Operation for a Dog

This is turning out to be a great thread
Please spend the $1000 on your best friend.
You will probably never regret it.

You should never have got a pet in the first place. Don't you see the ads directed at children telling them a pet is for life? It looks like you need someone's approval to put your pet down. Will that make you feel better?

Put a dog down if it's terminally ill, yes. But a bung knee?

Give your dog away to someone who might love it. Obviosly you don't!

BradK said:

I have been told that my beloved dog needs an operation. It is 3 years old, and its knee cap has popped out. The operation will cost $1000. The wife has been in tears at the suggestion we have the poor thing put down. ..

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Brad, I know an old couple - in England as it turns out (Yorkshire, where everyone is a character lol ) . They had a dog "Perkins", which was the human equivalent of about 140 yrs lol. It was particularly close to the lady, the man kept looking for an excuse to put it out of its misery. They were in their 80's.

Anyway it had a hip problem (and something else I forget - let's call it a broken leg - or maybe a bung knee ), could only be fixed by expensive operation(s). - and the husband dared to suggest "enough's enough", "had a good life / innings / etc", "perhaps time for Perkins to go to doggy heaven? don't you think dear? "

Now the second part of the problem - every complaint / symptom that the dog had , the lady had as well, lol . In fact SHE was wait-listed for a hip operation at the same time, lol.

So All she had to do was glare at him, and he got the message loud and clear - Perkins got his operation(s)

I think of them whenever I see or read James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" - Now there were some funny pet / animal stories

James Herriot OBE is the pen name of James Alfred Wight, also known as Alf Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), a British veterinary surgeon and writer. Wight is best known for his enormously popular semi-autobiographical stories, often referred to collectively as All Creatures Great and Small, a title used in some editions and in film and television adaptations.

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PS $1000 is nothing m8 - I think typical bill for a paralysis tick is about $1500, and for snakebite about $3K I think ( and there I suggest sadly / arguably not justifiable or rarely justified.)

PS On the subject of vet bills here's a lighthearted poem - bit of nonsense as usual.

MY DOG’S DRINKING PROBLEM.

My dog has a problem when drinking (she slops),
There’s water all over the floor,
Myself, I spill not one drop (nor drops)
(So I get to drink a bit more. )
A bee landed in her watering bowl,
So she slurped up the damned bee too,
And her lips got as fat as a damned bread roll,
Or a mocking chimp at the zoo.

The vet said for 220 bucks he’d give her
A counter to make her lip numb,
I countered “for 220 bucks, kind sir,
You can stick the damned thing in your bum”!
He said that’s exactly the spot he intended
And gave the pooch backside a rub,
So I weakened “OK, but ‘twere me, I’d decline
And I’d risk it and go to the pub.”

So these days, I drink from the dog’s round bowl,
And she slurps (even worse) from my mugs,
If I swallow a bee, then –(bless it’s soul) -
Well, SHE can give ME the damned hugs,
And if some human doctor says “220 quid –
And quick!! Before it gets worse !!!”
I’d tell him I might have a “fat lip from thirst”
But I’d give him a “fat lip first” !!.

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PS A lot of it comes back to
a) a man gotta do what a man's gotta do (whichever way you want to interpret that ) - i.e. don't think you can pass the buck on that dilemna of yours lol.
b) bushie vs city
c) cultural differences
If you lived in the bush for instance, then the decision would be easy. Some would say cruel, but Quick painless. But bushies have to put down animals all the time - they don't enjoy doing it , but . City folk have the luxury of ignoring these hard facts. Of pretending the lamb they are eating wasn't recently a cuddly little "woolly jumper" thing.

I remember I went to an uncle's farm, helped feed the poddy calves, then one day, one was singled out, and killed for dinner. It's mother mooed and mooed under the tree where the incident had happened. As a five year old, I almost mooed in empathy with her lol. Went on for days.

