black & white sunday...

Hips and Knees...Knees and Hips

Friday was spent at the veterinary clinic having Gracie examined, x-rayed and given a shot!!

The good news is....Gracie's hips are GREAT!!!  

 The bad news is her knees are terrible... :(

The past couple of months we have noticed that Gracie has had more difficulty getting up and tends to not want to stand for any length of time. We would find her plopping herself down or doing what I call a lazy dog sit. There are times we find her also tip toeing on her hind feet. After viewing her x-rays we now understand the problem(s). 

 The left knee(teal arrow) is actually the worst. The xray shows degenererative joint disease (DJD) which basically means the cartilage around the knee is breaking down. With this she is experiencing stiffness and pain in that left knee. Her range of motion is restricted and we are finding that it's painful for her to do full extension or flexing of that knee. She would make a good soldier dog.  Dr. J  is finding a "thickening" around the joint which indicates swelling or possible collapse of the joint. Not much can be done with the left knee other than pain meds and physical therapy (such as water walking) But we do need to keep her active and moving!!!

The right knee (pink arrow) appears to have a ACL tear (not uncommon in larger active dogs) and some DJD but not as severe as the right. Surgery is an option to repair the right knee and it would give Gracie at least one good leg to stand on. The surgery would require Gracie to be confined for the first 4 weeks in her crate--only to be let out to potty and for therapy. The  next 4 weeks would be very light and supervised activity until she is fully healed. My concern here is that the right knee would then be totally  inactive thus causing more stiffness and possible atrophy of that joint.

At the present time we are going to treat Gracie with Adequan shots (2 shots per week for 4 weeks) we will then reevaluate with Dr. J  and decide if surgery is the best option.

I do need to clarify...Gracie was x-rayed  2.5 years ago for a possible injury to her back/hip/knees when Schatzie t-boned her. At that time nothing showed on the x ray indicating that she had injuried
her hips,back or knees. She was placed on light exercise and seemed to heal from the injury. Hindsight would led us to believe that it is this injury that is causing the issues now.

So for the next month we will administer the Adequan shots, moderate exercise and massage the knees before getting up for exercise. The most important thing for us is that Gracie is comfortable, pain free as possible and can live a quality life with the issues at hand.

I would love to hear from anyone that has or is dealing with the DJD and the ACL issues. Please leave a comment or you can email me at vjbloy(at)gmail(dot) com.

thanks,
val

{See Beautiful}

 It's the 2nd Friday of the month so it's time to......

Breathe. Let go. Remind yourself that every moment is the

 only one you know you have for sure.
*unknown*

Once again, my girlz help me to {See Beautiful} when I least expect it.

Help Bring Rex Home...

Dear Readers and Followers,
I am sharing a bit of a different post today. This is a story that I have been following on Facebook for a couple of months now and it is just HEARTBREAKING!! Now I know not everyone does the Facebook thing so, I am trying to help spread the word about this dog.
The photo below is of a beautiful 4 month (at time of abduction) German Shepherd Puppy named Rex that is missing. Rex is approx. 9 months old now. This dog could be anywhere!!  He may have been stolen then sold with the new owners not knowing he is a stolen dog.  The dog is micro chipped.  I asked the owners permission to share this information here on my blog concerning Rex. Please if you know of the whereabouts of this dog or know someone who may have recently gotten a "new" puppy PLEASE share this story. Or better yet, be so kind as to share it via word of mouth or on YOUR blog.

thanks so much,

Val :)

The following photos and story provided by:
 Alisia McIntyre/Highlander German Shepherds, Bryan, Michele, & Richard Gosman

Our German Shepherd Rex who was being trained to be a service dog has been missing since

October 01, 2012 from his home in Montauk, NY.  We have been desperately searching and doing everything possible to find him.  He had a collar on with an ID tag as well as the Home Again microchip.  We strongly believe that someone has him.  We have had multiple search and rescue teams come in and they tracked his scent to the parking area of the Edward Albee Foundation where they abruptly lost his scent....at that point someone must have taken him away via vehicle.

 

We have put up posters, sent posters with all of his info to veterinarians, shelters, rescue groups covering the tri-state area.  We have utilized a Pet Amber Alert service, Home Again the microchip company has sent out alerts ....everything you can imagine.  We have a Facebook page set up with close to 2,000 followers who are trying to help reunite Rex with his 7 year old best friend Richard. www.facebook.com/BringRexHome

 

There is an $8,000 reward for Rex's return or info leading to his safe return.  We can be contacted anytime day or night 845-224-9170.

 

Yesterday a man contacted us via email stating that he had Rex and would return him as soon as we had his money ready.  This email correspondence went on all day until we found out it was a scam, and the man was actually from Nigeria!

 

We love Rex and miss him more than words can say.

 

We need the media's assistance.  We are praying that someone will recognize him and contact us.

All we want is for our puppy to come home to Richard his 7 year old best friend.  We aren't looking to get anyone in trouble.  We just want our puppy back.  This is killing us.  Richard is having nightmares and traumatized!  Rex is a very loved member of our family.

 

Please help.

 

Thank you in advance for any assistance that you can provide.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alisia McIntyre/Highlander German Shepherds, Bryan, Michele, & Richard Gosman

(The following photo is of Richard and his puppy Rex. The child is devastated and dearly wants his Rex back.)

Wordless Wednesday...

because...

every move you make, every step you take, I'll be watching you!!

Flip Flop Photo Hunt #1

Participating in


January  week #1 
Found this fun photo challenge via my new friend Amanda .
each Thursday we are given 5 photo clues, you snap away and than you have
 til Monday evening to post your photos.

I'm going to add an extra challenge to myself by  incorporating
 photos of the girlz (if possible:) in each clue.
Tell me what you think of my shots.

#1 Comfy

who else but Miss Gracie snoozing near the Christmas Tree

#2 New

exploring the *new* day

#3 Feet

#4  Contrast

Silhouette of Schatzie

#5 Teal

This was the most difficult find for me--not a lot of color in my winter world.
As I was out with the girlz yesterday they led me to one of my garden ornaments.

that's all folks....

thanks to Amy at Little Adventures for hosting this FlipFlop Photo Adventure.