Mollydoodle

We visited the vet this morning for a checkup on Molly's leg. As most of you will know, Molly had a second cruciate ligament surgery last December and then early January had stem cell injections into the joint. As part of the stem cell procedure we have checkups and fill in questionnaires regarding Molly's improvements. The questionnaires assist the stem cell company with research.

Well, the vet was very pleased with her. She even thinks the joint itself has reduced in size, which I was wondering the other day. Her knee was very large, or thick, as the vet put it. She felt sure it had reduced in size, which is good.

She told me today that Molly was in fact the first pooch to have the treatment at the vet and since her, they have treated 3 other dogs. You can see in the last image (above) when she sits, or begs, her leg (on the right) does sit out. She is unable to bend it like the other one, but it doesn't seem to bother her too much.

So, all in all that's pretty good news. We go back in 2 months for another check up and assuming the stem cells are doing their thing, the knee should continue to show some improvement for the next few months.

Do you know they are beginning to do this treatment in humans? Who has their hand up?

So, that's a pretty good start to the week, so is selling some of my goodies on Etsy last night. It's always nice to wrap up a parcel and send it off to its new owner.

Have a great week!

xx

Molly update

Look at that face. I thought I had better update Molly after her procedure last Friday.

When we picked her up she was very sore, hopping along on 3 legs. I wasn't expecting to see that and I think even the nurse was a little surprised. In fact, after we left she emailed the vet for some advice. The vet suggested we get some painkillers into her if it persisted. So, when the vet nurse rang on Saturday to see how she was, she suggested I pop up for those painkillers. I did.

So she is taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and painkillers for the next few days. She is walking okay but we won't expect to see improvement for a week or so. Apparently, if it works, it continues to work up until about 6 months time and then the effect plateaus off. Assuming it works it should provide relief for years.

It's still early days for this treatment in Australia and as part of the procedure I am expected by the manufacturer of the stem cells to fill in questionnaires about Molly's progress.

Do you know the cells come from the fat of Seeing Eye Dogs? They are a good candidate as their breeding, upbringing  and care are very controlled. The stem cell treatment is about 85% successful.
I hope Molly is one of the successful ones.
xx

Friday furries...off to the vet

We are off to the vet again today. Molly is having her stem cell injections into her knee.

We hope that is helps rejuvenate the joint that has quite a bit of arthritis it seems.

Cross fingers!

I am about to drop Molly off and will collect her after work. She will have a light general anaesthetic in order to get the injection in just the right spot and this will also give the vet a chance to see how well the ligament implant is holding up from the last operation back in December.

I am being a brave parent today and am confident there will be no tears when I drop her off. I am feeling quite positive about it all.

Yay for Friday. This week has seemed the slowest on record, but having said that, can you believe it's February already? Scary.

Have a good weekend folks :)

xx

Molly update

As many of you will know, Molly had a second lot of surgery on her knee last Friday.

She has been doing well, and so far, so good with keeping the stitches in (unlike last time).

We have kept a very close eye on her. She is either locked in the lounge if we are about, or shut in the bedroom with a cone around her neck (we refer to it as her party hat). She hates it.

She is on painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Why is it I get the job of administering it all to her?

We go back in around 8-10 days to get the stitches out and to have a look at how we are progressing.

All being well, we are booking her in for stem cell therapy on the joint in the new year. Stem cells are injected into the joint and this really aids healing and the growth of the good stuff in joints. As it was, when she had the surgery the vet discovered a lot of bad calcium growth, which was probably causing a good part of the pain. We would like to avoid that happening again and I think this stem cell therapy could really help.

There you have it! Thank you all for your well wishes. I really do pass on hugs that are 'virtually' sent over the net :)

xx

Friday Furries

It's finally Friday! This week has seemed slow to me, despite being super busy organising an event at work this weekend. I just had to share the above image of Molly and I that was printed in our local rag yesterday, promoting a doggy event. It's nice to have my girl immortalised. She was a bit of a temperamental model, to say the least!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Many Aussies will be glued to the box tomorrow watching the football grand final. I'm not into footy at all I'm afraid (I know, I know), but will be joining in on some birthday/footy celebrations with friends. Have a good one!

xx

ps, I'm doing a Bits and bobs post on Monday - a 'red' theme :)

The Destructathon

Molly thanks you all for your sweet birthday wishes in the last post. She had an exciting time, though the weather was too horrible for a fun outing (plus I was stuck at work all weekend). She had some more pressies to open yesterday and I fear we have created a monster as the first thing she did this morning was go looking for more pressies!

