A good end to the year for Mika

I hope everyone had an enjoyable, and memorable Christmas!!

Well, I think it might be time for an update on Mika! Santa definitely gave him stronger legs :)

He is doing much better now. The swims have proved to be so useful and helpful in aiding his muscles to grow! When using his leg, his walk looks almost normal now - he is not as wobbly as he used to be. The right leg also does not look significantly smaller than the left leg which is a good sign!

When he is on leash, he can use his four legs very well. If he starts hopping, we just say "WALK" to him and he will put down his leg again! Rosie has been taking him on walks around the neighbourhood - they are around 10-15 minutes long and she says he does just fine using his leg 98% of the time!

Here's a video of him walking now!
You can see that even his right leg has build up so much more muscle mass it looks almost normal now!!

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Walking and Hopping

This is how Mika is walking recently, a bit of walking and a bit of hopping!!!

If he is on the leash, he uses his four legs more because all I have to do is ask him to use his leg.

He's getting stronger by the day with the water therapy. He is no longer a skinny dog, but a tough, muscular one. 

As you can see, it is a big improvement from when he used to hang his leg up high.

I'm happy!!!

It has been a few months since the accident in August but the sharp yelp in pain is still vividly in my mind; the rush to the vet immediately, not knowing what the next would be, the first surgery didn't work well, the second surgery came in and the rest of the story seems so far away but it also seems like yesterday too.

Mika is doing well or at least, he is forced to do well by all the walkies and swim that I imposed on him. I've been very hard on him after the vet told me that Mika's leg was starting to have muscle atrophy and the last resort was swimming and walking. We started with walking but Mika refused to  walk with the injured leg in the beginning and he was really stubborn. No matter what we tried, he hopped!

So, my husband got a big water tank the next day. It wasn't easy for Mika either as it was the first time he was put in the water and we could see he was frightened,  the leg was still in pain and he didn't know what to do in the water.

I started it with 5 minutes and gradually extended the time to 7 minutes to 10 to 15 to ... 30 minutes. I know many people might think I am crazy and cruel.  Even my family members thought I was rather mean to a poor injured boy. Some of my friends told me that as long as Mika is alive and happy, hanging the leg up isn't a big deal after all. I was in a dilemma on 'Should I just let it be or put some last efforts in it' then my last question was WHAT IF... Swimming seems the only way he exercises his injured leg and if I didn't want the muscle atrophy to get worse, it's the only way.

Mika gets stronger each day by swimming and it's amazing to see he can survive through every 30 minutes session, his breathing is steady and calm, he becomes more muscular too.

Slowly he started to walk with the injured leg while we were walking him on the leash about two weeks ago and he is walking better with that leg lately. However, it only happened when he was on the leash. Funny things happened at the vet and I'm sure Eva had already told you about it in her previous post.

So, it was a surprise to see a four legs walking Mika coming towards me and my husband while we came back from shopping yesterday. He only walked for awhile then he hopped happily again for the rest of the day.

Again, Mika walked a bit on his own this morning.

I know it's still a long way to go BUT I took all these as a good sign AND I really want to share my happiness with all of you today!!!

A lot of fun in the house

Hi everyone. Miss Eva here!

You are probably wondering how my new buddy, Blackie is doing. With us dogs, she's perfectly fine and friendly. With the humans, however, she is quite shy and timid and will only come if they have food.

She is quite a naughty girl. She dug 3 BIG HOLES last night!! Compared to her, well, I dare say, I'm a little princess. Blackie is residing outside with Mika but whenever she hears me going out to the garden for a toilet, she will come and say hi and we will wag our tails at each other. Once she even tried to push over the fence to play with me!

We love playing 'catch me if you can'

We were playing very happily until....

She started nipping my neck. 

First of all, Princess Eva does not tolerate other dogs (with the exception of her mother) nipping her neck.

And second of all, an excess of SALIVA on my beautiful coat! 

I couldn't stand it and ended the game immediately.

Did I ever mention that I am a very very clean dog? 

You should see the way Blackie drinks water. It's like she hasn't drunk for ages, and she licks so roughly. 

Worst of all, she leaves all her saliva in the bowl. I have to go all the way back to the kitchen to ask my mommy for some clean water out of my own water bowl!

Some of you have been asking about my Uncle Mika.

1 week after his operation, the hoomies have been swimming him and now he is swimming 30 minutes daily. They are also walking him in circles to try and get him to use his leg. Sometimes, it will touch the ground, but he still isn't using it :( Hopefully, the swimming can help build up his muscle and hopefully with a bigger muscle, he can start using his leg again.

Poor Uncle Mika

We took Mika to the vet just a few days ago and came back with not so good news.

Apparently his muscle atrophy is pretty bad and he may not be able to use the leg again.

The leg doesn't seem to be hurting anymore when the vet moved it around but his muscles may have lost their memory.

Of course, we are still trying our best with daily swims and also some special supplements.

But don't worry about him! He is still as happy as ever, as long as we give him treats and lots of attention!

Open your mouth the widest competition!

