Fluffy's Xray results

Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to bother her
and wasn't causing the lameness.

The 'neck' of her thighbone show some slight arthritic thickening, but for
a dog her age, her hip joints are fine: this is also not the cause of her
lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament (I can't remember which one
of the 5 that are in tehre, but it goes from the front of the lower bone to
the back of the upper bone). It will not 'come good' on its own accord and
will most likely get significantly worse without treatment. She needs
reconstructive knee surgery to right it.

The bad news is that we simply cannot afford this. The surgery is going to
be $1200. The vet reckons he can drop it to maybe $1050 if we allow him to
use this surgery as a demonstration for veterinary students. He did kindly
point out that this is the best he can do as its *at cost* and that in
Sydney it would be well over $2000. Whilst we appreciate his effort and his
generosity, and we have no objection to the students, the saving of $150
isn't going to make much difference - we still can't afford the $1050 (thats
on top of the xrays that were $350 and the original consult of $85).

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up with the money,
or we just treat her pain and let her stay lame, or let her go. Her doggy
eyes say she's got lots of life left, that its not even close to that time.

I absolutely hate hate HATE having to factor money into this decision, HATE
it. Its not fair. I am not a rich person but I am also not greedy: I am not
jealous of those who have more and know that we usually have enough to meet
all our needs and then some. I know we lead a blessed life compared to many
around the world and I don't as a rule wish for more. But when it comes to
stuff like this, then I really wish I could say "Do whatever it takes, money
is no issue" but damn it is, and I rail against this sort of thing. My girly
doggy, the boo-fluff, my baby, needs me and I'm unable to provide.
(*&*^&^%^%*&(*_)(()_)*^^$%$#^*%*^&(&!!!!!!!. Joel is currently punching his
pillows and I'm holding back the tears so that the Yowlet doesn't know we're
so upset.

You will know how much i don't want to do this, but for the sake fo Fluffy,
I'm swallowing my pride and asking you guys for help.

Fluffy Chapman's vet is :

Rod Yeatman
Dapto Vet Clinic
164 Princes Hwy, Dapto, NSW 2530
AUSTRALIA
His phone number is +61 02 4261 4055
Office hours are 8:30am - 5:30pm AEST (thats +10 GMT) Mon-Sat, but they
won't be open on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
Here's the local time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240
Renee the receptionist is willing to take overseas credit cards

I know times are tough and many folks can't afford to give anything but
purrs and wags. They are *so* appreciated and are a tangible help, Im sure
they've kept the Fluffster Ok and otherwise healthy through this. But for
those of you who can spare something, can I grovel at you, please? I'll be
forever grateful (as would our Floober) and if you want, I could send - I
dunno - a specially signed copy of cat stories? Naked cat pictures? My
heartfelt gratitude? All of the above?

Vicky aka Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to
bother her and wasn't causing the lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament ...
The bad news is that we simply cannot afford this. The surgery
is going to be $1200. The vet reckons he can drop it to maybe
$1050 if we allow him to use this surgery as a demonstration
for veterinary students. He did kindly point out that this is
the best he can do as its *at cost* and that in Sydney it would
be well over $2000...

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up
with the money, or we just treat her pain and let her stay
lame, or let her go. Her doggy eyes say she's got lots of life
left, that its not even close to that time.

I absolutely hate hate HATE having to factor money into this
decision, HATE it. ...

You will know how much i don't want to do this, but for the
sake fo Fluffy, I'm swallowing my pride and asking you guys for
help...

I'm not in a position to help financially, so all I can do is
send purrs :-(

In the UK, we have a charity - the PDSA (People's Dispensary for
Sick Animals). They will treat pets for donations from those that
can afford them, else free of charge. Do you have a similar
charity in Oz? The only one I've managed to find through Googling
is the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, in Victoria:

http://www.lortsmith.com/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=323

They may know of something similar in your area.

--
MatSav

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up with the money,
or we just treat her pain and let her stay lame, or let her go. Her doggy
eyes say she's got lots of life left, that its not even close to that time.

I wish I could send a donation but I've just been cleaned out myself,
so I can only send purrs and love. Cara blew her cruciate Ligament 6
weeks ago and had the surgery for the same problem as Fluffy 3 weeks
ago (She had the stitches out last week). The reason that there was so
long between dignosis and surgery was because the dickhead Emergency
vet who examined her when she did it missed the diagnosis and told me
she'd pulled a muscle!!