We often refer to the little girl as our "Destructathon". She is just so good at wrecking her toys. She rarely ever keeps any of them in one piece. Lyn's parents brought her around the pink pig and Molly set about destructing it. At least she has a nice time!

Have a great week friends!

xx

Birthday girl!

 

Hip hip hooray, it's Molly's birthday! Our little girl is 8 years old today.

 

I took these pics yesterday. Last night I wrapped some pressies for her and she was onto me, sniffing them out. She's a super smart girl.

 

 

This morning when she got up she knew it was pressie time. I have never known an animal to love unwrapping pressies so much!

 

 

I made a very dodgy video of the unwrapping.

 

 

What a cute girl!

 

 

I love her fuzzy butt.

xx

ps are any of you experiencing problems with uploading pics? I am finding it almost impossible!

Friday Furries

Don't you just love the look on her face?

I took this just after I got Molly into the bath the other day. She had been a bit grotty and rather on the nose so I thought with a guest coming to stay this weekend that a bath was in order.

What do you think she is saying?

"Oh Mum, I was just starting to smell good, why do you want to make me all clean again?"

I love those eyes.

Normally she is happy to get in the bath, but she wasn't in the mood the other day. How are your pets to bathe? A dream or nightmare?

Happy Friday to you all friends. I have the day off today which is great. A friend who I haven't seen in about 16 years is coming to stay for the weekend. We plan on doing a bit of sightseeing so hopefully I'll have some pics to show you next week.

Have a lovely one!

xx

The spoilt one

Molly sits up in the car like the Queen of England. All she needs is a nice hat and matching handbag.

This is her recently waiting at the traffic lights on her way to be dropped off at Gran and Pops for a day of babysitting. We often see people chuckling at her whilst driving along, she looks a bit of a sight in my tiny red car.

Cosy on the couch

Her fur is starting to cover her leg again after her surgery. It was about 3 months ago now. I'm not seeing the degree of improvement that I would like to so I'm not feeling super positive about the surgery's success.

I suppose it takes footballers a long time to recover so maybe I'm jumping the gun.

I might take back to the vet in a month or so to see what they think.

In Lyn's chair. Bit of a squeeze.

As you can see, she is very content. Who wouldn't be with a big cosy, woodfire heated 'kennel' and servants (Lyn and myself) meeting your every demand?

Have a lovely week. It looks like being grey and dismal here in Hobart all week. If only I didn't need to go outside and strip paint off that darn window as well as getting some garden bed preparation done. I'd prefer to be inside in front of the fire with the furry one :)

xx

Molly update

Firstly, if you are not good with pictures of stitches, look away now :)

After her surgery on Friday just gone, Molly is doing pretty well.

Look at that big shaved leg! I have to admit I was rather shocked when I saw the massive amount of fur they shaved off. They left her fuzzy from the ankle down, so she looks like a bit of a punk dog. Her fur doesn't grow very quickly (she has never been clipped, unlike many doodles) so I suspect it will take quite a few months to look normal again.

During surgery they took a sinewy bit from her thigh and attached it over her anterior cruciate ligament (acl). The scar is about 6 inches long and she has 16 stitches.

Keeping her as immobile as possible is no easy feat, as is administering her antibiotics (they're huge) and anti-inflammatories. I have to camouflage them in pieces of kabana.

We are trying to limit her movement and have to avoid her jumping on the sofas and bed. One of her favourite spots is the kitchen sofa under the bay window. As we have no kitchen door I have borrowed a baby gate to keep her out. It's working well. We just have to remember to shut the bedroom door as well.

As you can see she has a shaved patch on her chest as well. She had a funny lump there for quite some time and the vet decided to remove it whilst she was under anaesthetic. So, another long scar and 14 stitches. Poor bubby! She is pretty bored so I'm giving her lots of pats and regular treats.

We go back in two weeks for stitch removal and then hopefully can start to slowly increase activity. At the moment she's on the leash to go out to the loo as we can't have her undo all the work by chasing a bird or the postman along the fence as she usually enjoys.

It will all be worth it if she can run like she used to :)

xx

Goodbye little Charlie - our faithful friend

Bit of a sad day for our family last Friday when little Charlie went to the big happy doggy play park in the sky.

Charlie had been with us for 17 and a half years. Gosh I love that photo above.

Such a beautiful, smart little guy.

This photo of him was taken up Mt Wellington. A group of Japanese tourists all wanted their photo taken with him as he looked so cute. Gosh it was a funny scene.

Here he is with me on my birthday almost 2 years ago.

There is no beating the companionship and friendship that a dog gives you.

