My beautiful girl =[

flamehead said:
This. My only worry is that I think her limit is £5000, and we're already £500 in to that. But I'd just have to take a loan off my parents for the rest and then pay them back.

Does anyone know whether, if she were to die on the table, they'd let me sit with her afterwards?

xxxx
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Don't think this until you've spoken to the specialist. Tell him to be brutally honest about her chances so you can make a decision. Gotta say I was glad the RVC didn't mess with us-just a simple 'not going to recover'.
 
Whilst it's hard, take a deep breath and step back a bit. This all sounds a bit hysterical and hard as it is, you need to calm down. There is risk involved with operations yes, but if you focus on that risk it will not help things.
If she dies on the table you will be able to have her body back, yes, most certainly.
the procedure will be that you will take her in in the morning, leave her with them and they will ring when they are done(successfully, fingers crossed) to update you. If anything goes wrong they will ring you as soon as it does, so you will know what's going on at all points. do address all your concerns with the vet, I am sure he/she will be able to reassure you.
If you're dog is yelping that indicates she is in pain. I would be ringing the vet in the morning and explaining this to them as there are very good pain relief meds such as metacam out there that will ease her pain and not affect her surgery in the future, no point in her being in pain for a whole week.
 
Please stop worrying about her dying on the table, my 12 and a half year old has had 2 lots of GA in the last year and was absolutely fine, although of course I worried whilst she was under. As my vet student daughter keeps telling me, anaesthetics are much safer nowadays, and you can ask for blood tests etc beforehand to make sure she is fit for the surgery. I agree with SusieT re painkillers, I would ask for her to have them now, why leave her uncomfy when you can help her.
 
I was always allowed to stay with my old gsd while she had a premed and put her in to the kennel myself when she was a bit sleepy. I do know the vets well and she was not a easy dog to deal with so it was less stressfull for the dog and the vets that way.
The best thing is to speak to the vets before hand and they will tell you what they will allow.
If you go for the op take plenty of photos beforehand and make the days beforehand as nice as they can be for her.
that way what ever happens you will know you did the best for her.
If she comes through the op you will most likely have to keep her on cage rest for a while so make sure you are all set up for that.
Im sure your vets will advise you but at the end of the day you have to go with what you think is right.
I think if it was me I would go for th op and give her the chance. Good luck and I hope it all turns out well for you.
 
MurphysMinder - I'm not worried about the GA, she's already been under 4 times before! The surgery comes with an extremely high risk of their leg bones shattering when they put the implants in - therefore, she would be put down on the table. I'm not worrying about the slight chance a GA goes wrong, I'm worrying about the very real possibility that her legs will shatter.

SusieT - I'm not being hysterical, thank you. And she's whining in her confused voice, she's much better this morning after a very restless night.

ItsMyLife - Hopefully going to get some professional photos taken of her soonish. Will definitely make every day for her from now on great. She can only have lead walks so we're going to go up onto the common tomorrow I think.

She has a cage that she sleeps in at night, but after the surgery I think we'll babygate off our dining room (no stairs, we'll move all the furniture out so she cant jump on anything), and leave her in there during the day with a big comfy bed etc. For the first two days when shes not meant to move at all we'll take the days off work/uni and spend all day with her. Will have to have some form of sedatives for her for the first few weeks because even with her shot hips atm she's a nutcase!

Thanks for the "I think if it was me". Helpful to know other people will do the same for their pups.

xxxx
 
So sorry to hear the outcome, I know how hard it is when our dogs are unwell and all we want is for them to have a happy and healthy life. You are doing the best for you're puppy. Stay positive.
 
Flamehead please dont assume this is a death sentence. A friend of mine from Bristol (she may be a member on here somewhere) has recently had her young cockers hips replaced and she is well on the road to recovery. I 'think' she was refered somewhere over towards Oxford to a specialist surgeon and the dog spent a few weeks there after the surgery.

She is home now and doing really well I believe.
 
sorry but you are being hysterical...
But then I have the ability to step back and not just say 'oh my dog is going to die', 'last time I'll see her alive' etc. etc. at bad news (and not even that horrendous-its got risks, but they are not as high as many other operations).
 
SusieT said:
sorry but you are being hysterical...
But then I have the ability to step back and not just say 'oh my dog is going to die', 'last time I'll see her alive' etc. etc. at bad news (and not even that horrendous-its got risks, but they are not as high as many other operations).
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It's great that you are perfect, but I don't think that you're being much help right now:rolleyes:

Flamehead - come on, deep breath now. She is a young and otherwise fit dog, and is therefore in the best position to come through this safely. Make a big fuss of her and know that if it goes wrong, she won't know a thing about it and will not be suffering.

If she was mine, I would be considering the surgery too.
 
SusieT said:
sorry but you are being hysterical...
But then I have the ability to step back and not just say 'oh my dog is going to die', 'last time I'll see her alive' etc. etc. at bad news (and not even that horrendous-its got risks, but they are not as high as many other operations).
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Its nice for you that you are so perfect that you can see every thing in black and white. for those of us that love our animals its not always so straight forward.

As I said I think I would go for the op if at all possible and you will know you have done everything you can for her. I really hope you have a good outcome.
 
I understand that you are fearing the worst (i'd convinced myself i'd never see my boys again when they had their boy bits off) and was crying before they left.

However, I would also go the op route personally. The vets will outline the risks and 'worst case scenarios' but as some on here have said, dogs can and do come through this op with good results and a healthy, active life ahead of them.

Best of luck, whatever you decide will best for her i'm sure :)
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, but you have made the perfect decision - the least risky route which will enable your girl to live a normal life again.

Whatever happens and if the worst does happen, you will have your memories, pictures and the knowledge that she will have had the best home possible where you tried your heart out for her xx
BUT don't give up hope.

My Goldie has HD - less than 25% ball in socket in both hips, so much affecting her that she walks like a wasp - her hips constantly dislocate. I must add, she is NOT in pain now. They gave us the option of operating but said it may be better if we don't and just treat it as it is - she is not as severe as your girl, but you can't give up hope.
It started when we began to have to carry her back from walks - that's when we found out.
She started 2x weekly swimming sessions to build up her muscles and its a miracle cure - she lost so much weight and the muscles have developed so strongly she is able to walk futher and is only stiff every other few days or so. She is on Seraquin daily and Metacam when she needs it and is a very happy dog. This was about 18 months ago.

Please don't despair - make sure you give her a massive cuddle and a kiss before she goes in for her op, and keep everything crossed for her.
K x
 
Firstly, and I'll put this in bold:

Mum was scanned today, and her hips are near perfect. So its nothing to do with her parents, we just got unlucky.

Secondly, bought her a giraffe toy and she's currently trying to rip its head off...she is so happy bless her. If the option for surgery is definitely still on the cards (read something about if they have recurrent ear infections they might not proceed and she has had about 3 in her lifetime) then we're going to go for it. I'd be selfish not to - for her, its exactly the same as being PTS - maybe even better as she will already be under GA - and its only different for us.

She looks so happy tonight bless her.

SusieT, how wonderful it must be to be you.

Thank you to everyone else for the support. xxxx
 
Oh I really feel for you :( But try not to dwell on worst case scenarios. If it makes you feel any better one of our cats had his leg including the hip joint fully rebuilt/parts replaced after he lost an argument with a car. He walked oddly after but never had a day of pain and continued to merrily bring in his kills (including young rabbits!) and deposit them about the house for many years.

I know it's not the same procedure (or species!) but this was over 15 years ago. Just think how veterinary science has improved since then, and how much less fiddly it will be to operate on a lab than a cat! :) She has a good chance of being just fine, and everyone has their fingers crossed for you *hug*
 
Nothing to add advice wise, but just wanted to say how gutted I am for you.
You are doing the best for your baby, and i'm sure she'll be fine - she's young and healthy.
Molly my lab and I send you massive hugs - and under the circumstances I admire you for being so together on the forum, and appreciate your updates.

SusieT - insensitive, and so not helpful???
 
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Just to add, in the hope it will give you some strong support...
the vets have to give you the worst case scenario - its the only thing they're certain of. They don't know the best case scenario - the dog could recover fully and it might not, so they can't really say what can happen in the positive if you see what I mean?
Its happened recently to two horses at the yard, one being my part loan - they told us they couldn't say if she'd ever recover from lami and be ridden again - she's back to hacking up to one hour now, getting fitter by the day.

Try to focus on the positives - Chloe will have a fantastic life when she has recovered from her op and this op will give her the best quality of life :) try to stay upbeat and keep her spirits up :)
Glad to see she is happy!
K x
 
Thanks KellysHeroes, firstly very pleased to hear that your lami horse is good now!

Am pleased that they have told us the worst case, its important that we know that going in to it, but I appreciate that they are the WORST cases, and there are still 90% that survive and go on to live happy fulfilled lives.

She's being a total nutter today, leaping around like a mad thing, ripping her toys apart. Lovely to see her so happy, and makes me more sure that we're making the right decision, if she doesnt have the op and ends up not being able to walk, we wouldnt have done right by her.

Pix, that is comforting!! Nice to know =] glad your cat was ok.

Milliemoo, thanks for hugs =]

She seems already alot happier, shes having three nutraquin tablets a day and a good gulp of oil on top of her feed, just to ease things up a bit. Hopefully on Tuesday we can book the operation for asap - I start uni on the 22nd, so ideally if it could be done asap then I can be home full time with her for the first week or so.
 
flamehead said:
This. My only worry is that I think her limit is £5000, and we're already £500 in to that. But I'd just have to take a loan off my parents for the rest and then pay them back.
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It's very easy to run up the first £500, but my horse has still never managed to exceed the £5K limit with any of her treatments, so try not to worry.


Does anyone know whether, if she were to die on the table, they'd let me sit with her afterwards?

xxxx
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I really wouldn't think like that. At her age a GA is no big deal :)
 
Puppy - thanks for the comforting thought about the insurance! Money not a problem, the pups health is, we'll find the money if needs be, if theres a will theres a way!

Not the GA I'm worried about (shes already had 4 in her first 18months of life!!), when they put the implant in there is a 10% chance the leg bone can shatter - so she'd be put down on the table.
 
Remember - that's a 90% chance that they won't shatter though. I know it's not easy (well ok, impossible) not to worry, but the odds are very much in her favour.
 
This may be totally stupid comment so excuse me if it is.
If the bone were to shatter could they not just remove her leg worse case?
Obviously not if it is both but one?
 
Not a stupid suggestion Katie, the honest answer is I don't know, but I'm not sure if I'd want her to only have one leg, not sure how well she's cope. She's SO active, I think she might struggle massively.

The only other issue I could think of is that it would put huge strain on the bad hip thats left, whilst she recovers. Thats assuming it happens on the first operated hip, second would be different obviously. Its definately worth mentioning to the vet though.

There is a mention on a few vet. articles that if the bone does shatter, they can revert to "plan 2" and just remove the ball, as in one of the other options (remove the ball, intense physical therapy, return to about medium/good movement). But I suppose that would depend on how far down the fracture happens.

No ideas are silly ideas at the moment! A friend suggested having both back legs removed and having wheels attached...think she might struggle with the field!!
 
I would imagine that most of the 10%ers are a fair bit older than Chloe, and that for her age the stats are far preferable :)
 
omg i am so sorry, i lose 2 dogs one took a fit but was 17 yrs old and wouldnt come out of it, other dog was only 7 and was poisined and that just broke me in half that someone could do that, as he was the kindest big softy, he might have had rat posin or someone poisined him will never know, but got paper to put a page in about rat poisin ect harmfull to dogs cats ect.
i feel so sorry for you and hope op works out i will be thinking of you and pup, keep us updated to see how your doing, hope it will be ok.
 
I had a chat with the people who run the hydrotherapy pool where I swim my dogs this morning.

They swim dogs with hip replacements and reckon it speeds up recovery. However they also said they have had young dogs in to swim prior to surgery and they built up so well they didnt require the surgery in the end.They also have dogs in who have had the bone removed/the hip replacement taken out and the dogs make good recovery through swimming.

Pm me if you want their number as they said they would be happy to speak to you even though they are to far away for you to go there.
 
Dozzie, how sweet of you, thank you. Chlo will definitely need the hip replacements anyway but I am considering taking her swimming (after being given the all clear from the vet on Tues) just to burn some of the excess energy off, the little bugger is driving me mad now shes not allowed to run madly around the field! Thats great to hear about dogs that have had the hip replacement removed as well. Thank you so much for that, its so sweet!

Charm, I'm so sorry to hear about your dogs =[ thats awful. Will keep you updated, but atm her greatest chance of death is if she smacks me in the face with her giraffe toy ONE MORE TIME.........!!!!
 
I am a newbie but am sorry to hear about your girl, but it sounds as if you have got excellent advice from fellow members & vets. Swimming is fantastic and can often be claimed for on your insurance if you are with a decent company. £5k goes along way even with these big procedures.

I have had a few dogs undergo a major ortho surgery they have all been just fine, in fact one went on to win at the highest level he was so sound afterwards!! The orthopods I use have a specialist physiotherapist on their team who was a great help and gave me loads of useful advice and techniques to use with my boy to aid his recovery.

It is always a worrying time, but the risks are relatively small and you know you are doing what is best for her and you have her concerns & welfare at heart.

All the best and plenty of positive vibes from me & my crazy four legged gang:)
 
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