Stella's Vet visit.

Our newest foster, Stella had another appointment with the vet today.    The last visit resulted in her swollen mammary gland being drained and treated, and her heart checked.   It was confirmed that she had a heart problem, she and I have the same medication, she just gets a much smaller dosage than I do.  They tried to take some x-rays, but she would not hold still to get some decent x-ray's of her hips.   From the way she walks they suspected that she had hip dyspasia.    She also needed to be spayed, but they wanted to be careful because of her heart problem.   So we had a second visit today.   Stella won't forgive the chauffeur for a long time following this trip.   Stella already was buddies with Mrs. Chauffeur, Stella likes women, especially when the chauffeur has taken her to the vet twice.   We know which side of the bed Stella will be sleeping on. 

When we picked her up at the vet office, she was still very quiet, she was no longer the whirling dervish that we had come to know.   We talked about her post operation treatment  and were given some tips on how to help her recover.   The initial look at the x-ray showed that she has bad hips.    They need to send the photos over to a specialist to make sure, but it looks like her hips will need some extensive work.   For the time being, she is not in pain, she runs a little stiffly but she does not slow down because of it.   But before too long she will need to have surgery to fix her hips.   The rescue will pay for the operations, but it will also take a lot of personal care for her to recover. 

For the time being, she will be allowed to enjoy life and run with us.   Having a good life is what being a Golden Retriever is all about.    So we will encourage her to play, swim and in general enjoy life until the hips begin hurting her.   We did get some pain medications just in case.  Once she shows signs of pain or slowing down, we will have to let her get her hips repaired.

Now that we know that she does have long term hip problems, we can talk to potential forever homes so that they know what they are getting into.   It is not the cost of the operations, the rescue will help with that, but the post-op care will be a little difficult for both Stella and her humans.

While we seek a new home for Stella, we will be helping her to enjoy life until necessity demands she have surgery done.    Wish us luck with Stella, we hope we can give her a good life while she is looking for her new home.    If you know of a special home that can make room for a young lady that will need some special care, tell them about Stella.     This young lady deserves a home that truly cares for her. 

Mogley G. Retriever