Whilst it will not resolve itself without surgery, my (orthopeadic)
vet did tell me that in a couple of cases a couple of owners elected
to not have the surgery done for a while as they could not afford it
right away. Instead, the vet gave anti-inflamatories, pain relief and
strict walking on the lead only. PTS isn't a neccessary option with
this, because the pain can be managed with plenty of rest and
controlled exercise.

Sending many hugs and good thoughts.

Helen M

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to
bother her and wasn't causing the lameness.

The 'neck' of her thighbone show some slight arthritic thickening,
but for a dog her age, her hip joints are fine: this is also not the
cause of her lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament (I can't remember
which one of the 5 that are in tehre, but it goes from the front of
the lower bone to the back of the upper bone). It will not 'come
good' on its own accord and will most likely get significantly worse
without treatment. She needs reconstructive knee surgery to right
it.


Let me butt in here to say that this is a pretty common injury/ailment
is some breeds of dog. I've probably been through the repair surgery
with them a half dozen times or more. Quite a while ago and with
little poodles so it was cheaper.

But the surgery was always successful and relatively easy on the dogs.
Both my mother's dogs blew out a knee and three of our did. One
several times.

Our vet calls it football knee.

Jo

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to bother her
and wasn't causing the lameness.

The 'neck' of her thighbone show some slight arthritic thickening, but
for a dog her age, her hip joints are fine: this is also not the cause of
her lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament (I can't remember which one
of the 5 that are in tehre, but it goes from the front of the lower bone
to the back of the upper bone). It will not 'come good' on its own accord
and will most likely get significantly worse without treatment. She needs
reconstructive knee surgery to right it.

The bad news is that we simply cannot afford this. The surgery is going to
be $1200. The vet reckons he can drop it to maybe $1050 if we allow him to
use this surgery as a demonstration for veterinary students. He did kindly
point out that this is the best he can do as its *at cost* and that in
Sydney it would be well over $2000. Whilst we appreciate his effort and
his generosity, and we have no objection to the students, the saving of
$150 isn't going to make much difference - we still can't afford the $1050
(thats on top of the xrays that were $350 and the original consult of
$85).

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up with the
money, or we just treat her pain and let her stay lame, or let her go. Her
doggy eyes say she's got lots of life left, that its not even close to
that time.

I absolutely hate hate HATE having to factor money into this decision,
HATE it. Its not fair. I am not a rich person but I am also not greedy: I
am not jealous of those who have more and know that we usually have enough
to meet all our needs and then some. I know we lead a blessed life
compared to many around the world and I don't as a rule wish for more. But
when it comes to stuff like this, then I really wish I could say "Do
whatever it takes, money is no issue" but damn it is, and I rail against
this sort of thing. My girly doggy, the boo-fluff, my baby, needs me and
I'm unable to provide. (*&*^&^%^%*&(*_)(()_)*^^$%$#^*%*^&(&!!!!!!!. Joel
is currently punching his pillows and I'm holding back the tears so that
the Yowlet doesn't know we're so upset.

You will know how much i don't want to do this, but for the sake fo
Fluffy, I'm swallowing my pride and asking you guys for help.

Fluffy Chapman's vet is :

Rod Yeatman
Dapto Vet Clinic
164 Princes Hwy, Dapto, NSW 2530
AUSTRALIA
His phone number is +61 02 4261 4055
Office hours are 8:30am - 5:30pm AEST (thats +10 GMT) Mon-Sat, but they
won't be open on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
Here's the local time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240
Renee the receptionist is willing to take overseas credit cards

I know times are tough and many folks can't afford to give anything but
purrs and wags. They are *so* appreciated and are a tangible help, Im sure
they've kept the Fluffster Ok and otherwise healthy through this. But for
those of you who can spare something, can I grovel at you, please? I'll be
forever grateful (as would our Floober) and if you want, I could send - I
dunno - a specially signed copy of cat stories? Naked cat pictures? My
heartfelt gratitude? All of the above?