I'll miss him a lot.

xx

ps on the subject of furry kids, I took Molly to the vet yesterday as there was no improvement in her tummy upset. She was not happy with me AT ALL. She now has antibiotics and I'm hoping she improves soon. The irony is not lost on me that a change in menu to see if she likes a slightly more economical food has ended up costing me $100 so far. But, what can you do?

A message from Molly

Hello friends of Molly's Maison, it's Molly here!

 Mumma was telling me yesterday about the terrible floods and how she saw on the internet that the RSPCA in Fairfield, Queensland was devastated.

Luckily they managed to get all the animals to safety (even those pesky cats) but they will need a lot of help to get back to normal.

Mumma told me the RSPCA is exempt from disaster relief funds offered to other charities that assist human needs and so they need all the help they can get, so they can start taking care of all those animals again.

Mumma told me she sent off a donation to them and that might mean me going without my favourite bones for a few weeks. Ha! I don't think so!

I think Mumma should go without her glasses of wine for a while instead. I need my bones Mumma!

Here is the link where you can help if you are able.

Woof woof!!

xx

ps didn't Mumma take a cute pic of me?

pics: the first one taken by sarah, the rest from the RSPCA Qld. website

Our little girl - puppy pics

While sorting through some boxes today I was very very pleased to discover a disc with these baby pics of Molly. We thought they'd been lost when the computer died a while ago.

Look how small she was!

Not to mention cute!

This is her first bath. It doesn't look like it but she loves a bath. As soon as you start pouring the water she is ready to get in. She is very patient and calm during her bath, but as soon as she's out she likes to tear around the house, wet paw pints everywhere.

So cute! I couldn't possibly love her any more than I do. She is the BEST!

xx

Our little girl

Look at those eyes. She is so adorable!

Yesterday I made her a delectable Canine Stew and whilst it completely stunk out the house and had me trying very hard not to gag every time I stirred it, she was begging for more! I can't for the life of me remember where I found it but it was on someones lovely blog. Please let me know if it was you.
Yay, a Melbourne Girl left a message and here is the link for the stew :)
(maybe use normal non-pet mince if you don't want to stink out the kitchen)

A couple of things....

I have been so incredibly blown away by the wonderfully positive comments about my dresses. Thank you all so much, you are toooo kind! It has been very inspiring :)

A big thanks to the lovely Amanda from Small Acorns who passed on the Sunshine Award to me today. As soon as I can think of some interesting things about myself I will post them. Hey, maybe instead of interesting things about me, maybe I could dig out a few more things made by me? We'll see. Thanks so much Amanda - I just love her blog, not to mention her shop in Wellington :)

Photo number 6

The lovely Amanda from Homely One tagged me in the 6th photo bloggy game. I am supposed to go back and re-post my 6th ever photo again and then remember the moment.

Well, will tredipation I looked back, almost a year ago to discover it was the time when we started on our first major project, our lounge room. As you will see from the post, the room was uninhabitable thanks to the putrid state of it (which doesn't come up in pics). If you had a sniffing capability on you computer right now - you'd turn it off! It had been used as a toilet by a couple of small dogs prior to our purchase. Ugghhh!! The carpet was still wet and we ripped it up within half an hour of getting the keys on settlement day.
You can read the post here.

Man of the house and all-round master of the tools Lyndon took to the room with a vengeance! The only thing I think that would have improved this image above would be the addition of a tool belt - but then that's a whole other story...

What a mess it was...

Here is the room now...

As you can see Lyn jack hammered out the concrete, fitted new floorboards in the gaps, built in a new fireplace, installed the heater, removed old lights and power points and installed new ones. We had the floors polished and fancy cornice installed.We restored the windows, installed new skirting and picture rail that I sketched off the original and had made up. Finally we painted ( I fell off the ladder and knocked myself out!) and moved on in!
We both really love the room and it reminds us of what we will hopefully be able to do to the rest of Molly's Maison over time.
PS, here's a pic of our little furry helper. She discovered old bones under the floor which she ate and then vomited during the middle of the night! Yuck!

Have a nice weekend!

Buns galore

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday cooking Hot Cross Buns. The results are quite good though I think they could have done with a little more spice. Quite nice toasted for breakie with a nice cuppa.

Molly kept herself very busy on the couch in the kitchen while I cooked. Look at that belly! If I had a dollar for every time I had to straighten those throws and cushions thanks to Molly I would be a rich girl.
Enjoy your weekend!

A dog's life

Life is great when you are lucky enough to be Molly.

We've just come back from a visit to dog's beach at Kingston. Molly loves the beach with a passion and so Lyn and I have a good time watching and laughing at her. My car is full of sand now but at least Molly had a great time and we all cooled off a little.

She is now pooped and very content....