I also spent some time in HK. The neighbour rescued a small dog from the restaurant area of Kowloon at about 3am - a man sold it to her when she matched the price that a restaurateur would pay. . I ended up with him, but it was a full time job, keeping the prying eyes of the (Chinese) neighbours off him. (I lived in a pretty old part of HK at the time)

Talk back radio up there was 50% of the time on the subject of the cultural differences concerning the eating of dogmeat. Believe me, you don't get served dog by accident, it's considered a delicacy. I personally can't understand how people can kill a dog for food, but I guess I can explain it to myself that they have been through famines etc.

As standard practice, when a job site starts, eg building a bridge, they set up a site office, then get a little puppy. They use scrap wood to cook their rice, then the scrap rice goes to the puppy, then when the job's complete, they have a little bar-bq - to the god of the earth I think. It's called recycling I guess.

But the really unforgivable thing is the method they (traditionally) resort to. Because bruised meat is tender, they kill the dog with blows. Chinese dog abattoirs can be heard for miles around. Hence the calls to talk-back radio that I mentioned (by Europeans who traditionally love their dogs).

PS I'm told that the injections that dogs get in Aus are equivalent to a large dose of the stuff they get prior to an operation. No pain. peaceful etc. I had a beautiful dog once- had to be put down . I arranged for it to be done at home, and we all held his arm - including the kids - and hell, didn't we all cry afterwards : 2 twocents
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=86924&highlight=wagging#post86924

HOW DO YOU MEASURE LOVE, GRASSHOPPER?

General:-
How do you measure love, grasshopper? is it Something you weigh on a scale,
or Something you rate as “par” or “above”, or Something you buy on sale,
is it Light that is only revealed when its lost, or the Source from whence it once shone,
or the Depth of some fathomless hole - and its cost – that is Only revealed when it’s gone.
sure the Depths of that darkness are real and yet,
you Don’t know the odds until bets are bet,
you’ll Know what I mean if you’ve lost a pet
who was Loved and then moved on.

Pet:-
as a Pet-owner then, is it energy given to Mutual wagging of tails,
or do Horse-lovers judge the worth of their love, by the Height of some steeplechase rails,
or the “Heil-boss-well-met” when you put on their reins (and it never rains but it hails ),
or just Sad that you miss ‘em - extinction or kiss ‘em – including koalas and whales.
sure the Depths of that love are tested so oft,
when they Piss on the daisies, or buck you right off,
but you Miss em like hell with that last mortal cough,
and if That isn’t love, I’ll eat snails. ... etc

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WOW!

I didnt not expect such an amazing response to my conundrum.

The verdict - he is booked in for the operation next week.

Cheers
Brad

Bravo, Brad! Bravo!!!

Cheers Ya'll

Our dog Mars broke a nail and was bleeding. The next day my husband took him to the vet. He got a aneasthetic, the nail clipped and paw bandaged.
With a couple of days worth of drugs to stop infection, the broken nail cost us $340.
I would pay anything for our dog, for the joy he brings us, but forget lawyers, dentists etc........vets are the worst for charging like wounded bulls.

BradK said:

The verdict - he is booked in for the operation next week.

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My own dog unfortunately passed away over 3 years ago. Even though I knew it was coming - he had to be put to sleep due to terminal illness that had come to the point of causing pain and suffering - I have never cried so much over anything.

A friend of mine has a rather "smart" dog - they've even trained him to turn the lights on as well as the usual getting the paper in etc. Only problem is he still likes to do the big shake after a bath meaning that the owner, and for that matter the whole bathroom, gets washed too. Dogs are lots of fun...

BradK said:

WOW!

I didnt not expect such an amazing response to my conundrum.

The verdict - he is booked in for the operation next week.

Cheers
Brad

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Brad,

That's just the best news. You will never regret what you are doing.
Good for you. Do let us know how he goes in the recovery process. Dogs are amazingly stoic. I had a five month old puppy operated on for an elbow problem and she made her way around in plaster for two months without a single murmur of discontent. Dogs absolutely trust that whatever you do for them is right and just get right on with it.

