Holly Has A Bad Day

Yesterday Holly was booked in for what was supposed to be a quick op - 'no more than 20 minutes' sadly it didnt go to plan

She has had a discharge from one of her legs on and off since we got her 18 months ago and although we've tried all sorts of things, and taken to the vets (quake) a few times it has never cleared up. it was obviously bothering her recently so I politely told the vets that if they did nothing again I would take her elsewhere and if it did turn out to be something afterall I would sue. :angry:

So we got some AB's which did help but it just came back straight away, which left us with having to operate to have a 'quick' look.

We took her in the day before to have bloods taken just to check everything was OK and that she could have the op, and then took her back yesterday for the op. Blood tests OK and we stayed with her while she was sedated :huggles:

She needed the leg examining, a biopsy of a cyst on her spine, and we found a cracked tooth dring her pre-op check so that was going to have come out too. I was a bag of nerves and expecting to pick her up 2pm ish so was out walking the dogs (Lucas at home with Gaz) when the vet rang to say they had x-rayed her and she had plates in both of her front legs The infection was behind the plate and it would have to come out for her to have any chance of it healing. the worry being the plate must have been in atleast 7-9 years so there a big chance that the leg would break when they removed the plate, or that the infection had damaged the bone so much that it wouldnt support her or ever repair. It was an awful moment - she was already under aneasthetic and I had to make a decision totally unprepared. I knew I had to give it a go for her best chance, and the next hour waiting to hear was just hell.

Anyway, the plate came off OK, the infection had more or less rotted the bone around the screws and they think that there is enough bone there to heal up OK. She is using it OK already.

I feel so terrible - she must have been in agony and I really should have kicked off at the vets well before now. Poor Holly - she is totally relying on us, has obviously had a rough time, and I have left things too long. Only on Saturday she did an 1.5 hour walk with us (Lucas at home with Gaz) poor old girl it must have been so painful, but she has never grumbled.

Even now, she hasnt whimpered, she is just her normal self . So brave o :wub:

So hopefully in 4 weeks the leg will be stronger (short lead walks till then) and the infection will clear up as she is on strong AB's :luck:

Her throat is obviosly sore from being intubated but other than that she seems quite happy and has been potterting about the garden for a few minutes this morning. There are drains in her leg and back, so she is not such pretty sight and I can see a lot of bedding being washed in the next few weeks. :x

She ended up being under the aneasthetic for 3 hours in all :blink: . Tooth also removed and they thought it was best to remove the cyst afterall, so that has been sent for histology - but I'm not even thinking about that yet. :wacko:

Lets hope she has a few good years left in her yet :luck:

here she is this morning :wub:



the leg :x



the back :x

Oh Rae,

I'm so sorry that you and Holly have had to go through this You mustn't beat yourself up, Holly wouldn't want that. I am sure in a couple of weeks you will have forgotten quite how bad it all looked :luck:

Don't want to sound too matronly, just don't want you worrying all the time about what if's etc. The good thing is, the plate is out and hopefully she will be back to normal on no time :thumbsup: At least she only had to go in for one anaesthetic and managed to have all three procedures done at once.

She looks so beautiful, and will have to have an extra cuddle when we come down :wub: :wub:

Keep your chin up :huggles:

Rae, dont beat yourself up about this you trusted your vet to sort her out and when you realised it was taking to long you told them what to do or else, this made the vet look into it more and find out what was wrong with Holly, Whippets are so strong and determined this is probably why she didnt limp or anything when you took her on her walks, you"ve only had her for 18 months and i bet that is the best 18 months of her life being totally spoilt by you & Gaz :huggles: good luck with her she seems very happy and i bet a lot comfier now. :thumbsup:

hugs to you and holly with best wishes for a speedy recovery :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles:

Poor holly i hope she gets better soon!

you cant blame your self you did the best you could at least the problem has been identified now and she will be up and running in no time!!

get well soon holly!!!

spoil her rotten!!!

