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Rosie'S Patella Operation - Tues 21 st

What a big relief Brian. Something has been warning you against that surgery all along and now it has proved to be right. I am so glad for you that Christmas will be much more laid back and relaxed now.

Have a good Christmas Brian, you deserve it more than most over what you've been through today.;)
 
Oh Brian! I am so happy for you and Rosie... What good news :p I still can't get Daisy's picture of of my head with her tongue sticking out in the snow.
 
Brian, thats great news. Sometimes vets tend to rush in, but there was obviously something that you felt was not right with it.

You, Rosie and the rest of your gang can now have a lovely Christmas.
 
so pleased for you

That's great news, you've been through the wringer.It's always so much better not to have to go through an op if at all possible. Hope you can now elax and have a great Christmas.
 
That`s really great that Rosie does`nt have to have an operation, now you can sit back and relax and enjoy christmas - have a great one.
 
Great news. Now Rosie can run around in the snow with the rest of your gang.

Hope the biscuits get to you on time.

Have a lovely Christmas.
 
Hello Sabby

Yes Rosie is fine her head is on my left arm now as I type and shes fast asleep .Finished work yesterday till Jan 4 Th so have been back down to work this morning to feed Big Ginger and friends then around the park in the fresh snow fall and we are out again in an hour back to the park and your lovely biscuits arrived at midday so they have all had a sample each though Pops wanted the box .
Thanks again Sabby yours biscuits are superb .

Best Wishes and Happy Hols

brian

Ps my two xmas books arrived and look great reads, All About The Cavalier by Evelyn Booth ( M C recommendation )and The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by Tina and Dennis Homes
 
Hello Sabby

Yes Rosie is fine her head is on my left arm now as I type and shes fast asleep .Finished work yesterday till Jan 4 Th so have been back down to work this morning to feed Big Ginger and friends then around the park in the fresh snow fall and we are out again in an hour back to the park and your lovely biscuits arrived at midday so they have all had a sample each though Pops wanted the box .
Thanks again Sabby yours biscuits are superb .

Best Wishes and Happy Hols

brian

Ps my two xmas books arrived and look great reads, All About The Cavalier by Evelyn Booth ( M C recommendation )and The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by Tina and Dennis Homes

Lucky you to be on break until Jan 4th. Plenty of time to spend with your girls (y) What a roller coaster you have been through but I am so glad you will truly be able to enjoy your holiday.
 
Wow -- that's a dramatic shift at the last minute, and I would find that a but confusing (though don't know the whole background to Rosie's case of course!). Is Ben a vet or an orthopaedist? If a vet, if I were in your shoes I'd really want a specialist opinion in 6 weeks and probably not a vet's again if it was really that hard for them to call... Wasn't this grade a 2? Most orthopedists would operate on a grade 2 because it is likely to only get worse over over time and cause a lot of pain as the dog ages, and they recover much better while young. The surgery takes a lot of aftercare but can transform a dog's life. I don't really understand how they called the grade and thought it serious enough for surgery, then changed opinion... and if it was bad enough for them to have considered surgery, whey they would OK a dog running around in snow etc now?! Are they saying it was never that serious? Had they not done an xray until immediately before a possible surgery?
 
Hello Karlin

And happy Christmas to you and your partner and all your gorgeous Cavaliers and also a BIG thank you for pouring so much love ,devotion,time ,cash and loads of hard work into The Wonderful World of Cavaliers.:)

Secondly when can we all see your holiday pics of your recent time up in Teesdale.

Thirdly I don't mind your comments at all as they are constructive and helpful for my little Rosie, so to quickly explain.
Rosie's patella problem first came to light during a routine annual inspection by my local vet who suggested possible surgery as the only solution for her ,I wasn't sure as she had no visible sign to me when running, rolling and playing so I decided to just watch her and see if it developed any further but she still gave no visible sign of any problem ,as follows one my my holiday videos in June showing normal Rosie and also as she was today in the park.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22730263@N07/4801971358/

As you are aware we attended Chestergates in Nov when Rosie had a very hard physical inspection by Martin Deutchsland who commented on her patella but she thankfully scanned clear for SM .Late Nov I took Lily to my regular vets for her boosters and saw the same vet who diagnosed Rosie originally and so I mentioned Martins comments , we then decided he would refer us to a consultants IE North West Surgeons .The first appointment after Ben's exhaustive examination he basically decided on surgery for her and we set the date for last Tuesday so I dropped her off prepared for him to operate on her but after a pre-surgery further physical examination by him and then consultation with two of his colleagues he phoned me to say surgery was for now was not the path to take as he is more than happy with her physical condition and that if her patella only pops out by human manipulation, which it appears to do, he is happy for me to observe her but to ring him in six weeks with news of change or no change.
The actual premises are very impressive and relatively new and well equipped with a list of consultants covering orthopedic ,soft tissue,anesthesia and many other fields of expertise including a certain Mr Simon Swift cardiologist who Ben advised had just had his last surgery after his motorbike crash even though he recently gave a lecture at a Cavalier Health Day attended by many from CT ,Ben's impressive resume is as follows .
http://www.nwsurgeons.co.uk/specialists/46/ben-keeley.php

