Sir Casey GoodDog has arrived

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen! Sir Casey GoodDog here. I joined the Boss Lady's household as her newest foster dog. (I actually joined on the same day that Breckin was adopted, but the Boss Lady has been a little behind in getting me access to the internet.)

Allow me to introduce myself...I am a 5 year old, handsome, male border collie. I am a well-behaved gentleman and I have my Canine Good Citizen certificate. My favorite activities include fetch, fetch and did I mention fetch? I really do love that. When fetching is all done (though honestly, is fetching ever really done?) I can be found snuggling with my human. I also enjoy walks and I walk well on a leash. In my spare time, I enjoy discovering new objects to fetch...I've found quite a few toys that the Boss Lady thought had been lost forever in her backyard.

I get so excited when I know I am going to play fetch that sometimes I turn into a vampire dog:



I have actually been in rescue for a while now, but my previous foster home noticed that I was having a bit of trouble getting up after playing and I would limp after a few fetches of the ball. After some x-rays were taken, the true picture came out. My hips were just horrible. :( I was transferred to the Boss Lady's household because she has a good surgeon near her that could perform the operations needed to make me all better. I have to have a double Femoral Head Ostectomy. It sounds pretty scary but the Boss Lady said we are using the same surgeon that worked on Finnegan and that surgery turned out just great, so I am very hopeful that mine will as well.

For those of you interested, I pasted some info on the surgery below. I was particularly happy to see the words "pain-free" used in the description of the results! I can't wait until I can fetch again. As much as I love fetching, right now it is just too painful for me.

The folks at NEBCR have been kind enough to take on this surgery for me, but they really need your help in paying for it. Anyone interested in donating toward the cost of my surgeries should go here. I really appreciate all the help I can get!

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Femoral Head Osteotomy (FHO)

This surgery is also called femoral head arthroplasty, ostectomy or femoral head excision.



The modified x-ray shown above, represents before and after views of FHO. Every veterinarian performs this technique slightly differently. An incision is made over the hip and the tissues are carefully parted to expose the head (ball) of the femur. This portion of the leg bone is removed and the remaining shaft is smoothed. Then tissue that surrounded the joint is positioned so that a strong band of connective tissue forms to attach the leg bone (femur) to the pelvis. As this consolidates with additional new scar and cartilaginous tissue, a pseudo-joint forms that is pain free and allows almost natural motion. Some veterinarians also reinforce the area with a very strong flexible surgical sutures anchored to both the femur and pelvis that last the life of the pet.

It is amazing how well the pets body adapts to this surgery. Joint pain, due to the grinding together of the bones of the hip is completely eliminated. After surgery, the animal maintains its knee a bit straighter to compensate for the slight shortening of the femur.

For the first few weeks after surgery, many veterinarians suggest that the pet be confine to a small cage and have the owner frequently massage the muscles of the leg. By the 4th to 6th week after surgery, they may encourage as much light activity as possible to prevent atrophy (withering) of the muscles of the leg.

Many veterinarians have the owners passively flex and extend the leg and continue massages several times a day. Dogs and cats do quite well on three legs so it is difficult to start them using the repaired leg. Within six months of surgery almost all dogs lope about as if nothing had happened.

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Sincerely,

Sir Casey GoodDog