I've just had Shay at the vet as he has developed a limp in his back right leg.  He's had various knocks and bumps in the past and a sprain or two and I was hoping that this would turn out to be the same but I fear it's much more serious.  The vet says he has a lot of swelling around his stifle joint and wants him in for x-rays on Monday morning...and then surgey if necessary :(

I know I shouldn't worry until I know what it is that I need to be worrying about but I can't help it.  I'm sitting here an absolute wreck, in floods of tears....stupid sod that I am :rolleyes:

Can I have a little of that famous CD positive thinking for my boy, please?

Thanks

Jules xx

First of all big {{{{hugs}}}} for you jules. (and for Shay)
Has the vet said what they think it is? Sounds like it could be a possible cruciate damage, but hopefully he has just knocked or sprained something.
Even if it is the cruciate try not to panic too much- I know that is easy for me to say! It is an operation that most dogs recover from really well, and can carry on to have a happy normal life.
Positive thoughts for Shay, and big rotty & dobie hugs to you both.

Rachael

{{{HUGS}}} and positive thoughts coming your way Jules

Dee

Jules if you are anything like me the not knowing is worse than whatever the problem turns out to be I have an awful imagination especially where Cindy is concerned when she was spayed I took time of work to be with her and when I returned to work I was absouloutley convinced I was going to come home and find she had opened her stitches and had a gaping hole ( in my defence one of my males did this when he was neutered)  Poor Milo was sent to my friends so he didn't stress her and my boss kept letting me leave work to check on her.  My OH said I was unberable as I was fretting over her but she was fine in the end as I am sure Shay will be. At the end of the day they are a worry at times I just hope you get an answer soon for your own sanity.  Look after yourself and I am sure Shay will agree if you are that worried a nice bit of fillet steak cures most things so stop worrying and spoil him rotten .
We all have our fingers and paws crossed for you
Gem

Lots of positive thoughts winging your way

C'm ere ya big sop!! and have a lend of me 'waterproof' shoulder for as long as you need ;)
( ah go wan...go wan..ya will....ya will.... ;) )
{{Big Warm Hugs}} and..oh alright then..its an emergency..I'll even share me chocolate with you :)
  Chin up Buttercup, Shay's a trooper!!
And with the combined power of the CD positive thoughts he'll breeze this..
Thoughts,hugs go out to you Hon and everything crossable duly crossed x x x x x keep us posted we're right there with you xx

Positive thoughts coming your way Jules

Sorry to hear about Shay Jules. :-( {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}

Sending all my positive vibes your way. ;-)

xxxx

I know exactly how you feel Jules...... still have Thor on the "sick list" and unable to put a label on anything.

I'm sending positive vibes your way - and think of us on Tuesday when Thor gets to see orthopaedic consultant vet

Big {{{hugs}}} - we can lean on each other!

Margot x

Cyber love, hugs and positive thought waves all winging there way from here too!
So chin up,  gather up all the the vibes and sprinkle them all around your baby.
Karen.

Sending huge hugs and healing thoughts to Shay. You can't help being worried, he's your boy and you love him so big hugs to you too Jules.

Sending {{{HUGS}}} and positive thoughts to you both

Know how you're feeling and it's no good trying not to worry cos you will anyway :rolleyes: just try not to get too imaginative ;) ;) 

CD positive thoughts coming your way, whether a bad sprain or an operation needed thank goodness you did take him to the vets to find out. It will be positive news either way as Shay will be made more comfortable and will get better. :-)

Thank you all for your kind wishes :) It's so nice to know there are people who understand.

I'm feeling more positive this morning (and feeling more than a bit silly for going to pieces yesterday :rolleyes:)

Shay is fine in himself and still wants to go for walks etc...he was most miffed this morning when OH and Lola went off in the car while he had to make do with a gentle stroll around the block.

We are very lucky in that the best orthopaedic surgeon in the country just happens to be our vet :) so I know Shay is in the very best of hands if surgery is required.

Margot, I'll be keeping everything crossed here for Thor too.  Hopefully the news will be good for our boys this week.

Jules xx 

Oh I missed this and didn't see it until now for some reason. Just wanted to say I am keeping everything crossed for it to be something simple and nothing to worry about!!

How is Shay? any news on his injury? Crossing our fingers and paws that it's good news.

Any news yet ? Hope he is ok :)

Lucy
xx

If he's had a lot of knocks and sprains in the past, arthritis or a cruciate ligament problem could cause a swollen knee and limping, without being desperately serious (certainly not life threatening). HTH. Good luck for Monday :) Lots of positive thoughts that he's just been silly and twisted it :D

Hi All

Well, the news is not so good I'm afraid.  Shay has severe arthritis in his knee...much more severe that it should be in a dog of his age (not even 3 yet) :(  Probably caused by one of his bumps and knocks in the past.  There is also some loosening in the cruciate ligament but not nearly as much as the vet had anticipated.  He will have surgery tomorrow to repair as far as possible and although there isn't a whole lot that can be done about the arthritis, the vet feels that repairing the cruciate will help to alleviate it somewhat and stop it advancing at the rate it would do otherwise.  We'll get him home, all being well, at the weekend.  In the meantime, I have an anxious Newoundland on my hands who has no idea where her mate has disappeared to...

