Need advice............again!!

[mrs boodles]

Dear dear Gwen, so sorry it is not such good news about Lexi, thinking of you

[MissEllie]

[Annie]

So much worry Gwen with poor Lexi.

[aishakali]

So sorry it's not better news

[Gwenoakes]

Thanks guys. We are trying to think positive now. We have a good idea what is wrong and now need to find a way of sorting these probs one by one which I am sure we can do with the help of the specialist vets and us pulling together. Think it may be a long haul, which may be ongoing for the rest of Lexi's life, but that we are prepared for now, so onwards and upwards.

We cant wait to see her tomorrow when we pick her up. It has certainly shown us that for her to go through all these problems and still have a very stable disposition with only the odd grumble when she has been feeling really poorly, that she is an exceptionally special dog which we all love dearly.

[madmum]

Hugs for you and her for the road ahead. ....she could not be in a better home for the long haul

[Benny&Co]

Oh Gwen, what a lot to take in and deal with.

Sending you all lots of big

[wendy]

Brilliant now she can improve and so can your sanity.

[Mercedes]

Gwen I'm so sorry about all this trauma with poor Lexi, I do hope things start to get better for you soon. I hate it when pets are sick as like you say you can tell something is wrong with them just by looking at them but the poor things can't let us know what is going on

[Luna]

I'm so sorry to read that poor Lexi has all these issues. Thank goodness she has you all as owners who are willing to give her the love and treatment she needs to give her the best quality of life possible.

Huge for you all and will keep hoping that she responds well to treatment.

[Gwenoakes]

She is home and nearly bowled Clare over in her excitement when first seeing her again.
The left hip is worse than the right, which kind of fits with her 99% of the time laying on her right side. They have recommended 4 x 10/15 mins lead walk every day, not to be off the lead at all. Hydrotherapy on a water treadmill and physiotherapy which after being shown what to do we can do at home. They want her muscles to build up at the back end which will put slight pressure on the ball and keep it safely in the socket. There is some shedding of the socket, she does not have any arthritis, but they say it will be more or less inevitable when she is older. They can if necessary do a complete hip replacement which they think would be on the left side, but that shouldnt be needed if at all until she is 3/4 years old. She is not on any pain relief as that will aggravate the IBD.
She is to carry on with the ear drops as there is obviously still an infection there and the diet will be for the moment Royal Canin Duck Tapioca Sensitive for 3 weeks, if that is OK, then she will be tried with another flavour. She is to have no treats whatsoever except some of her food ration to be used. The food is being soaked to help prevent the risk of bloat. we do NOT want to get one thing right and replace it with another.
She seems much, much brighter and has rested very easy tonight for a longer period. Everything crossed that these methods/precautions will work for her. We will be putting the Bioflow magnets onto her collar and bed, as they have worked for a dog we had previously. So heres hoping. Thanks again for your thoughts.

[pepi]

Have been following this thread with held breath.
Poor Lexi - she must have been SO HAPPY to get home.
Poor you guys too. Its just torture having a sick pet.
Very very best wishes for success and improvement in the weeks ahead

[mrs boodles]

Sounds quite a job Gwen but at least Lexi is home and safe and getting better, bet you are all really pleased.

[Benny&Co]

Oh Gwen, how can a puppy have so many things wrong with her hey Have her brothers and/or sisters had anything too?

Sounds like you've got a good plan in place to help with her recovery and future development. Big to you all xx

[wendy]

Good you now have a diagnosis and now you can live with it.
I had a GSD with a 98 hip score. Bearing in mind that 0 is the best. So he effectively had no hips at all.
I was fortunate as he had never gone lame or shown any signs. So at 14 months I had him Xrayed because I was training for working trials and I wanted to know his hip status, before putting him over the jumps.
I stopped aiming for working trials As he never had, had a problem I ignored the lead walks only and he continued to live as a 'normal' dog. A year or two later I spoke to Malcom Willis, the guy who started the hips scoring scheme and he said, if there isn't a problem don't put scar tissue there. Because the higher the score the less painful, as there isn't much to rub against each other.
The only concession I made was if it was wet he was dried completely with a hair drier, whereas the others, just a towel dry.
He died at 10 and a half [ average for GSD in those days] He ended up looking like two different dogs, as his front was really muscular and his back a bit weak. As the front did the work. In those days, 1982, there wasn't the medicines that there are now so all he had was devils claw and he never once broke down and show arthritis, although he probably did have it. He died of cancer, nothing to do with his hips.
You can live with a dog with HD and they also can have a good quality of life. Once you know what you are dealing with.
I hope Lexi now will continue to get stronger and live a long and happy life.
Yes the breeder needs to know and, hopefully, will not repeat that mating. Also they will get the adult dogs scored so they know what they are dealing with also. Not a guarantee, but at least a pointer