and N W S generally

http://www.nwsurgeons.co.uk/team.php

After visiting I am sure if needed my Rosie would not be in a safer place or in better hands but of course we don't ever ,ever want to go there again .
Karlin your thoughts and comments would be most wellcome please ,as are all others ,:) so for now I am absolutely other the moon with the best Xmas present I could poss have had and the warmth of having her beside me now and the joy she gives me watching her chase the others around in the park in the snow today.:D:D:D:D:D



































http://www.nwsurgeons.co.uk/specialists/46/ben-keeley.php
 
Hello Brian and Seasons Greetings to you, your family and the gorgeous girls! I`ve only just seen this post and I`m so glad that Rosie didn`t have to have her op. What a relief for you! (y)
Spangle sends special hugs to Rosie!
 
Hi

I sent Mr Ben Keeley of North West Surgeons a link to one of the holiday videos ,he phoned me last night
after viewing it and is more than happy with her so no more appointments for her patella problem but I
will continue closely observing her as we all do with all our Cavaliers .

The End to this thread, I pray.
 
Hi

I sent Mr Ben Keeley of North West Surgeons a link to one of the holiday videos ,he phoned me last night
after viewing it and is more than happy with her so no more appointments for her patella problem but I
will continue closely observing her as we all do with all our Cavaliers .

The End to this thread, I pray.


That’s great news Brian. I know you have a fantastic vet so no harm in asking him his opinion. As you know Ebony had a grade 3 pataller and after the operation she is doing great (apart from her new disk problem) After the operation I had to take her for physio and hydro every week as she had lost about 50% of her muscle. On the other leg she got a grade 1 pateller. The physio said to me to make sure this Grade 1 is not going to get worse is to build her muscle up by lead walking and hydro. That just letting dogs off the lead to run around doesn’t build there muscle that you need 50/50, meaning half lead walking half off lead running. You might want to ask about Rosie’s muscle tone and if she would benefit from hydro. Just a thought.
 
Hi Sabby

So pleased Ebony is doing better:) If you viewed any of the videos from our recent hols you will see Rosie is looking
fine going bonkers and chasing poor Pops all over the place .What Luke and I have been doing as many times as we can this summer ,we all go to the park and then I get Lukes to sit down about 15 Mtrs from me ,then I sit down and we play "piggy in the middle"
with Rosie chasing her tennis balls about .I enjoy it as much as her by just watching her having fun .:)
 
That's good news Brian.

Sabby, that is really interesting about the muscle building - I know many show people do road walking with their dogs as well as off lead running - it's the different pace that would use the muscles in different ways I suspect.

Perhaps we should all be adding in some lead walking - it would be good for a training exercise to walk close too [to heel]

It's great news that Ebony's knees are doing well Sabby.
 
On the subject of walking on lead - it's a question of weight. When walking quite slowly, a dog puts all its weight on its muscles and therefore exercises them and builds them up. When running around, very little weight is put on the muscles - the feet only touch the ground for a second - so although free running will get off fat, it actually doesn't do much to build up muscle. Greyhounds get most of their exercise walking on lead, with only occasional bursts at full speed; I think the same is true of racehorses. Walking up and down hills is also good for building muscle, as our calves tell us if we're out of condition! Out of condition dogs enjoy running off-lead, so it's good for their mental well-being, but gentle walking round the houses actually does them more good.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
That's good news Brian! And thanks to the posts as well on building up muscle–really interesting.
 
Building up muscle is an important thing to consider pre- surgery as well I think!!

I know too many people who have rushed their dogs in to surgery on the advice of a vet with out thinking about how the other leg will cope with the extra strain!

Ruby has a grade 1 patella on the left hind leg and I found out about a month after her SM diagnosis. My vet wanted to operate £££££££ ching ching! But I didn't want to so I opted to go for Hydrotherepy and supplements instead!

Once a week sessions to start and then once a month to maintain- along with the summer months swimming in the lake!!

I can safely say that it has done wonders for her general health and both legs are as strong as each other- her leg gives her no problems at all and if it did and I had to get surgery then I'm safe in the knowledge that her other leg is well built to cope!

Alot of people I know have had surgery on one leg only to find that the other one has to be done with in months as the extra strain casused the other leg to get worse!!
 
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