On the bright side, Shay's hips are near perfect :)  The vet says they are as good as he has seen in a long while.  Not bad for an 'accident' of dubious parentage :)

Thanks so very much everyone for all your kind wishes and support.  It means more than you'll ever know :)

Jules xx

PS. Margot..still keeping everything crossed for Thor ;-)

I'll be thinking of Shay tomorrow...... and I'll ost tomorrow evening when we have a bit more knowledge/information

{{hugs}}}

Margot

Good thoughts for Shay..cuddles for Lola (Storm says he'll be quite happy to post the Red Devil off to Ireland for the week, give his ears a rest and give Lola someone to natter to ;) )
{Big Hug} for you Me Ducks xx

And thoughts for Margot and 'His Thorship' too xx

Thanks HG, but Lola has said she would prefer Storm for company...she misses having her boy to boss about :D Poor Shay, he really is her 'bitch' :D

Hope everything goes well tomorrow.
Marion

Ahh all the best to Shay tomorrow :) I am sure he will be fine ;)

Poor Lola :( I know what my two are like if they are separated for a minute :)

Give her a big bear hug and tell her Shay will be fine :)

Lucy
xx

ps big hug to you as well ;)

Good luck with the surgery.

Hope all goes well tomorrow, when shay has recovered, if you can swimming in a hydrotherapy pool helps athritis alot
justi

Hope Shay's surgery has gone well today. Big hugs for him and his lonely girl friend.

Thoughts and big hugs for His Thorship too Margot.

Well, I've spoken to the vet and he is pleased that the surgery went very much according to plan.  He can't tell me much more at the minute as he only finished the operation a little while ago. 

The house feels very strange without him :(

That is good news :) Hope he will be back home with you soon ;)

Lucy
xx

Morning all

Just spoken to the vet and he is pleased with how Shay is doing.  He is up and about on all fours this morning, very lame obviously, but the signs are good :) Such a relief...can't wait to get him home.

Jules

Whey to go Shay

I can imagine how relieved you must be :) How has Lola been wihout her best chum ?

Lucy
xx

I'm so glad to hear that!   Good on you Shay!

Margot

I'm busy getting the house ready for him.  As his favourite sleeping spot is on our bed, we'll be needing baby gates to confine him to the downstairs.  I've got him a new duvet to sleep on which will be on the living room floor.  I'll probably put a gate across the living room door too so that he can be separated from Lola when we're not able to supervise...don't want her injuring him accidentally.  She'll not be happy with this arrangement but she'll just have to adapt.  She was terribly anxious and confused when he 'disappeared' on Monday but she was a bit more settled yesterday.  She's gone off her food again but she always does at the first sign of stress or change to the usual routine :rolleyes: Such a sensitive soul. However, she is enjoying being the centre of attention so I'm afraid she may become a bit too accustomed to being an only dog and not actually want him to come back...

Anyone have any tips for aiding a convalescing dog, please?

Is your vet G Clayton-Jones?

I slept downstairs with my last GSD when she had hip replacement. I did the weekday, OH did the weekends. That way she couldn't do anything without me knowing about it (and she tried) :rolleyes: her recovery was brilliant. We were just always there to give whatever help was necessary, bless her - she had her legs hobbled together so she couldn't do the splits too

Kat

>Is your vet G Clayton-Jones?

No.  I live in N. Ireland and our vet is called Des Thompson. A true gentleman and an incredible vet :)

I had been thinking that OH and I would take turns at sleeping downstairs with him for a while although, to be honest, Shay is one of those dogs that likes his kip and doesn't tend to expend more energy around the house than is totally necessary :)  Of course, that is under usual circumstances when he has 2 good walks a day, it may be a different matter when he doesn't have that level of exercise...

>is he a Newfie?

Nope, my other dog (Lola) is a Newfie though so you were close :D  Shay is Chow X Rottweiler (from a very accidental litter).  We rehomed him at six months of age from a family who couldn't cope with him so basically locked him in the back yard and forgot about him :(  He really doesn't deserve any more hardship in his young life but he's a trooper and we'll do whatever it takes to help him get better :)

Poor Shay :( I'm glad his op went well. I hope his recovery goes smoothly. I'm sure I should know this but - is he a Newfie?

Hello All :)

Shay is home :D  We picked him up this morning and he is in much better shape than I had expected him to be :) He is using the leg well and is very mobile, although lame of course.

It's so good to have him home :)  It's been a very long week...

Great news :) :)

Glad the lad's back.......now remember .....don't pamper to him too much :D

-says she who has been making ickle treats for His Thorship to enjoy ;)

Margot

Excellent news

Excellent news
Its awful when they've been away from you isn't it? I slept with Maddie the first few nights after she came home after a week at the vets, and every now and again she would come up to me in the dark and just gently sniff my face, then go and lie down again, it was like she was just checking I was still there :)

Its such a lovely feeling getting them home :)

Dee

Glad Shay is home and doing well. I think it will be lots of cuddles tonight for one big boy. :-D

Hope all's well with Shay still?  Unfortunately this is the only time in about 2 months that I've been able to get on this site so thought I'd say a quick hi whilst it's still up and running!

Hi Di.  Good to have you back with us, however briefly

Shay is doing really well, thanks :)  He had another check up with the vet yesterday and the vet is really pleased with his progress.  The only real problem now is that he is getting frustrated with being confined to short lead walks but it'll be a while yet before he's up to chasing squirrels and menacing the neighbourhood cats again :rolleyes:

Hope all is well with your and your brood :)

Oooh we are fine except for Anton being beaten by a DDB at a show today who could hardly stand up let alone walk, but other than that we are all well :d 

See Rachel's doing very well with Chacha and flying the SWD flag in Ireland :d

I haven't seen Rachel and ChaCha for ages.  It's been one thing after another with the dogs since the summer so we've been unable to go to training class :(  Good to hear that Chacha is doing both her mummies proud :D

>Anton being beaten by a DDB at a show today who could hardly stand up let alone walk

Poor Anton.  Judge must have been blind ;) :D