Polar continues to behave like a naughty teenager! 1 year old this month and still collecting asbos every day and showing no evidence of any feeling of pain in his damaged hind leg.
Thank you to everyone who has contacted me with information about their experiences with handicapped dogs and with specialist orthopaedic veterinary practices, a couple of whom I have followed up.
The general consensus between the specialist vets we have consulted is that Polar’s problem could possibly be genetic. The latest x-ray confirms that the tendons which operate the leg and kneecap have slipped out of the groove in the head of the femur and are to the side, something which happened when he was very small. We know that the hunter did nothing about his disabled hind leg before dumping him at 2 months old at Pepis Dog Refuge, from where we adopted him shortly afterwards. (They have over a dozen galgos waiting for forever homes at the moment)
As you have seen from the videos of Polar at play with his buddy Bracken, his leg does not cause him any problems. Here’s another video of him this week, playing with a couple of his ‘expensive’ toys in the house. He never shows any sign of feeling pain and behaves as though he has no handicap.
Knee replacement surgery is extremely expensive – quote of between £8-£10,000 with no guarantee it will improve the leg movement and, in the meantime, Polar will not be able to run around and play.
We know that arthritis will attack the joint, so Polar is on special supplements and food to deal with this. If at some time in the future he shows that his leg is becoming painful, we will deal with the situation then.
Thank you to everyone who has offered information and shared experience of living with a handicapped dog. Your help has been invaluable. And thank you for taking such an interest in him.
Naughty as he is, he’s adorable!
Here are a couple of very short videos of him at Puppy School – short because I forgot to charge up my tablet before we went!
French puppy school 2 (this was recall run free)
A photo of his hind leg and some photos of him with his buddies Bracken, Carmela and tiny podenca Bebe doing what galgos and podencos do best – sleeping – especially in front of the woodburner!
Comments
2 responses to “Galgo puppy Polar’s diary – update”
polo looks content so go with the flow beryl thats all you can do while he is happy there isnt a problem great pics the cost pff its a tough one is that and maybe no joy at the end of it
He is lovely Beryl and almost grown up now! His leg doesn’t seem to be bothering him unduly. I am glad that he isn’t suffering with it.