It's a horrible position to be in. My vet will usually agree to monthly
payments if a huge bill comes up that cannot be paid up front. I suppose
you've asked and the answer is "no"? That is very mean of him, if so - he's
hardly likely to starve if you cannot pay a thousand dollars immediately, is
he? You might play on his conscience if you reminded him of this.
Anyway, if necessary I am up for sending some help for the Fluffster. It
won't be a lot as KFC pretty well cleans out my veterinary bank account
fairly regularly. However, for just such a purpose I still have a few
euro notes left from my last visit to Germany. I never got around to
changing them back into pounds so I will not miss them.
If you need them you can have them. They will be in a physical form, so to
speak, so I won't put them in an envelope and send them to your vet, I will
need your home address. Then you can take them down to your bank and get
them changed into *real* money to give to your vet ;-)

Oh, I have always dreaded this situation for myself, having a beloved pet
needing veterinary intervention that I cannot afford.
What I did was set up a monthly direct debit from my bank account that my
salary went in to, into another account for veterinary costs. It has more
than covered everything, far better than pet insurance as you do not need to
quibble about what they are prepared to pay for.
It built up for quite a while because I set it up when they were both
absolutely fine. Boyfie used a little when he got bitten by a very rude
cat that invaded his garden a while ago. He needed an antibiotic injection
for his bite in the armpit and vets do not come cheap as you all know.
KFC is now using all the veterinary money up, which is quite okay as that
was why I set the account up, for the benefit of all critters I have,
including the chickens and Francis Drake, which do not need it at the moment
(thankfully)

Tweed

could you email me with a valid id and put fluffy in the subject, Lee
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to bother her
and wasn't causing the lameness.

The 'neck' of her thighbone show some slight arthritic thickening, but
for a dog her age, her hip joints are fine: this is also not the cause of
her lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament (I can't remember which one
of the 5 that are in tehre, but it goes from the front of the lower bone
to the back of the upper bone). It will not 'come good' on its own accord
and will most likely get significantly worse without treatment. She needs
reconstructive knee surgery to right it.

The bad news is that we simply cannot afford this. The surgery is going to
be $1200. The vet reckons he can drop it to maybe $1050 if we allow him to
use this surgery as a demonstration for veterinary students. He did kindly
point out that this is the best he can do as its *at cost* and that in
Sydney it would be well over $2000. Whilst we appreciate his effort and
his generosity, and we have no objection to the students, the saving of
$150 isn't going to make much difference - we still can't afford the $1050
(thats on top of the xrays that were $350 and the original consult of
$85).

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up with the
money, or we just treat her pain and let her stay lame, or let her go. Her
doggy eyes say she's got lots of life left, that its not even close to
that time.

I absolutely hate hate HATE having to factor money into this decision,
HATE it. Its not fair. I am not a rich person but I am also not greedy: I
am not jealous of those who have more and know that we usually have enough
to meet all our needs and then some. I know we lead a blessed life
compared to many around the world and I don't as a rule wish for more. But
when it comes to stuff like this, then I really wish I could say "Do
whatever it takes, money is no issue" but damn it is, and I rail against
this sort of thing. My girly doggy, the boo-fluff, my baby, needs me and
I'm unable to provide. (*&*^&^%^%*&(*_)(()_)*^^$%$#^*%*^&(&!!!!!!!. Joel
is currently punching his pillows and I'm holding back the tears so that
the Yowlet doesn't know we're so upset.

You will know how much i don't want to do this, but for the sake fo
Fluffy, I'm swallowing my pride and asking you guys for help.

Fluffy Chapman's vet is :

Rod Yeatman
Dapto Vet Clinic
164 Princes Hwy, Dapto, NSW 2530
AUSTRALIA
His phone number is +61 02 4261 4055
Office hours are 8:30am - 5:30pm AEST (thats +10 GMT) Mon-Sat, but they
won't be open on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
Here's the local time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240
Renee the receptionist is willing to take overseas credit cards

I know times are tough and many folks can't afford to give anything but
purrs and wags. They are *so* appreciated and are a tangible help, Im sure
they've kept the Fluffster Ok and otherwise healthy through this. But for
those of you who can spare something, can I grovel at you, please? I'll be
forever grateful (as would our Floober) and if you want, I could send - I
dunno - a specially signed copy of cat stories? Naked cat pictures? My
heartfelt gratitude? All of the above?

