“John… something’s happened to Freddy…” My wife had returned from the beach with him after only about 10 minutes. And there it was… his left hind leg… he couldn’t put it down. And so it began…
Freddy lived for his beach trips. He is a very fit, agile, five year-old Australian Cobberdog. At the beach we would throw or fling his ball. he would sprint after it and sometimes if it bounced he would jump for it. It was his joy. It was our joy to see him so happy. And the joy of plenty of others.
A few months before he was five we noticed he seemed a bit sore in that leg after beach visits. So we decreased the intensity and frequency… taking him for more walks and much fewer beach trips. He always recovered from this soreness within 24 hours.
We went on holiday for a fortnight and left him with his carer and their, also 5 year old, male Groodle. We imagine they romped together a lot of the time.
We returned. The day after, my wife took him to the beach… a visit cut short…
“It seems like a ruptured cruciate ligament to me.” Our local vet saw him the very next morning. Not what we wanted to hear. We had hoped for ‘a sprain’. “Given his activity levels it is basically a sports injury.” “We recommend SASH.”
We got to see the very experienced Dr. John Culvenor at SASH Central Coast (Tuggerah) who confirmed our vet’s diagnosis. He was booked in.
The surgery went well. He is on the mend. We found ourselves on a ‘steep learning curve’ regarding his rehab… a learning curve we nearly slipped off on occasions.
We know it’s going to be a long process. The compromises are immense. But worth it.
We would like to thank the staff there for their care and professionalism. We are fortunate to have a SASH hospital on the Central Coast.
– Central Coast NSW