Mika's Update

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who gave us the advice and well-wishes to Mika.

Mika is still resting at home and does some walking daily. He doesn't like to use that injured leg yet but we'll try to encourage him to use it more.

He's going to have his swimming when his incision is healed better. We plan to let him start it on Saturday but we'll make sure things are alright first.

He's on meds and vitamins and some high protein food is in his bowl too. 

Mika is a good boy, always cheerful and happy. He's a super friendly dog to everyone who comes to visit him!

He's tough too! Even after the 2nd surgery, he still howls and barks the loudest in the neighbourhood. 

I take it as a good sign : )

A bit about Eva:
Many of you have been wondering how Eva's stuffy stayed in one piece since she was a puppy till now!
Well, Eva has some favourite toys and this boxer is one of them. She NEVER destroys her favourite toys. She may chew on the scarf, or their whiskers but will not bite into them and eat their stuffing.

By the way, 13th October 2010 is a date to remember  : )
Our Eva girl waved goodbye to her puppyhood and has officially become a "YOUNG LADY".
Yay!!!

Your opinions, please!!!

We're so happy that Mika is home this afternoon. 

He looked good and was happy to be home.

The vet did some x-rays before and after the surgery, the post x-rays showed the bones aren't touching each other anymore so I hope that means everything is fixed from now on.

After the first surgery, Mika was advised to have a good rest for at least two weeks and what we could do to him were to walk him slowly on lead and tried to encourage him to use the injured leg. For the rest of the time, he was confined and not much movement he could make. When we went back for check-ups, the vet said Mika's muscle has started shrinking and that's the start of swimming.

While the vet found out that Mika was still refusing to use the injured leg, it came to the second x-rays which led to the second surgery as you all have already known.

Now, here is the question and I need your precious opinions urgently :-

After the second op, instead of being advised to give Mika a few weeks of cage rest or anything else,  the vet said Mika should start swimming 2 or 3 days after he is home as his muscle has shrunk badly these days (I think it could be due to he refused to use his leg previously and the swimming came a bit late as well).

It's completely unlike what we were advised from the first surgery. The vet suggested us to use some gauze and big plasters to cover the wound when Mika has the swim; he should swim for about 10 to 15 minutes twice a day in the beginning and slowly extend the time to 30 minutes twice a day. He thinks it's the best way for him to exercise his leg. Besides, Mika has Vit B and other meds to strengthen the muscles too.

A friend advised me that I should CAGE rest Mika for the first 2-3 weeks, not allow to run around at all, toilet on the lead. Later on, I can let him stay in a bigger cage but I really have to confine him and do not let him run/jump for 6-8 weeks.

I'm lost at the moment.
I don't know whether I should start to let Mika swim just a few days after the op or keep him confined and no exercise for the next 2 months. What if he has good rest but the muscle shrinks??? What if...and what if...?

What should I do now???

Bad news

 on the way to the vet

Mika had his second x-rays this afternoon and the result wasn't what we wanted to hear at all!

It seems his femoral head wasn't completely removed during the surgery or somehow a little part of it is still touching the acetabulum. This causes the discomfort and pain and that's the reason why Mika refused to put the foot down all the time.

I did wonder whether anything wrong happened during the first surgery when the vet told us the results in the late evening. I don't know much about FHO (Femoral Head Removal) and  have no idea whether it's a very complicated and tricky surgery or not.

Oh, I'm so lost now!!!

The vet that we visit has been in his practice for more than 10 years and he is reputable in this neighbourhood. He showed his concern when he saw Mika refused to use his injured leg and offered the second x-rays immediately. He didn't charge us today and he also won't be charging us for the surgery. However, money isn't the issue here. We feel so sorry that Mika boy has to go through another surgery again within a very short period of time. Life isn't very fair to him lately!!!


Mika is scheduled to have his blood counts on Thursday and surgery on Saturday.

We pray that he can have a full recovery after this and no more surgery in his life again.

10 days later...

It's been 10 days since Mika's FHO surgery and I thought I'd keep you updated on his news.

As all of you know, only on the first two days after surgery he was quite weak. After that, he has increasingly become more and more active (i.e. digging), although he still lets Eva do the watchdog duty :)

I had hoped to snap picture one him one day when he had his attention on the neighbour's cat and he actually put his foot down (instead of always carrying it around)!!

Some of you may know or remember that Mika has something called dry eye disease. 

He's always had gross mucus coming out of his eye all the time because his eye was always too dry.

For 2 years, we have been to 2 vets who had prescribed some drops for him to clear it. Unfortunately, none of them had worked and the mucus kept coming. We thought this would be a lifelong thing until.....

He had his car accident!

We took him to the nearest vet by our house and guess what? The vet helped cure his eye too!

He said that due to the eye not producing enough tears, it invited bacteria in, and therefore caused the infection (and mucus).

After having some magic eye drops and creams, the mucus has rapidly disappeared!! Although there is already permanent blackening on his cornea, his eye is now clear!! It is a great relief to all of us too.

summer has gone by so fast...

