eats :D) A bit. So it repeats 5 times. In the end we ask Solly to come and sit next to Stella, so she looks evil and finishes quickly. ;)))

I assume, the Mars people will be on the Pet expo? I was very impressed with the Furminator site, too. I'll wait until the expo, maybe some specials will fall on us

Yaay for Stella - glad to hear that she is doing well.!!!! How have you built the muscle back up - with swimming or walking? Just wondering as we are at the stage with Mallee that we have to start to really build up her muscles in the hinds legs in preparation of her hopefully finally coming out of her cage, we have done some swimming and she gets lots of on leash and sling walks around the back yard, but we have been wondering what way is best to get the muscle built back up swimming or walking?????

Thanks, malleerr! Swimming would be great! We just walk her, slowly, 5, 10 and now 15 min a day, on the footpath (not grass). She uses the leg when plays with Solly, too (we supervise them) - she pushes up, which is good for it, i think.

If we walk her on grass, she tends to skip on three.

Those hard bits on the scar - they will smooth eventually. The stitching material doesn't absorb very quickly, some bits will stay longer. Stella had small bits of that "wire" sticking out, and she shewed some and I pulled out some, too.

She is getting a bit of muscle on the leg!

amazing how question appear here just when you were about to ask !;)

OK, I know now what to do with Solly. The Mars thingo - doesn't it snap the skin? Solly is very sensitive and cries even when I simply brush him. (he has fairly short coat, but double).

What is best to strip a dog more like a dalmatian, with short single coat?

We'll see vet in a week, I think (Solly needs his immunisation anyway). The vet is so nice, all post-ops are free and the third operation and all drugs after it are free. It's really not their fault, but they took it as guaranteed operation...

Important thing is that Stella is in a good mood, happy every day, I guess Choe is too? When do you plan the second one?

Hi everyone,

I'm crossing fingers for Mallee and Chloe!! Wish we had swimming somewhere around here

Stella is OK so far, but as far as I remember, she started to go downhill about week 6 after the 1-st op, and it's 6 weeks now with the new implant, so it still may turn out badly. She's walking not so bad, showing some slow improvement. She still is i cage all day, free in the evenings and walks on lead 15 min a day.

as far as I remember IAMS contracts a Uni to do the research, as it probably happens with other companies, including those who claim that they do not test on animals. They still use the test results, though...So it's up to the testing facility's authorities to determine the conditions for animals and all ethics isues. Hope they have been revised.

Uni of Qld has some similar research, I dont know for whom. Dogs live in ordinary kennel environment. It's not fun, but not as disgusting as on that video in the net. These dogs have temperament issues, they cant be rehomed.

Kelly, glad to hear you are doing fine. See, there are some risks with any op, you just dont know what will hit you I really hope Stella doesnt have a reaction to the second material, I just cant put her through one more operation, its heartbreaking. She is OK now, a bit slow healing on a part of the stitching, so she will be in the Eliz. collar for a couple of days. She started to use this leg a bit (oh well .. seen that twice already!).

My OH is OK with looking after her, so thats good. She is such a beautiful and lovely dog... she was 6 months old when I only met my OH, so he didnt go through all of her childhood and chewing stage

If this one fails, I'll have to retreat to TPLO, of course.

Good luck, Elka!

Please keep updates...

I've just started Eagle Pack Cholistic. Seems good... though Stella doesn't love it too much, but she is picky about everything anyway. It's cheaper than Hills SD, too.

Deep they are!...

I cant get Stella's pic yet as we don't have PC connected at home.

Keep fingers crossed for your little one. In such a young age she should get over!

I know this sounds bad but how much does the op cost?

Ours was 900 for the first, 200 for the second and the 3-rd was free, and I get 70% back from insurance, so not so bad. In this respect.

If you plan the op, maybe get him accustomed to the crate now. Stella is a very free-running dog (she's a dalmatian x) , but the idea that Solly can't get her in the crate and that her bones are safe there made her extremely excited. They fought for the crate initially

So you never know, it may be not so bad.

Oh Koza, that's no good! Has she had multiple reactions to the sutures and have they used a different material each time? I'm not soure what they used to stitch Duncan up but he has metal holding his Tibia together, the "after" x-rays freaked me out. The surgeon explained that he normally only uses a 3 pin plate for a CWO but Duncan's bone needed so much patching they had to use a custom 6 pin plate!

Let's hope this time they have it right with Stella

Cheers,

Corine

THe first time it was not clear why the string broke, so they used same material, but thicker (nylon). Second time it was obvious it was dissolving. Now they put polyester. Stella is in good mood generally, and I'm so glad I got this cage before! She's so safe and calm in it. I put a big pillow inside, so she feels like on a lounge, she likes it, poor thing.

Solly is very upset though.

The x-rays are very impressive! OMG

Hope you go well!

oh gee... got a call from vet. Stella had a reaction on this thread material and it dissolved again. GOD. They put a different one. Keep fingers crossed!

How's everyone going?

I left Stella today for a thorough exam, her leg is BAD again:( shit, shit, shit so unlucky.

Maybe they will cut it again, or may be there's an inflammation. It looks a bit unstable and definetely sore and hot. The vet will call me later...

Don't forget a rubber mat on the bottom. I get into the bathtub with Solly, he hides his face in my knees, and that helps him to survive And I use the white shower extension from the bath tap. BTW he loves to swim and play in water, but not washing

I never managed to get anything for wounds, Stella would lick everything streight away, and vet always said she would, though yes, there are some products supposed to deterr the licking.

Try to convince him to Eliz. collar, just couple days may be enough.

Same time, if its' in the paw, there may be something left, like tiny splint, so have a good look.

Thanks guys... Stella is OK now, limping but sort of "right" way. The leg doesn't hurt anymore, the vet recons it was a reaction on the new string material. She flexes it well and sits normally. I'll give it another week or two and then start walking. They are both so lucky to be inside all these hot days As I'm back to work on Thursday, it won't be so nice. Actually, Solly was a bit... hm... he deserves being put outside. He killed one rat and today got out another, I still haven't found the poor thing...

Kelly, I would do another op on her, but I would have to borrow the money I still remember about the second knee! Luckily she has insurance now, so it's covered, not so bad, but I still need to pay first

Vets and lots of people say they go back to normal, even can do agility. I saw a working husky who had a partial rupture at 8 yo and didn't have op, only full restriction for 2 monthts, went back to pulling and is completely OK. Seen a mastiff with both ligament replaced, he isn't jumpy, but walks OK, no limping or any signs of the trauma.

Same time, vet recources say the arthritic changes will be faster in the injured knee.