Still Doing Well

Well we have gone from lovely hot sunshine to cool and rainy but the boy is still doing well. In fact, he is still improving. So still not saying anything, but my fingers are so crossed it hurts.

Back in France

We made it back to France later on last night - well - 8.40pm to be precise having left England at 07.30am and we all fell out of the car glad to be here. Good news is that so far, Barty's back is doing well. The two new remedies that were prescribed for him seem to be working and we are trying a water treadmill. The first one went well, although he was a little tweaky after it so we will take the next few a little more slowly.

I have been cautiously optimistic in the past and it has come to nothing so this time I'm not going to say anything but fingers crossed xxxxxx

The news on Barty is that his cruciate and hock ligaments are fine, he has simply (!) put his disc out again. Vet thinks there is a possibility that he may have damaged the hock ligament at the same time which is why it was slightly swollen, but two weeks total rest has sorted that.

So it is good news that there is nothing else damaged, not so good news that his back has gone out again. Hey ho life goes on

Blooming Heck What a Week

I don't know whether to be happy or sad that Barty's back isn't the problem that is causing his limp. He has hurt his leg, probably a ligament and it could be cruciate.

Seeing as I don't know the vets that would anaesthetize him down in France to xray him we have decided to wait until we get back to England to do further investigations. He is going in on Monday for assessment and xrays and we will know further then.

Sometimes I wonder whether he will ever be fit again.

August Update

Well, a lot has happened since I posted in early July. We have returned to France for our annual 3 week holiday as a family (me, Nick and the dogs) and Barty has had a relapse prior to our leaving.

Finally we consulted a trained homeopath, as my efforts really haven't been good enough. The boy has been prescribed Phosphorus and Syphilinum twice a week combined with a better combination vitamin supplement that contains more minerals. So far so good on the back front - of course, Barty being Barty has hurt something else jumping out of the car. So he is still limping and not weight bearing on his back left leg but it is nothing to do with his back !!!!!!!!!!

So email communication with his vet in the UK and he got grounded for a few days, hasn't made any difference so that will be another trip to Adam when we get back.

Still apart from that we are all enjoying our holiday, weather has been lovely and sunny which has made a nice change from dreary old England. Back again soon so will make the most of it while we can.

Finally

Well it has been 3 and a half months since Barty hurt his back. I thought the homeopathic Hypericum was working but after 3 days he went backwards. Since then my father died and my mother had a mini stroke which has precluded any further research. Poor wee soul has been on Tramadol and PLT for about 5 weeks and I think we are finally getting to the point where I think the disc has gone back in.

He didn't limp yesterday for the first time and this morning daft b*****r went off after rabbits with dear Chloe and didn't return for 30 minutes. He still isn't limping so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

There are times when my decision years ago that he would enjoy life to the full as a lurcher should is sorely tested and I want to wrap him up in cotton wool and ban him from doing anything remotely dangerous.

Still, to hear him joyously yodelling in the morning when I come downstairs still makes my heart sing and he is back yodelling in fine voice.

Something's working

Well, 11 days later and we have gone up to 1m in homeopathic potencies and it seems to finally be working. The PLT weren't helping the limp so I stopped giving them to my dear boy and this morning he is definitely improving. He is also getting symphytum to try and knit the vetebrae back together - bit of a long shot but it has been shown to help when cancer and chemo have destroyed bone so it has to be worth a try.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this time it works

Physical Problems again

Well, today is my birthday and since yesterday poor Barty has been struggling with his bulging disc again. So I visited the local Pharmacie and with my best french collected a bunch of homeopathic remedies and have been dosing him with Hypericum, Bryonia and Arnica and this evening he is not limping.

Hopefully by tomorrow night I should see even more of an improvement. At least he is cheerful again today and wanting to play with favourite pink flamingo toy.

Just as you think he is an Adult

Well, there you go just as you think he has reached 6 and is an adult now, he goes and blows it all. I was downstairs sorting out the laundry yesterday and Barty obviously decided that he wasn't getting enough attention, so he completely shredded a ball of wool that I was using to knit myself a jumper.

I don't know whether anyone has seen the mess that plum red merino wool makes on a creamy coloured carpet but let me assure you that it makes very pretty patterns.

Then last night I was sitting watching tv and I could hear some snuffly noises coming from the room next door that is currently being used for storing stuff. When I went in to investigate there was the terrible twosome with Barty with his head almost stuck in the bag of Orijen having unrolled the top to get in it. You have to admire his ingenuity but Lord help me!!!!!

