Halo

Halo is doing great! We had an issue back in July when she started limping a bit on her right foot and when she would wake up it would really be stiff and difficult for her to walk on for a bit until it loosened up. We had the vet check her out and xray it and he didn't see anything broken and thought it would get better. When it didn't, we discussed it again with the vet and after relooking at the xray, he saw that the growth plate in the lower part of her leg was not showing up like it should. I had gone closed already. One bone in her leg was growing still while the other wasn't and thus it was interfering with her shoulder joint as well because the bones were not growing at the same time/rate. Our vet does not do the type of surgery required to fix this problem (seemingly not uncommon with a bassett type dog, as we have decided that she must be because of her short leg, buff chest type stature....see pictures). He called a vet at K State animal hospital and we took her there for them to look at. That vet said he has done many of these surgeries on this short stature dog and he did the surgery for her in August. She has done well and is now fully recovered and has no ill effects or ongoing problems since then. They take out a piece of the bone that is not growing to allow the one that is growing to go ahead and grow without being impeded by the other one. They then take a little fat from her belly and put in her leg to impede the bone from growing back together so quickly until the other has grown as much as it will. We had to keep her from running or jumping off of anything for about 6 weeks and use a leash on her everywhere so she didn't get crazy. She sleeps with us, so we had a leash on her then too so she wouldn't jump off the bed and us not know it. I slept like I did when my kids were babies, every little deep breath or sigh I was instantly awake. Kind of like sleeping with one eye open. Glad that is over. She runs and jumps and plays and loves like crazy. The surgery was not cheap, about $1,000 and there was never a thought about what to do. I just want you all to know that she is in a good home and we love her very much! She is so wonderful, I don't have the words to express how much she means to us. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I will send updates every now and then. Hope the other puppies are doing well as they all near their 1st birthday!