I wonder if your dog will come away from the vet with a bandanna around its neck similar to the one I found on my puppy when she was desexed. It read "I was so brave at Bayview Vets". I left it on for days and it made me laugh all the time. At the same time it was funny, it was also true. Dogs are immensely brave, even the wussy ones.

Smurf1976 said:

My own dog unfortunately passed away over 3 years ago. Even though I knew it was coming - he had to be put to sleep due to terminal illness that had come to the point of causing pain and suffering - I have never cried so much over anything.)

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Smurf, my heartfelt sympathies about this. I think it is the hardest thing to face any pet owner. So difficult to judge the right time. I allowed my first Shepherd to go on too long - to her detriment - because I couldn't face losing her. Finally the vet told me I was being cruel to keep her alive.

With the next one I vowed not to let it happen again, but have since been unable to shake the feeling that I had her put down before it was absolutely necessary.

Then the next one died suddenly at just six years of age. One day in perfect health, then a sudden disease process, and the vet could not save her. It was just heartbreaking to see her in so much pain and be unable to help.

I've shed far more tears over my beloved dogs than over any human being.

Good on you Brad, and yes, let us know how it goes

Hey Brad. just make sure they don't graft on a donor leg

Can lead to all sorts of schizophrenic rejections and reactions
Take this dog for instance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bXh2gdMol4&NR=1

Talking dogs "I want my mumma" lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXm6M8m0I-A&mode=related&search=

also - One to contemplate - Put yourself in Noah's shoes having to choose just two dogs

Well we got a golden retriever pup nearly 11 years ago at 8 weeks of age ... ended up with an ectopic ureter which blew out one of his kidneys. We were faced with about $1,500 (kidney removal and the various diagnostics to ensure that the other kidney was ok) or euthansia... and that is 10 years ago. We took 3 seconds to decide to run with it and he is now coming up 11 years and has been the healthiest dog we have ever had. Only vet bills since have been check-ups/vaccinations... he even seems to have been immune to ticks!!

A no brainer really.... BTW, one of our boys had a knee reco recently.... the old ACL job... again it took us about 3 secs to decide when we had the opportunity for Merv Cross to do the job... about $15,000 (so far...) of which we'll probably get about 50% back via insurance. Not complaining about either situation but the dog has been a bargain!! It gets harder when your pet is a "geriatric" but as suggested by others on this post it really is (or should be) fairly straight forward for the young ones! Good luck!!

Stevie Wonder went to pat a dog and was bitten badly. Straight away he took a treat out of his pocket and offered it to the dog. His friend said that was a very kind gesture given that the dog had just mauled him to which Stevie replied "I just want to find out which end is his mouth so I can kick him up the ****!"

I had our cocker put down three and half years ago and was standing outside a Japanese restaurant in north Melbourne feeling miserable, when a person came out of the restaurant for a smoke and started chatting to me. At the end of our chat which lasted about half an hour, this other bloke, obviously an animal lover had convinced me to get another dog straight away. I did. The got another, and another! Still grieve for our cocker. Oh, the name of the good samaritan. Jimmy Cassidy, the jockey. What a magnificent man. It was during the spring carnival and he was entertaining clients but thought a grieving dog lover was more important!

Golden retrievers are great dogs I have had two my present golden retriever is 15 yo. He has had kennel cough (whilst at kennel)and yes he had had a needle previously for it. Eighteen months ago my husband reversed the car over him fracturing his leg, as a result his leg was bound for 9 weeks cost$2,200.00, his leg is now just perfect. I would have sold my husband for less than $2200,00.

I have put down two dogs and it just awful. My dogs were with us whilst our children were growing up and I see it as the end of an era. The albums are full of children and dogs, they are theraputic for children as their mood is always welcoming and they have plenty of time to hang around with kids.

BradK said:

WOW!

I didnt not expect such an amazing response to my conundrum.

The verdict - he is booked in for the operation next week.

Cheers
Brad

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Hi Brad,

Best of luck with the operation. You've made the right decision. Just keep on listening to your heart and everything will be OK.

Greggy