A very uninteresting update.

Hiya ive just caught up with whats wrong with chloe :( please please dont panic i dont know if you remember Ben my old dog? but when i got him i noticed he was running funny and lame, first of all vet thought he had strained something as he was mad off the lead ( border collie x rough collie) so he had a month of just lead exercise. He never got better so i had some x - rays done he phoned me whilst he was on the table to say he has really bad HD and did i want him to come round :( i asked how bad he wa and he said he didnt see him lasting 5 years without an op. I was young and said wake him up i will find the money ( he didnt have insurance )

Long story sort i never could get the money together but i changed how i looked after him i used to take him on really long runs i changed them to short walks on the lead and a little play i used to have him out about 4 times a day but i slowley started reducing his walks and spent more time at home with him so he never wanted to go out all the time.

Ben learnt that once he went for a walk he should sleep and rest he also loved swimming and in the summer i used to take him to the lake and let him play as long as he wanted. He was such a happy dog :) he only started matacalm aged about 13 years and up to that if he had over done it he got half of paracetomal ( ok'ed by the vet) that seemed to knock him out too.

I lost ben this year at nearly 18 years old and it was due to a stroke not his legs giving up he had become more stiff as he got older but again coped fine.

Our vet always uses him as an example to his clients and tells them to listen to your dog and adapt to there needs.

Here is ben playing in the snow about 15 years old
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and after play time he knows its time to get warm and rest

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Please dont panic and think you need a op asap try and ristrict her a little and see what happens.

Sorry for all the spelling and grammer i am just rushing out.

xxx
 
Aww bless Ben that photo in the duvet is SOOOO CUTE!

Her hips are severe, but I think you're right - its just as much about managing the condition as "curing" it. I think we will definitely go ahead with the op, but afterwards we'll do lots of swimming, long walks rather than short runs.

Thank you for your lovely post. xxxx
 
I'm so so pleased to read this. Just took my dozy for a walk and watched her playing with the local three legged lab and thought "Dogs are so so versatile, they cope" and they do. Honestly.

I'm keeping everything crossed, and I recon if it was me and I had the choice I'd go for the latter op, along with management. There's not so much risk.

Can we have a photo of her please??
 
Oooh, if you insist! I had some professional photographs taken of her yesterday (preparing for the worst? Me? Never ;)) but here are some of my candids (ok, alot ;))

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Sorry thats quite alot!
 
As I said in one of my earlier posts, I know of several dogs who have just had the femur head removed rather than the full replacement and they have been fine and led full active lives. And this was quite a few years ago, surgical techniques will have improved greatly since then, I am sure she will be fine with a well managed exercise routine.
 
Thats for one hip! I thought it was ridiculous too. So I rang round 4 other vets. Who all quoted, almost to the penny, the exact same thing! xxx
 
Hey hun, I'm hoping it will all work out well for you and Chloe. Just be aware that if she needs the other hip doing, then the insurance may not pay out as they class it as the same 'pre-existing condition'. They did this to us for Jake when his second cruciate went and we paid for the full amount of over £3500.

I don't want to be doom and gloom :o but you've explained your situation very clearly and I really hope you manage it all-I see that you're trying desperately.

Please keep us updated and let us know how the gorgeous girl is.:)
 
Cinnamon_toast - the joys of Cover for Life! £4000, per condition, per year, and at the end of the insurance year its a clean slate and it starts again! So so long as we wait the year...
 
Hi flamehead - I was wondering how it went today.

I absolutely hate the way insurance has taken over our lives like this - I have never insured an animal! But I do have the savings to cover a large vet bill like this - but thats probably partly due to the £100's of pound I saved over the years from not paying monthly insurance premiums!! It makes me so cross!!

Anyway, back to Chloe - as I told you, I didn't pay out to have Toby operated on and as Dingle's story above just proves that whatever you decide with Chloe - it will be for the best - she is young and fit and has loving caring owners who are obviously prepared to manage her condition. It can be done :D

Good luck hun xx
 
Thanks Ravenwood. I'm just so frustrated because we insured for the exact reason that I NEVER wanted to have to make any decision for my animals based on whether we could afford it! But £5000 for an operation is just totally ridiculous.

Waiting for my OH to get home from work to talk to him about it. But I'm v keen to go ahead with this surgery - joined the yahoo canine HD forum and there are SO many success stories on there. xx
 
Not read previous posts , but just to add hope all goes ok, and word of advice to all, you really do need to look into the small details re insurnace and ask your vets who they recommend and who pays out previous to treatment, the reason I always recommend PETPLAN is that A, I work in a vets and know there is not a vet that will not accept petlan up front, so owner has no fee except excess and they have fab cover, even if they are that little more expensive, I have budget petplan cover for my lot and I do not even pay vet fees. except meer pennies, but you never know when you need a specialist.
Its alot less stress when you dont have to worry about the finances over the treatment.
 
flamehead said:
No, they're saying that they wont accept ANYONE, not Petplan, not anyone. Anyway we're not using that vet any more.
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Ah right, im still saying perplan are the best:p I do know and have worked for loads of vets that will not accept up front insurance including the specialists I have used, but all have accepted petplan, I also like the cover limits you get, im udget and still get a good amount of cover.
How old is your dog?
 
