You are that puppy's guardian angel.

Well my couple are being discharged late this afternoon so puppy will be going home tomorrow. As much as I know he would be better off with me I cannot refuse to give him back, it would be too cruel and though she cannot give him the care and attention he needs and would destroy all the trust she has in me, she does love him and I'm in there 6 days a week to keep an eye on things. So my tiny house guest will go home (till the next time lol).

It makes one wonder what really does go in in the lives of the individual dogs making up the national pack - DEFRA estimate 8 million dogs
.

Just thinking can't you suggest half and half and say that you can see she is struggling but why not have the puppy for a few hours during  each day and then you look after it for the rest so she doesnt have to worry about him ?

Yes thats a good idea, I'll have to be careful how I word it though as if she thinks she is being useless she will be offended and that's the last thing I want to do. She trusts me and for a dementia patient that is very important. Puppy is clean and all his knots are gone, I've trimmed his coat and tidied his little feet and face up so she will be pleased with how I've looked after him.

Why not say how much he has enjoyed being with the other dogs and he will get the best of both worlds having a family of other dogs but also having her to love and fuss him still during the day and the worry of looking after him will go to you !

I can do better than tell her, I have video lol!!

Let's us know how you get on as for the puppies sake I think that would be best for all concerned !

oh dear , well at least you were prepared. I see the nephew has popped up again re the dog but at least he gave you a chance to look after him. I also think dogs accommodate to shared care too which it looks like you may end up doing here

Yet another update!!

Got there this morning and it was obvious that there was something wrong with little Charlie's back legs. One phone call to the vet later and I had to take him to the vet as no one available for a home visit. It seems he has had a possible trauma to either a disc or vertebra which has given him some paralysis to both back legs. They have also found a slight heart arrhythmia which may or may not be due to the stress of the vet visit. They have given him a large dose of anti inflammatories by injection and he is on strict cage rest for six weeks. I have to take him back tomorrow to see if there is any improvement, if not then he will be x rayed tomorrow so guess who has a house guest again? lol

Poor lad I wonder what happened due the lady know ? Oh well at least he is with you and hope the short stay extends to a permanent one

No she has no idea what happened, to be honest she only knew something was wrong when I pointed it out to her. It could be anything, bless her even if he had squealed out she would have forgotten it unless it happened just before I walked in. I've just got back from work and taken him outside, had pee and poo so at least I know whatever he has done it so is not affecting that side of things. He's back in his little crate now looking miserable cos he wants to play and big bad me won't let him!

agree with others I hope one day he will stay with you. s much as his owner seems to love him it does seem she cant care for him. hope he recovers well

Is there any chance that he could stay with you,  and go with you on your daily visits to them?

That way they get to see him when you're there,  but don't have him running around underfoot when they're alone.

In my experience,  tiny dogs,  and even dogs as big as Cairn Terriers,  tend to be a lot more more underfoot,  than bigger dogs who are content to lounge around and watch from a comfy place ;-)

All I can say is that, for the pup's sake, I'm glad you're there, Lorraine.

I agree with that having got everything from 40kg down to 4kg . If you trip on a big one they tend to just look at you quizzically a trip on little on is disasterous and half the time you cant see where they are and find them at you ankles

Well he's been on cage rest since yesterday and there is only slight improvement. Been to the vet this morning ,had some more anti inflammatories and appointment for monday. If there is no marked improvement over the weekend then it's xrays. I took him to see my couple this morning and have promised to take him to see them every morning. They really do love him and are really worried about him. Mary bless her, according to her husband spent most of last night blaming him!!. All this because that vile nephew got rid of Jake. Found out this morning whilst talking to my vet that he had had several phone conversations with the Cinnamon Trust in an effort to get the dog returned to them , but they were adamant that the dog would not be returned.

