Cobber

Hi, I'm Kirsty and I'm Cobber's (very worried) mum. I didn't even think about crowd funding but multiple people have now suggested I make one, so here we are.

As some of you know, Cobber has become increasingly reactive over the last few months and I couldn't figure out why. We've been working with Nikki from Kent Canine Academy for a few weeks, and she wondered whether pain was his trigger, after she noticed a couple of weeks ago that Cobber wasn't walking well. Nikki took a video and sent it to Laura, the physio, who took one look and told Nikki that Cobber has some serious problems with his hips and needs X rays.

We saw Nikos at Dafne Veterinary Hospital a week ago today, who did all the physical checks for hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament, and found nothing to worry about. He agreed to X ray purely because Cobber's brother is also having problems with his back leg.

We got the X rays done yesterday. Cobber has bi-lateral hip dysplasia. About 40% of the femoral head should be in the hip socket... Cobber has 5%. The left hip is worse, but he will need both hips replacing, probably within a year.

His left hip being worse has caused him to walk strangely, which has put pressure on his right side, and the cranial cruciate ligament in his knee is only holding on by 5-10% and could snap at any moment.

The problem is, whatever Nikos fixes will put extra pressure on the other side, and the risks of something else giving up before one thing is fully healed, are high. If that happens, the operation success rate lowers dramatically.

Plus, Cobber's insured for £10,000 per year. If a knee and a hip go at the same time, it's not going to cover much of the cost of surgery/treatment that he'll need. Not to mention that hip surgery will need to be done at Fitzpatricks, which is, as you can imagine, certainly not cheap. As Nikos said, this is a situation where you get what you pay for.

I was given the option to euthanise, which damn near broke my heart, or to try surgery and see how we go. I've decided to try. I didn't get the chance to try to save Trigger, so I'm going to do all I can for Cobber and just hope that it's best case scenario all the way through.

We have a lot of stress to come, Cobber's not allowed out for a walk until his right knee is fixed, and is going to be on crate rest for at least 2 months after the operation. It's going to be hard on us all, but I'm hopeful, so hopeful, that we'll get there and he'll have over half his life left to be pain-free and playing.

Any good vibes, healing energy, prayers, however you work and whatever your beliefs, will be gratefully received over the foreseeable future. Cobber's first surgery, to repair the right cranial cruciate ligament, is in less than two weeks...