Happy Birthday Barty - 6 Today

Today is my boy's 6th birthday. Happy and almost fit, he has had a lovely walk around the lake at Parisot and later we will walk over to Causseviel through the woods.

Happy Birthday my special boy

Ellie Whippet Lurcher Comes to Stay

Goodness me, when will I learn not to open my big mouth. My dear friend Caroline finally got a new canine companion after two years without and I foolishly said that I would look after her while we waited out her passport becoming operational and Caroline and Ray went to France for their first trip of the year.

Barty and Ellie played 24 hours a day - it exhausted me just watching them. Barty, of course, overdid things and put out the disc in his back. When will he learn that there is another pace to life apart from flat out having fun.

Happy Ever After

Barty on his 5th birthday at home in Derbyshire.

Disaster Strikes

Then on 1st April 2006 coming home from our house in France – he went chasing rabbits across a field and came back on three legs. He couldn’t put his back left leg anywhere near the floor and I feared he had broken it. We were in Northern France and it was 06.30am on a Sunday morning. Nightmare!!!! I dosed him with the painkillers I always carry and drove him home – very carefully.

His own vet came out on that Sunday afternoon to examine him and couldn’t find a break – it seemed like he had torn something in the soft tissue way. I will cut a very long story short by saying that in January 2007 after an MRI scan he was finally diagnosed as having a bulging disc in the area that had been operated on. The surgeons confirmed that there was nothing that they could do surgically to help Barty and they sent us home with a very guarded prognosis. After intensive drug treatment, acupuncture, physio and just about everything else I could think of, Barty was finally well again in the April this year – just over a year after his accident.

It seemed like a miracle that he was back walking and running like his old self.

Crufts 2006

In 2006, he made me the proudest mum in the world by being chosen to go to Crufts as part of the KC Good Citizen Scheme Gold Demonstration Team. We were there two days and Barty absolutely loved every moment. He greeted everyone and every dog with his trademark joy of life.

The Next Chapter

Barty was diagnosed by the PDSA as having hip dysplasia very badly – the vet nurse there saved his life as he was the kindest, most loving dog she had ever come across. He was rescued by a lovely rescue in Brailsford, Derbyshire and his xrays were sent to a specialist in Manchester for evaluation. The verdict was that his hips were too bad for the remodelling operation that could be done on young dogs (TPO) but that it was without doubt that he would need two Total Hip Replacements when he got old enough.

I was asked by Margaret if I would help with the fundraising for his operation and of course, as you know by now he came home to live with us. At the time I knew nothing about HD, the suffering and pain that it can cause but I knew that we needed to find probably £6,000 to fund his operation.

Well, Barty grew and grew like topsy after he was fed properly and by the time he was 18 months old – he was running like the wind, chasing rabbits and walking miles with us. No sign of any problems.

Then when he was coming up two years old he started having difficulty getting up, he was chewing at his back and crying out in pain when he wasn’t even doing anything. He was referred to one of the country’s leading orthopaedic specialists who had pioneered THR’s in the UK. When he saw Barty he didn’t think it was his hips that were causing his problem and he was admitted to have xrays and scans of his spine and hip area.

When we saw the results of these tests I was shocked. He didn’t have any hip sockets at all and his leg bones were two inches above his pelvis but what was causing his problem was a serious malformation of his lower spine. His spinal column was too narrow and too short, it was pinching on the spinal cord and this was what was causing his pain.

The next day Barty went in for laminectomy – this is where they remove part of the vertebrae in his spine – open up the column to make it bigger – and then patch him back together with a bit of fat from else where and some cement. He spent the next 8 weeks in a cage – which for a young dog who was designed and born to run free was a hard thing to do.
But …….. after the operation he was 95% better – no more pain, yelping or difficulty getting up. Fantastic.

How Did it all Start??

4th May 2009 is my beautiful red merle lurcher boy Barty’s 6th birthday. For those that don’t know his story – it is one of remarkable fortitude in the face of physical problems that would have stopped many dogs in their tracks.

Barty is a Hancock lurcher – ½ greyhound and ½ bearded collie/border collie. He left his breeder in apparent good health at just under 12 weeks of age. When he was left at the PDSA to be put to sleep at 5½ months he was apparently crippled for life.

This is my boy the day I saw him when Merrie my old border collie who hated all strange dogs because of her back problem chose him to come live with us.