Koza

Kelly, how are you going? Stella is a bit better, she was really sick for 4 days, and her knee was hot like an iron, byt now it has settled, and she steps on the leg again. We keep her in cage mostly, which she apparently likes.

Kisses and hugs to you and Minty! Could be something with the mince?

Thanks, Kelly! Wish you and Chloe happy Christmas!

We are back from the vet. Phew... its some sort of damage to the soft tissues, but the implant and all bones are still there. She has got sedatives and pain-killers, lays quitely on the lounge. I've bougth a nice big cage on e-bay, will keep her in it for a week or two. We still can't understand what she could have done, because inside she always lays down and sleeps. Solly (other dog) is worried about her too, was licking her leg yesterday. Soo.. hopefully she will be OK:) Just shows again how restriction is important:( I'll get a pic of her

Hi guys... Kelly, hope Chloe is well and careful and you all have nice and happy Christmas! We are off to the surgery tomorrow morning again, Stella did something awfull to her knee, it looks like completely destroyed:( SHe can't move at all. I'll discuss if TPLO wuld be more sensible for her, if she just ruptures the ligament during movement. May be it's another ligament, or bone... don't know, it's just very serious. The problem is I don't really have money for the TPLO straight away, have to invent something. May be she doesn't need TPLO (hopefully). She was doing REALLY well, and vet was very happy with her yesterday. I just can't believe what's happend:( We were advised to keep her inside and calm, what we did. Now we will lock her up in a small crate. Oh god... There's a conference in Sydney in February on vet ortho. Pity I'm not there.

I guess you are not referring to a titanium implant but a replacement ligament, not osteotomy. Titanium is an extremely strong metal and I doubt enough pressure could be applied to break it. Either way, confinement is required after a surgery of this nature. No vigorous activity for at least 12 weeks. This was a requirement of the orthosurgeon who made quite sure I understood how important the rehab was in the overall outcome of the surgery. My dog was crated to restrict movement. Yes, she had ligament repacement. We did everything to the vet's advice, she was going through the rehab, allowed to walk and later slow run on a lead. It didn't look nice from the beginning, though, it looks to me now like it was slow failing from the beginning, maybe untied? - compared to what she is like now. The vet said she did 70 operations with 100% success, so I trust her... I had discussion with ortho, they confirmed she should be OK with the string. (actually, it must have been more than 10 weeks, maybe 14, she was crated 8 weeks) Keep fingers crossed

My dog had the implant brocken 10 weeks after op. Now she is 1 week after second op, they put a thicker one. She looks good so far. Did you ask the vet how bmuch experience does he/she have with this operation? You might look for a second opinion, but generally vet would be the best person to discuss the options, as he knows your dog better, has seen the joint inside and so on. My dog is 3.5, she went pretty well through the ops, but older one may have a weaker heart,... and its level of activity, its weigth.. maybe she doesn't need it so much and will be happy just to have a short walk, layind down the rest of the time? The operation doesn't prevent arthritis in that joint, unfortunately.

I buy bones from Big Gun butchers.. 1$ a bag (about 2 kg)... not very meaty, though. There's chicken mince, too, at 1$ for a 2 kg bag. Is there a better source? My guys aren't on barf, they just need something to chew.

Kelly, hope it works for you! My Stella is having the second "string" operation on Thursday:( The first worked initially, then it suddenly became loose. I didn't want TPLO. The second is easier, though, as there's no opening of the joint. You can put Chloe in laundry, too. My Stella will just stay home with my daughter, and then 1 week on her own in the kennel inside cage. We can't lock her inside the house, as she jumps on the door (and it's hot).

Looks like it's not tasty, Stella doesn't like it. But in terms of her skin Hills Sensitive skin works very well.

awww...what a beautiful sweetie. Kisses and hugs from us. The wound looks drying... hope he will get better soon!

3 yo - once in the evening, she refuses to eat in the morning (unless its a bone or sometimes she IS hungry). 18 mo eats twice a day, he is always hungry. I'd think small dogs need to fed twice?

Stella had a fair bit of skin infection (lipe pimples) and those sore elbows, too. She got antibiotics for a month, washing in iodine etc - though vet worned, that once elbows get infected, they usually don't clear, as antibiotics don't penetrate callouses well. He also recommended to switch to Hills sensitive skin food. About a year later, her skin is clear, hair nice and oily, and elbows have a bit of callouses, but nothing like before! If you feed BARF, maybe increase skin supplements - fish oil, carilage. I was thinking about bying the elbow protectors, too, but no need now.

I feed Stella (3yo) dry food with some mince, too. She is picky, but with less fuzz from us eats somehow. I give 1/2 cup in the morning, if she doesn't eat strait away, I put it in fridge. In the evening she gets 2 cups dry and a bit of mince or something else, with water. What she didn't eat in 10 min is put in fridge or given to another dog. (or thrown away). Sometimes we order her to EAT! Funny, but she obeys ;) She gets a bone or a Kong when we leave in the morning, too. 1 yo eats twice a day, but he has no problems...

vacuum with a turbo-brush helps a lot... sheets get shaken. Any lose-loop fabric is a no-go in my house. Back seats get covered with the seat protector.

When I was small, there were not much meat at my place for people, leave out dogs. Dogs only knew taste of meat, not meat itself. My graddad's dogs were fed a bit of offal (very little), and mainly - bred with a smear of butter. Our dog was raised from 3 weeks old, on cow milk and a bit of meat first, and later - just vegie soup. Sure they were not as shiny as well-fed dogs, but they all survived and had normal poo. The oldest of them I know (husky x), Baikal, was never sick, survived parvo and lived 12 years. I recon, their digestive systems learnt to get as much as they cold from whatever was available..

It depends! Stella loves vegies, eats boiled everything, even broccoli , and especially tomatos and avos. Never had runny poo from it. Solly doesn't accept vegies at all, he had a bit of boiled carrot in his food once (added for volume) - OMG, he vomited immediately and everything. Yesterday he got one corn kernel - he tried it in and out for 5 min, and spit out finally.

Could try walking on concrete a lot.

I can only dream about my b/f going on a business trip and leaving me alone with my two puppies )) Unfortunately, only one of them can sleep on the bed, but it's sooo much fun!

I can imagine, they are tinned whole, unlike human ones. I give cat food, one tablespoon, with the dry doggy food. Stella loves it.

Yes, I've noticed it's sometimes extremely important to face a correct direction )) When I had a toy-terrier, he would turn about 10 times this way and that way every time before finally deciding how exactly to pee

My Solly 17 mo desexed at 12 mo...sqwats in the backyard, and cocks his leg sometimes outside, but usually without wee :D Squatting is so much better. Just once in a half a day, instead of all corners in spots and stops under every tree. And yes, Stella, being a desexed bitch, rises the leg outside all the time! ********* Val Bonnie in her book recommends not to allow dogs to mark territory outside your fence, as it isn't theirs, really, so they would feel more like guests and get less agressive towards any passers-by...

I buy a bag of Supercoat ($35) for the 38-kg dog and a bag of SD Skin ($100) for the 34-kg dog (per month). Never counted meat, bones, eggs, vegies or treats... just add sometimes. Maybe another $50.

Yeess.. one of signs may be scratching of rear legs and inside hips... just keep that in mind! Hope he gets better soon!

Could be anal glands.