It's time for Rosie to go back to school in the UK.

Mika here is going to miss her the most because she is his guardian angel.

Now for a Mika update...

He went to the vet today for a check-up. He was his usual all excited self, so happy to see the vet and his assistant. The vet said he is alright and is healing fine.

 Of course he's fine. This picture will prove it to you.

Who knew he could dig three-legged too!

I would also like to bring your attention to a little poem we found from our newfie friends, Leroy and Sherman. It is a beautiful poem and I would love to share it all with you. (I've also added it in my sidebar on the right so you can always read it :D)

My Dogs Live Here

My dogs live here, they're here to stay.

You don't like pets, be on your way. 

They share my home, my food, my space. 

This is their home, this is their place.

You will find dog hair on the floor, they will
alert you're at the door. They may request a
little pat, a simple 'no' will settle that.

It gripes me when I hear you say 'just how is
it you live this way? they smell, they shed, they're
in the way..' WHO ASKED YOU? is all I can say..

They love me more than anyone, my voice is like
the rising sun, they merely have to hear me say 'C'mon ,
time to go and play' then tails wag and faces grin,
they bounce and hop and make a din.

They never say 'no time for you', they're always there, to GO and DO.

And if I'm sad? They're by my side and if I'm mad?

they circle wide and if I laugh, they laugh with me

they understand, they always see.

So once again, I say to you come visit me, but know this too..

My dogs live here, they're here to stay.

You don't like pets, be on your way.

They share my home, my food,

my space this is their home,

this is their place..

~Author Unknown~

Mika

Mika seems to be in more discomfort now than he was before the surgery. 

His walking is slow and he is still learning to adjust his body weight. 

Good news is, he didn't bite his stitches out, but we still have to keep an eye on him. 

back home...

Mika came home today. A very clear difference from the last time is that now, he's much less happy. Guess he's in a lot of pain, probably more pain than before, but he's ok.
He's eating well and taking lots of tablets.


We have to confine him so he doesn't run around and we also have to make sure he doesn't take his stitches out, because he did at the vets' :S

We'll try to get a picture for you tomorrow. It's too dark to take any at the moment.

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes for his surgery :) I guess they worked.
 

Our little swimmer

We took Eva to a doggy gathering today at a restaurant. They had a swimming pool that was specially open for the dogs today. We didn't really expect to take Eva swimming, but somehow we did.

She's a natural born swimmer!! She was swimming the moment she hit the water - at first clumsy like an elephant, but then graceful like a ... sheltie?

Our little baby is swimming!

I wouldn't say she enjoyed the water because she would always try to get out, but she finally accepted it and swam around with Rosie.
It was good water therapy for her hind legs anyway.

Here's a video of them swimming.
Sorry about the weird color, it seems like the camera dial was moved accidentally so that it was videoing in a different color mode.

After swimming, a relaxing time in the restaurant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An update on Mika:
His surgery was successful. The vet called us last night to say that he was bleeding a bit more than usual, but still under the tolerance level. He is half bald now but when we went to visit him this morning, he was his usual happy self. Hopefully, if everything goes well, he'll be home tomorrow!

9 months old today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mika's blood cell count is good which means that he'll be having his FHO surgery tomorrow afternoon. 

Please keep your paws (and fingers) crossed for him!

Mika is home

 

Mika came home today, but unfortunately, it won't be for long!
You see, apparently, the ball can only go back into the socket if you try within 24 hours, or at the most, 48 hours. It's too late for us to try and push back the dislocated bone.

Our only other option (apart from hip replacement, of course) is FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy). That is where the femoral head is removed so that both bones are not connected. Some of our friends commented in our previous post telling us that they have known or owned dogs that have gone through FHO and came out ok - some even did agility after that!

Tomorrow, Mika will be going back to the vets to take a blood cell count to make sure he is healthy enough to have the surgery which will be on Saturday.

Mika is happy to be home and happy to be on three legs. He hasn't lost any of his naughtiness, which, for once, I'm happy to say is good. I'm so glad that he is so mentally strong and is such a tough boy! The morning after the accident, he was happily walking on three legs already when we thought he wouldn't even be able to walk! It just goes to show how tough some of these little guys are!! I think that I feel sorry for him more than he feels sorry for himself :)

Update on Mika

Thank you to all who were hoping that Mika pee-ed soon because this morning when we took him out, I swear, it lasted for at least 30 seconds! Your prayers worked!

His x-rays today showed that one leg is fine but the other dislocated leg cannot be fitted back into its socket.

This diagram on the left shows a normal hip where the ball is in the socket.

This is what Mika's hip looks like now

The vet hasn't been able to push the ball back into the socket.
One option is to get a second opinion and maybe try another vet to stick it in.
Another option is to remove the ball so that both bones are not connected.

However, he will still be limping.

The good news is that he can come home tomorrow!

He's such a tough boy and because we have to take him out to do his business, many cars have passed by him and he hasn't given them a second thought, which means that he isn't terrified of cars, considering he was hit by one... Which is great news.