Well it is a week now since our little (ok not so little
) Kitten went in for his operation.
Our vet had diagnoised OCD in his elbow joints, but wanted to refer him some where else as he didn't have the experience. Then he refused to claim the money for the op direct from the insurance company, he wanted us to pay for it and then claim it back
. Since we had already spent £300 and were waiting for it back we didn't feel we could pay out anymore at that time. So to cut a long story short
we went to a veterinary hospital a few miles away. So now we have a new vet as our old one said he didn't want us back!!!
Anyway, the new vet looked at the x-rays and said Kitten had OCD in both elbows, but worse in the right. But he also said he had elbow dysplacia in the right leg as well. So he said he would clean out the elbow joints, and then as the dysplasia was caused by one of the bones in his front leg growing quicker than the other, he would break the shorter bone
. Apparently when the broken bone then mends it is the same length as the other one.
He also said you can see on the x-rays, lines in the bones where they are growing, which is pano!!! Can one dog have anymore problems with his bones?
So our 70kg, 11 month old gorgeous little Newfie boy is hobbling round with a broken leg. He is having to be kept away from his nutter of a sister, so he is in the living room with his doting mummy and daddy, and she and the old girl are having to stay in the dining room. They have to have their meals at different times, and they can't go in the garden at the same time either...It's a nightmare, but if he can live a normal life one of these days it will be worth it
.
We are keeping him a crate as much as possible but we have to let him out sometimes as we feel it is cruel to leave him in there all the time. His daddy has been sleeping in the living room with him since his op... That is fine by me as they both snore like nothing you have ever heard!
I can't believe all this has happened when we always go to breeders who screen their dogs for health problems. I suppose it is just one of them things, we certainly wouldn't want to swap our little boy, he is so lovely.
The breeder we had our first two Newfies off says she puts her pups onto adult food when they are 4 months old to stop them growing too fast. The vet thinks this is the cause of Kitten's problems, so we will do the same with our next pup. But we thought with them being on puppy large breed they would be fine. His sister is as fit as an ox!
Kitten has to go back to the vets next Tuesday for a check up and to have his stitches out, hopefully the vet will be happy with the way things are going
... I will let you know
