Leg Surgery

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Archived Message

Leg Surgery
by DAR
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Leg SurgeryIn the last ten months I have purchased two Maltese, Cairo who is now six months old and Isis who is one year. Isis has turned out to be what I classifie as the million dollar doggie. Between the ages of six months and one year I notice that while walking Isis she started triping and falling. After several different vet visits I finally took her to UC Davis. I have been informed that all four of her legs need surgery, taps in the front two and work on the knees of her hind legs. She is currently scheduled to go in July for her operation which is going to cost a mere $3,000. I am very happy with her vet, he is one of the best in California. And my little girl will only receive the very best. My main concern is how long her recovery time will be and is there anything I can do as a good mom the ease her pain after surgery. I also want her to have a full and healthy recovery. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

DISCUSSION:

DAR, wow, all four legs? This is probably a stupid question, but will this be done in stages? The poor baby. It breaks my heart to think of all the scary stuff she has to go through. Please, please keep us posted with updates, okay? I'll pray for her. I haven't experienced leg problems so I can't give any advice, only support. I'm like you, though, I'd remortgage my house if it meant saving one of my babies. Good luck.
Marie

DAR, I have no xperience with this either....but please keep us posted. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Libby & Buster

Dar, that is sooooo terrible that your poor baby has to have all FOUR legs done. I'll pray for Isis and you keep us posted about how Isis is doing.
Sapna

Dar, I am so sorry to hear about your puppy. i have a male maltese, yoshie which also had trouble with his legs. i noticed at about six months old that he would hold up his hind leg. then we took him to calif on vacation and he rolled off my lap while we were both sleeping. he then kept it up. a vet in calif said it was a common problem with maltese, yorkies and poodles. it was like hip displasia (sp?) in large dogs. when we returned to cleveland ohio from the vacation i had two opinions on the leg. one vet wanted to charge $1,500 and one $250.00 for the same surgery. i love yoshie dearly, but i could not afford the larger of the two. also, the vet for the $250.00 seemed so much more compationate. we had the surgery in july of 1997. he recovered beautifully. he has a pin in the knee and it is a 50 50 chance that it will need to be removed. for now, he is doing great. he is not as active as our other maltese, tiffany, but still doing great. a good tip for the surgery process; purchase a baby playpen for the dog for recovery. it is softer than a crate or cage and it will keep them from jumping. you can use a wee wee pad and food dishes as well as a bed in there. there is plenty of room. that is what i use to train my pups. in fact; they never grow them out. they love it in there.
MARGY

Dar, its too bad that this has to be done. In November, Taffy broke her leg,$l,500's later with a plate and 6 screws, wow! I thought that was alot. I was heart broken when this happened. But to see her now, she looks like it never happened. What we do for our babies, they are part of the family and have to give them a chance. When I hear what abuse people do to their dogs, it makes me sick. It's so wonderful than you can help her, some owners would put their dog to sleep because they couldn't afford it. God bless you. Keep us posted.
Margaaret & Taffy