03-22-2024, 09:23 AM
Hi there,
I'd like to tell you my dogs story.
I am from England, UK. I have been married for 32 years and during that time we have had the honor of having 7 dogs, 5 past and 2 present.
All of our dogs have been amazing. I am disabled with mobility and mental health issues, my husband is my full time carer.
A of our dogs have always been a mental support, keeping me smiling even on my dark days.
Both dogs we have now were rescued, Willow was on the streets of Poland and Oreo was dumped with her litter in North Macedonia, she was also the runt.
This story is about Oreo. I apologise, It's quite long, but please stick with it.
Oreo is a Sarplaninac, a guardian breed, used to protect livestock from bears and wolves in her home country.
Her entire litter was dumped when they were just a few weeks old because they were crossed with an unknown breed and were all much smaller than they needed to be to do their job. Oreo was the smallest.
A charity organisation in North Macedonia took them all in with the hope of finding them homes anywhere in Europe. Unfortunately they were housed in kennels which is not ideal for puppies to grow up in. Oreo was there for 4 months when we managed to adopt her when she was 5 months old.
On October 5th 2021, we had this crazy little goofball arrive. She was so sweet, her fur was so soft and her colouring just beautiful.
We introduced her to Willow, our other rescue dog who had been with us since January the same year
and they immediately got along and being close in age they're like sisters.
Things were going great since then, both dogs have amazing personalities and their own little quirks.
Willow likes to gently take one of our hands or a sleeve in her mouth, then lead us to her bed telling us she wants a fuss.
Oreo takes the biscuit (pun intended), she 'smiles' when she excited or happy to see us. She wrinkles her snout and lifts her lips both sides and its the cutest thing ever. She also became a master digger, to the extent our back garden looked liked we had an infestation of gophers. Some of the holes were so deep, Oreo could lay down in it and we couldn't see her. My husband got so tired of filling the holes in, he ended up landscaping it all with slate chips which has stopped her digging, thankfully.
As I said things were great. Until two months ago.
In January, the dogs went on a long walk to a field for a runaround. When they got home, Oreo was limping so we thought she must have over done it at the field and the next day she seemed better.
The following week they went back to the field and again Oreo was limping even before she got home so she went straight to the vet.
The vet examined her and she yelped when he manipulated her right leg backwards at the hip. h
He recommended her have an x-ray to see what was going on, but she would also need to be sedated to make sure she laid still.
An appointment was made for the following week and in the meantime she was prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain relief medication.
After the x-ray we spoke to the vet for the results, his exact words were 'her hips are horrible'.
Her hip sockets too shallow so the ball joint doesn't sit in them properly.
The vet told us that she will need to be referred to a specialist orthopaedic consultant as the only thing that is going to help her is a double hip replacement.
We have pet insurance.
Oreo's policy covers up to £4K for each condition, per year. I thought this would be more than enough cover for any ailments or scrape's a two year old dog might encounter.
We have already used over £1K of the policy for the x-ray.
The cost for the surgery will be £13K.
To say we were floored is an understatement, but she needs this surgery so she can walk properly and play like any other young dog.
We are saving every penny we can and we have sold several personal belongings.
I have contacted several UK charities that offer low cost vet care but they cannot help with this as the surgery is too specialised.
On the website of the specialist Oreo has been referred to, they suggested setting up a crowdfunding page to raise funds for the costs as they do not offer a payment plan.
I have a Gofundme page set up which I am constantly sharing on multiple social media platforms.
In accordance to this forums rules, I have not added the link to the fundraiser.
If anyone of you wonderful people reading this can help me in anyway it would be deeply appreciated.
Again in keeping with forum rules any donations will need to be made directly to the veterinary hospital who is doing the surgery.
Her surgery is booked for 1st May 2024.
Further details are available via direct message.
Also if you wish to ask me anything, anything at all please do not hesitate to reply to this post or again, send me a direct message.
