Our beautiful girl Boofa had her 7th operation

Update 08/02/2025

Boofa had her 7th operation at SASH in Adelaide last August.

Doctor Ryan is a top hip specialist and Dr Ryan and his team of mentors from all around the world came up with a plan for Boofas best outcome.

Dr Ryan remove all the infection also a toggle the last vet left inside her

(after 6 surgery’s)

Dr Ryan packed the whole area with calcium beads and antibiotics including inside Boofas femur.

Boofa healed very fast however unfortunately Boofa keeps getting infections on her scar and is on round 4 of antibiotics. The good thing is it’s not that terrible infection she had previously.

i am taking Boofa back to SASH in Adelaide on 19th February to see what Dr Ryan suggests.

I am reaching out again as I still owe SASH over $5,000 for her operation and I had Boofa at Stawell vet last Thursday and it cost over $500 including antibiotics.

i am on a carers pension however I pay $300 per fortnight to SASH and other bills and I am going backwards

I am going to engage with a solicitor regarding the first vet and the breeder However Boofa must come first and all my attention is for her to help get her through this pain free and be able to be a dog and enjoy life.

i spoke to Stawell vet asking if I am being cruel putting her through all of this and the hardest question I asked was should I put her to rest?

That was tough however Stawell vet told me no way, she is eating, does zoomies every day and in general is happy, much to my relief!

Any help, even $5.00 would help me pay for Boofas next visit to SASH and maybe help pay some on her outstanding bill.

I still owe the other vet near $8,000 however I am paying $1.00 per fortnight until I engage with a solicitor.

I am very embarrassed to ask for help however Boofa is my world, I picked her up at 8 weeks of age, just over 2 weeks after my mum passed and she has been my rock

i feel I need to give her the best life possible, pain free and enjoy doggy life.

I’ve sold my car and now selling my house to help.

i intend on moving to Coronet Bay near the beach so i can build Boofas muscle in her left leg as she has no hip.

thank you from the bottom of my heart

Vikki ❤️

Hi, my name is Vikki and I’m fundraising for my beautiful St Bernard Boofa.

It’s a sad story, I bought Boofa from a registered dog breeder and did lots of research to try and ensure I was buying her from a reputable breeder. When I picked Boofa up at 10 weeks old I bonded immediately with her. She was a very happy puppy and everything was great. At around 6 months of age my father noticed her back legs looked lame. We took Boofa to our local vet who referred us to Southpaws Veterinary Specialist in Mornington. They did X-rays and we found out she has hip dysplasia, both sides. This was a big shock, all I desired to do was to make sure Boofa wasn’t in pain. After several meetings with Southpaws we decided to operate on Boofas right hip and put a new rod and ball implant in. Things went well however after ten days her hip popped out. I drove 6 hours to Southpaws and they anaesthetised her and tried to manipulate it back in which didn’t work. Boofa then had to be anaesthetised again to surgically put the rod back into the ball joint. We went home then 3 weeks later it happened again.

Southpaws decided to buy a custom hip implant for Boofa from USA in hope that we wouldn’t have the same problem. Boofa stayed 3 weeks at Southpaws until the hip implant was shipped from USA then had another total hip replacement on her right hip again. Unfortunately this didn’t work either, one week later her hip popped out again. This was such a devastating time for Boofa and all of us. Southpaws decided to remove implant and I bought her home. During these surgeries Boofa developed a very bad infection where her surgeries were on her leg and was on very expensive antibiotics. Poor Boofas leg was just hanging and dangling, it was horrific.

Boofa is now 2 years old and 3 weeks ago we found out she has the same infection in her leg again. Boofa has finished her second round of very expensive antibiotics and the wound isn’t healing. Southpaws told me that the last operation when they took the implant out, they had to put wire in there to help secure her hip and leg, Southpaws think the wire is causing the bad infection. Boofa has had 4 operations on her right hip and now has to have a 5th operation to remove the wire in hope that that is the cause of the infection.

i had pet insurance however I canceled it about 5 months ago as they would not cover hip dysplasia.

I have never done a Gofund me page however I am in a position where I have spent all savings, 

I have sold items and now selling my car to help pay my vet bill.

I have spent over $30,000 and I don’t care how much it costs as Boofa means the world to me. I just desire to give her a happy, healthy pain free life.

Unfortunately I have to reach out to the community to seek help for my beautiful Boofa.

I know times are tough for everyone, any amount will help to hopefully have her last operation on her right hip to remove wire that is causing the bad infection.

I ask you to please help and thank you for reading Boofas story.

Lets help Boofa live a pain free life.

Thank you

Please share - Thank you ❤️