If the owners' vet couldn't persuade them to return the dog it makes me start to wonder if CT had the dog put to sleep and that's why they are so adamant that the dog will not be returned - not possible if it was PTS :-(

What I can't understand was why they (CT) were so adamant that Jake could not be returned in the first place. The fact that the vet was quite happy for my couple to have their dog returned to them must surely count for something. It was literally months later that they (CT) told my couple that Jake had died and then said he had only just died after his new owners had returned from a holiday with Jake and their other dog. Cinnamon Trust behaved absolutely deplorably and treated my couple with utter contempt without ever having met them.

If he has got disc damage then it's going to take weeks to heal, poor little mite.  I hope it's not that and something more easily fixed!

He was not too bad yesterday, when he moved he did manage to place his feet correctly and bowel and bladder function was good. Still no great improvement though. This morning his movement is awful with right hind leg not moving at all. He's in vets now being xrayed. Vet is going to give him metacam via injection with some morphine as well but prognosis is not good. Will let you all know the results this afternoon.

Poor puppy -and poor owners as really it isn't entirely their fault, of course. I wonder if he was sat on by accident, I can see that happening as there's been many a near miss here when you sit down on the couch and suddenly realise there is a tiny dog (or cat) just jumped up behind you.

Poor boy I hope there is some good news

Well we're back from the vets and there is nothing on the xray, apart from a slight compression of the disc between L5 and L6 and some swelling of the spinal cord. Mike (my vet) has emailed photo of xray to The Willows for second opinion. I'm waiting for a phone call now to see if they want to see him and do an MRI or not. My lady says she wants an MRI done if that's what the specialist wants. Charlie has had his Metacam injection but he is still barely moving his right back leg, so whatever is wrong is getting worse. On the plus side he has just eaten over half a pouch of puppy food which for Charlie is a major breakthrough! I have never known such a fussy little dog re food. He has got used to being fed corned beef or best boiled ham as Mary has not been firm enough with him and he knows if he refuses one food she will keep offering something else till he decides which tasty tit bit he will eat. She has not given him proper puppy food for weeks as he turns his nose up at it. Well he has met his match with me so he will give in before I do lol.

Is he insured? A referral consultation and MRI will cost going on £2000.

No, no insurance but Mary says she has the money. Mike has explained the cost will go way up if The Willows has to do surgery on top of the MRI so she does know it is going to be very costly. I don't know how this will end, she could end up putting him to sleep even after specialist surgery.

Mike my vet has just phoned, I have to take Charlie to see specialist on wednesday morning, they may do the MRI there and then or just consult. My vet not sure what they will do. It comes down to find and fix or put to sleep because the little chap can't go on as he is. I've booked the morning off work to take him.

Lorraine. You're a very special person, wishing you both all the very best for Wednesday.

Charlie is getting worse. He is not even attempting to stand now. Have spoken to Mike and he says just to continue as I have till tomorrow. I've just had to have a very difficult conversation with Charlie's owners. Mike my vet didn't think they had quite understood just how serious his condition is so it fell on me to try to explain just how poor the prognosis is. They got upset but it's only right that they know the facts, I have told them it all rests on the vet visit tomorrow morning and the financial costs involved if surgery is deemed necessary. I have explained that if he does need surgery the outcome may still not be good. I was as gentle as I could be but I still feel awful about having to be the one to spell it out to them. Be glad when tomorrow is over.

Oh dear. :( I feel so sorry for all of you.

Oh dear that does not sound good, poor little scrap. I always thought (from watching vet programmes lol) that if it's a spinal problem then surgery should be done asap, I am surprised the vets have left him for 2 or 3 days like that. :-(

Oh dear not good and horrible for you and the owners . I do hope there is hope still for him and we will keep fingers and paws crossed

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Oh dear that does not sound good, poor little scrap. I always thought (from watching vet programmes lol) that if it's a spinal problem then surgery should be done asap, I am surprised the vets have left him for 2 or 3 days like that. :-(

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The thing is there is very little wrong on the xray. My vet is at a loss as to what to do which is why Charlie is being sent to a specialist. They want to do an MRI as xray did not indicate a trauma. We were expecting to see fracture or slipped disc  or even mild spina biffida which would have given us an answer. I can say he is a badly bred little dog, bred by someone who  cared more about how much money they could rake in, so had a very poor start in life, sold at about 6 weeks of age to an elderly frail couple who are not capable of giving him the the day to day care that he needs, his diet is very poor, my vet even suspected weak bones due to lack of good nutrition. Charlie is loved by his owners, that has never been an issue. He is a sweet little thing and I would hate to see him pts but I have an awful feeling that this is not going to end well for him.