Vicky aka Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Yowie wrote:
Got the X-rays back.

She has some spondylitis (?) in the spine, but doesn't seem to bother her
and wasn't causing the lameness.

The 'neck' of her thighbone show some slight arthritic thickening, but for
a dog her age, her hip joints are fine: this is also not the cause of her
lameness.

Its her knee. She's managed to blow a ligament (I can't remember which one
of the 5 that are in tehre, but it goes from the front of the lower bone to
the back of the upper bone). It will not 'come good' on its own accord and
will most likely get significantly worse without treatment. She needs
reconstructive knee surgery to right it.

The bad news is that we simply cannot afford this. The surgery is going to
be $1200. The vet reckons he can drop it to maybe $1050 if we allow him to
use this surgery as a demonstration for veterinary students. He did kindly
point out that this is the best he can do as its *at cost* and that in
Sydney it would be well over $2000. Whilst we appreciate his effort and his
generosity, and we have no objection to the students, the saving of $150
isn't going to make much difference - we still can't afford the $1050 (thats
on top of the xrays that were $350 and the original consult of $85).

So, it comes down to whether we can find a way of coming up with the money,
or we just treat her pain and let her stay lame, or let her go. Her doggy
eyes say she's got lots of life left, that its not even close to that time.

I absolutely hate hate HATE having to factor money into this decision, HATE
it. Its not fair. I am not a rich person but I am also not greedy: I am not
jealous of those who have more and know that we usually have enough to meet
all our needs and then some. I know we lead a blessed life compared to many
around the world and I don't as a rule wish for more. But when it comes to
stuff like this, then I really wish I could say "Do whatever it takes, money
is no issue" but damn it is, and I rail against this sort of thing. My girly
doggy, the boo-fluff, my baby, needs me and I'm unable to provide.
(*&*^&^%^%*&(*_)(()_)*^^$%$#^*%*^&(&!!!!!!!. Joel is currently punching his
pillows and I'm holding back the tears so that the Yowlet doesn't know we're
so upset.

You will know how much i don't want to do this, but for the sake fo Fluffy,
I'm swallowing my pride and asking you guys for help.

Fluffy Chapman's vet is :

Rod Yeatman
Dapto Vet Clinic
164 Princes Hwy, Dapto, NSW 2530
AUSTRALIA
His phone number is +61 02 4261 4055
Office hours are 8:30am - 5:30pm AEST (thats +10 GMT) Mon-Sat, but they
won't be open on Good Friday or Easter Monday.
Here's the local time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240
Renee the receptionist is willing to take overseas credit cards

I know times are tough and many folks can't afford to give anything but
purrs and wags. They are *so* appreciated and are a tangible help, Im sure
they've kept the Fluffster Ok and otherwise healthy through this. But for
those of you who can spare something, can I grovel at you, please? I'll be
forever grateful (as would our Floober) and if you want, I could send - I
dunno - a specially signed copy of cat stories? Naked cat pictures? My
heartfelt gratitude? All of the above?

Vicky aka Yowie

Oh,Yowie, I am so sorry. I wish I could send you something, but I'm in
the same boat; I've run out of cat meds and cat litter, and can't even
get those. I hate being in that position too, and you're right, it
isn't fair. I hope that others here are in better shape than I
(anybody's in better shape than I, with a dollar in the bank and change
in my pockets) and can help you and Fluffy out. Meanwhile, I will send
you all the purrs we can spare here

Ginger-lyn

Christina Websell wrote:
snip
Anyway, if necessary I am up for sending some help for the Fluffster.
It won't be a lot as KFC pretty well cleans out my veterinary bank
account fairly regularly. However, for just such a purpose I still
have a few euro notes left from my last visit to Germany. I never
got around to changing them back into pounds so I will not miss them.
If you need them you can have them. They will be in a physical form,
so to speak, so I won't put them in an envelope and send them to your
vet, I will need your home address. Then you can take them down to
your bank and get them changed into *real* money to give to your vet
;-)
snip
Tweed

If you stil have last year's holiday card list then you have Yowie's
(Vicky's) address. I'll do what I can but I'm afraid it won't be much.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk