Dusty - Our Little Enigma

We took Dusty back to Newmarket on the 29^th December for x rays to see how he’s progressing. He was walking well and his incision had healed so well you could barely see it, so I hoped they’d say he was doing marvellously. But there is only limited healing of his bones. We came away feeling rather down.

Almost as soon as we got home, he started biting at his leg and on Saturday he made part of the scar pink and sore so it was back on with the dreaded lampshade.

We took him to see our vet when we took Harley in. He found that Dusty’s kneecap is now loose which can be a complication of the surgery and he would need another operation to fix it.

We couldn’t get back to Newmarket this week, so our vet did the x rays to check the implant is still okay as they were worried that something might have gone wrong with that. We then had a worrying wait while the orthopaedic surgeons looked at the results and decided what to do.

Today we heard that the implant is fine and when his bones have healed, he will have to have another operation to sort his kneecap out and in the meantime, more x rays in a few weeks to see how he’s progressing.

We’ve done everything we’ve been told, keeping him on the lead unless he is in a small confined area with nothing to jump on, carrying him up and down stairs and in and out of the front and back doors. Visitors are kept to a minimum and he doesn’t get to see any other dogs. He has a good quality diet and hasn’t put on any weight and he is never left alone even for a minute.

When his little people come to see him, they crawl in on their hands and knees so he won't jump up at them!

I’m still sleeping downstairs with him so there’s no risk of him jumping on and off my bed and it looks like I’ll be doing so for the foreseeable future.

I am looking on the bright side of things and the bright side of this is that I don’t have to traipse across muddy fields in the cold and wet. And looking ahead, when he can go for proper walks again, we should be approaching lovely spring!

Hooray for Harley

This time last year at not a lot more than a year old, Harley had gingivitis and had to have her teeth cleaned because they were smothered in tartar at the back. They did lots of tests at the same time, chief suspect being Feline calicivirus.

All came back clear. But FC can give a false negative and our vets still suspect this is the culprit. Six months ago her gums were still red and Neal said she would almost certainly need her teeth cleaned at her next appointment and possibly a repeat of the tests.

She has dental food, dental treats, L-lysine chews and Plaque off (thanks again Pat!) and at her six-month check-up yesterday her teeth were clean. Gums a bit red (but nothing like as bad as before). Tom said they probably look worse than they are and she shows no sign of soreness or pain.

I was so pleased that her teeth were at least clean. Such a contrast to last year when they were so bad, they didn’t know if she’d have to have any removed (she didn’t). She passed the rest of her health check with flying colours and has even put on a little weight!

So for Harley a grand start to the New Year. Something I am very happy about and thankful for.

Hope everyone reading this has something good going for them just now and that it carries on.