So sorry to read about poor Holly. Hope see makes a speedy recovery. :luck: lots of cuddles being sent her way :huggles: :huggles: :huggles:

awwwwwwww poor Holly,lots of :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: :huggles: hope she get better soon

Poor Holly Bananas - but great that it has been dealt with now, and hope she gets better really soon. :thumbsup: :luck: :thumbsup:

poor holly,hope shes feeling better real soon. :wub:

Oh, no It never rains but it pours with whippets. Poor, poor girl. I've learned the hard way that they don't always let on how bad a problem is - they'll act the big baby over having some eye drops, but be completely oblivious to what eventually turns out to be a broken toe, so you have to be quite assertive with vets if there's a shadow of a doubt on these things (so well done :thumbsup: )

Hope it all turns out ok. :luck: :huggles:

:luck: :luck: :luck: holly :luck: :luck: :luck: hope you get better soon :thumbsup:

Poor you and Holly! :huggles: Just goes to show how stoic they are really and the problems not knowing a rescue dog's history. I bet you would never had thought in a million years that she had plates in her legs if she had not had the weeping sore!

:luck: for a speedy recovery.

Big hugs to BOTH of you Rae, sounds like you need one as much as Holly. Please don't be too hard on yourself, even with something big it can be very hard to discover what is wrong. It's so much easier with people, we can lie on the sofa moaning about the pain - but animals' instincts tell them not to show weakness - so they are very very good at covering. (except of course when you tread on a toe or two!)

When Audrey fell 12' from the flat roof at christmas, she was back up on her feet immediately and scampering around.......not a hint of the 12" gash in her tail and the extensive bruising that would show up over the next few days. She just wanted to show she was ok to run or defend herself if necessary and wasn't easy pickings.

The point is Holly has YOU to thank for being observant, for persisting with the vet and insisting that they get to the bottom of it. She could have had this problem since the plate went in - but it took YOUR love care and devotion to sort it out for her. :thumbsup:

good on ya

Poor you and Holly , Good job she came to you and not someone who isnt as persisitant , well done , and good luck for a speedy recovery :luck:

Oh my goodness rae - well that was a day and a half!

Well I hope Holly goes from strength to strength :luck: She is so lucky to have the home she has now :huggles:

Lots of :huggles: to Hol

:luck: :luck: Wishing Holly a speedy recovery - don't beat yourself up over this, you TRUSTED your vet :- "

:luck: :huggles: hope Holly has a very swift recovery :luck: :huggles:

Bless her :wub: :huggles: :wub: :huggles:

OMG poor holly and poor you reading the story made me cry , i have my fingers crossed she will be ok really soon . what a brave girl she is ((((hugs))))

Thanks everyone :huggles:

I still feel awful for letting it go on this long I will speak to them on Tuesday at her check up as it should be on her file that I have taken her several times and been told that it is just superficial and just to keep it clean :angry: I thought for an hour yesterday that I might loose her and it makes me cry even just thinking about how helpess and desperate I felt.

Cant help but love these little people can you? :b :wub:

She has had a little potter around the site today and is now in a cage, or otherwise she just wants to follow me everywhere :wub: and I need her to rest. -_-

There is nothing coming out of the leg drain I hoped puss would be flooding out as the infection cleared. The back is weeping - Tie had the same thing (suspicious cyst removed) a few months back and her wound didnt have a drain in it so I cant understand why they would do this to Holly. I'm terrified of getting any dirt into her open wounds and have slathered everything with Aloe Vera.

I must get some work done for the bank holiday now. (w00t)

I will pass on all the :huggles: to Holly, who says thanks for all the well wishes.

dessie said:

Poor you and Holly!  :huggles:   Just goes to show how stoic they are really and the problems not knowing a rescue dog's history.  I bet you would never had thought in a million years that she had plates in her legs if she had not had the weeping sore! 
:luck: for a speedy recovery.

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Very true about not knowing a history. Obviously we could see that her legs were twisted but at some point at the beginning of her life some one has really loved her to have done that for her, and in a funny way I feel better knowing that she has been loved and not neglected, or PTS.