Thank you all who took the time to read this post.
I'd like to tell you my dogs story.
I am from England, UK. I have been married for 32 years and during that time we have had the honor of having 7 dogs, 5 past and 2 present.
All of our dogs have been amazing. I am disabled with mobility and mental health issues, my husband is my full time carer.
A of our dogs have always been a mental support, keeping me smiling even on my dark days.
Both dogs we have now were rescued, Willow was on the streets of Poland and Oreo was dumped with her litter in North Macedonia, she was also the runt.
This story is about Oreo. I apologise, It's quite long, but please stick with it.
Oreo is a Sarplaninac, a guardian breed, used to protect livestock from bears and wolves in her home country.
Her entire litter was dumped when they were just a few weeks old because they were crossed with an unknown breed and were all much smaller than they needed to be to do their job. Oreo was the smallest.
A charity organisation in North Macedonia took them all in with the hope of finding them homes anywhere in Europe. Unfortunately they were housed in kennels which is not ideal for puppies to grow up in. Oreo was there for 4 months when we managed to adopt her when she was 5 months old.
On October 5th 2021, we had this crazy little goofball arrive. She was so sweet, her fur was so soft and her colouring just beautiful.
We introduced her to Willow, our other rescue dog who had been with us since January the same year
and they immediately got along and being close in age they're like sisters.
Things were going great since then, both dogs have amazing personalities and their own little quirks.
Willow likes to gently take one of our hands or a sleeve in her mouth, then lead us to her bed telling us she wants a fuss.
Oreo takes the biscuit (pun intended), she 'smiles' when she excited or happy to see us. She wrinkles her snout and lifts her lips both sides and its the cutest thing ever. She also became a master digger, to the extent our back garden looked liked we had an infestation of gophers. Some of the holes were so deep, Oreo could lay down in it and we couldn't see her. My husband got so tired of filling the holes in, he ended up landscaping it all with slate chips which has stopped her digging, thankfully.
As I said things were great. Until two months ago.
In January, the dogs went on a long walk to a field for a runaround. When they got home, Oreo was limping so we thought she must have over done it at the field and the next day she seemed better.
The following week they went back to the field and again Oreo was limping even before she got home so she went straight to the vet.
The vet examined her and she yelped when he manipulated her right leg backwards at the hip. h
He recommended her have an x-ray to see what was going on, but she would also need to be sedated to make sure she laid still.
An appointment was made for the following week and in the meantime she was prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain relief medication.
After the x-ray we spoke to the vet for the results, his exact words were 'her hips are horrible'.
Her hip sockets too shallow so the ball joint doesn't sit in them properly.
The vet told us that she will need to be referred to a specialist orthopaedic consultant as the only thing that is going to help her is a double hip replacement.
We have pet insurance.
Oreo's policy covers up to £4K for each condition, per year. I thought this would be more than enough cover for any ailments or scrape's a two year old dog might encounter.
We have already used over £1K of the policy for the x-ray.
The cost for the surgery will be £13K.
To say we were floored is an understatement, but she needs this surgery so she can walk properly and play like any other young dog.
We are saving every penny we can and we have sold several personal belongings.
I have contacted several UK charities that offer low cost vet care but they cannot help with this as the surgery is too specialised.
On the website of the specialist Oreo has been referred to, they suggested setting up a crowdfunding page to raise funds for the costs as they do not offer a payment plan.
I have a Gofundme page set up which I am constantly sharing on multiple social media platforms.
In accordance to this forums rules, I have not added the link to the fundraiser.
If anyone of you wonderful people reading this can help me in anyway it would be deeply appreciated.
Again in keeping with forum rules any donations will need to be made directly to the veterinary hospital who is doing the surgery.
Her surgery is booked for 1st May 2024.
Further details are available via direct message.
Also if you wish to ask me anything, anything at all please do not hesitate to reply to this post or again, send me a direct message.
Thank you all who took the time to read this post.