18months. FWIW, Petplan gave us less cover for about £150 more when we looked to switch. I love NFU, but so long as everyone likes their own company, so be it. It drives me mad that vets have started saying you pay up front though - they're doing it for all insurance companies now, i dont see why they cant just refuse to use the pants ones!
 
flamehead said:
18months. FWIW, Petplan gave us less cover for about £150 more when we looked to switch. I love NFU, but so long as everyone likes their own company, so be it. It drives me mad that vets have started saying you pay up front though - they're doing it for all insurance companies now, i dont see why they cant just refuse to use the pants ones!
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You need to move here than, we have no issues with quality insurance companies paying up front and we have the best specialist vet in this type of surgery too IMO:)

Ps, to add again, I hope you get the best possibly outcome.
My friends flat coat has jsut had this surgery, she was about 15 months but has been found that hers stems from poor breeding:(
 
I am a bit of a lurker here in AAD and have been following Chloe's progress. I'm sorry you have found yourself in this position but was glad to read this morning that things are a little brighter than when I last checked. Well done for being so positive, I really hope you get a good outcome.

Thank-you for posting the pictures - Chloe is a really beautiful girl.
 
Thanks guys. Chloe is currently up for sale if anyone wants her, the little BUGGER just ripped the leg off her REALLY expensive new toy. Poor one-legged giraffe! So, free to a good home/bad home/ANY home. Haha, not really, she's my darling.

My OH also agrees the surgery is the right idea, he's going to have a think about it tonight and I'm going to book the surgery tonight. Just wanted to let things settle in.

Cayla - I really wish it was from dodgy breeding, then at least it would be our fault! But dad and mum's hip are both basically perfect. Spent a long time chatting to the vet about the hip scoring system - he says its not working, because basically (sorry this will be really dull for anyone who isnt interested in breeding, so leave now, i wont be offended!):

When they scan the dogs hips, they pull their legs out backwards. This has the effect of pulling the muscles etc taught (tort? Tought?) and therefore holding the hips in the best possible position. Therefore, a dog that has a good hip score may not necessarily have good hips - as the hip score is the BEST their hips will be.

There is a new process being tried in America that is in the process of being approved over here, where the basically xray the dog "stood" - previously done by someone in a lead apron holding the dog up, now done by propping the dog up on sandbags underneath its stomach. This puts the hips in a "normal" position and therefore gives a more accurate reading. There is also a movement to try and get another examination factored in - where they pull the leg out at an angle, and wait to hear/feel it "pop" back in - the later it pops back in, the worse the hip dysplasia.

Anyway, this is coming our way eventually! And will hopefully provide people with a more accurate hip score. Effectively, atm, two dogs could have identical hip scores, and one could have hip dysplasia and one wouldn't. Pretty pants, huh.

They are also going to introduce (again, this is in trials) a scan that can be done at 4 months that will show if the hips will suffer in later life, and if they find it at this early stage then a really simple keyhole proceedure can be done that will "cure" the hip dysplasia before it starts. So even if you DO get a badly bred dog, it can be cured before you go through what we're going through.

Sorry for the essay! But I've found it all very interesting.
 
Good luck! At least two vets in the UK are already doing the PENN hip scheme, if you are interested. My vet agrees that it will blow the current scheme out of the water.

Not sure I hold much store in the 'popping' system or detection at four months (unless the hips are absolutely attrocious from a young age) as remember HD can be caused through accidental means/over exertion/impact in youth (between birth and x-raying at the recommended 12-18 months) and while I realise the BVA system isn't perfect in terms of picking up some kinds of subluxation, it has done a hell of a lot to improve the situation in the UK over the past few decades.
We owe a hell of a lot to Dr Willis in our breed.

Wishing you all the very best.
 
In this situation i would definitely investigate swimming her first as you have time. Give her a few months swimming in a recommended hydrotherapy pool and go from there. If there is no improvement then go for the op.

ETA-Ah! Just seen you have gone for the op. Hope all goes well. :)
 
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Good luck - and you're not alone in this situation!

Our GSD currently has a running total of £6,200 - at her specialist vets. God knows how much at our normal vets. We took out another credit card to pay for her!
Do everything you can. We always said we would go onto baked beans on toast night after night and make do with one car, if it would mean the dogs have everything they need! :)

Are we mad or just soft...!!
I hope everything goes well and there's no complications hence the cost is kept down for you guys. I know what its like
K x

ETA second the hydro - done wonders for our Goldie :)
 
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