> The thing is there is very little wrong on the xray. My vet is at a loss as to what to do which is why Charlie is being sent to a specialist. They want to do an MRI as xray did not indicate a trauma.

The thing is a "normal" x-ray may not show the problem. When Lottie was in a similar situation last year the first x-ray didn't show a problem. The vets then did a high contrast x-ray where a dye is injected into the spine and that did show the problem and an MRI wasn't necessary.

I hope things turn out OK for the poor little chap.

Thank you Pedlee, I'll mention that to vet tomorrow. May I ask what the problem with Lottie was?

It very rarely shows up a slipped disc on a x-ray, as has already been said a CT or MRI scan is what shows this up. X-ray only gives a idea if the spacing of vertabrae is closer together in areas, my boy who had a FCI and the a rupture both time X-ray's came back normal.

> May I ask what the problem with Lottie was?

She slipped a disc which showed up clearly on the high contrast x-ray but not on the "normal" one and was totally paralysed, unable to use any of her limbs. :(

Our BH has suffered two slipped discs, the first ruptured into his spinal column causing paralysis for many days & X-ray for the first with dye as far as I remember showed nothing, the second some years later was confirmed by M.R.I, but on both occasions it was their chiropractor who within days was spot on with the diagnosis. Her input & hands have been invaluable & better than any x ray, will be thinking of you both today.    

If they have an MRI at the Willows they'll be looking at around £2.5k as a starting point.  I had a quote from them and a couple of other places for this very problem last year when River needed one.

Bad news I'm afraid, little Charlie was put to sleep this morning. Vet thought it could well be a genetic defect and also discovered he had no blink reflex in his right eye ( he could blink normally but did not react to a hand on his right side) and did not think he would ever recover. She said in her opinion there was little chance of an MRI being of use.

Very sad. :( :(

What sad news.  Sounds like the right decision under the circumstances.

I'm so sorry for Charlie and his elderly owners - and also for you, Roscoebabe.  You've worked so hard in this difficult situation to support the couple and do the best you possibly could for the little dog.  A sad tale all round but you couldn't have done more.  They were all lucky to have you to help.

Thank you. Charlie was such a little character. I knew in my heart that it would be a sad end for him. I let him have a little play with my dogs this morning just so he could have a bit of fun before going to the vets. He dragged himself over the rug and tried so hard to play with my lot. Even though he could not move very well he did look happy and he tried to do little play bows at them.

Run free little lad - thinking of you and Charlie's owners. He was very lucky to have had you to look after his best interests but what a sad ending to a difficult situation :-(

Poor little chap. :(

I have been following this little story & so sad to have this outcome. You certainly done all you could for a dog which didnt 'belong' to you. Well done. I bet his elderly owners are devasted...yet again :(

I've been following this thread, and have had you, the elderly couple, and little Charlie in my thoughts ever since.

I just wanted to say sorry :(

Run free little man x x

Thank you everyone for your very kind words. Losing Charlie has been like losing one of my own dogs. He embedded himself in my heart and I shall miss him always. His owners are very sad but accept that there was nothing that could be done for him. I have however warned Mary that there will be no more dogs for her! I was not harsh just firm with her. The strangling with bare hands will come later if she dares mention puppies to me lol.

I'm really sorry to hear he didn't make it, poor wee soul :(

This is such a sad tale from start to finish, I am sorry and concerned for everyone involved, except for whoever let the couple have the poor little scrap in first place. You have done everything you could, well beyond the call of duty, well done for extending your care to your clients pet.