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Raya Needs New Knees

  • Raya's Full Recovery

      16 July 2022
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    So despite the official recovery time being 8-12 weeks I would say Raya has mostly recovered in 6 weeks. Certainly recovered enough to go be pestered by her sister Roha while I'm in Aussie!

    She seems a lot happier and more confident about walking and going out - she hasn't fully stopped running away from the harness at walk time but she's improving. Obviously she's gutted that I've now folded up her pram and put it away until the next operation.

    I'm loosely planning for her next surgery to be in October. If you would like to help Raya have her new knees and can spare a little, please donate ❤️ Raya will pee on my flatmates' new duvet in gratitude.

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  • Raya in Recovery

      7 June 2022
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    We are now two weeks post-op and Raya is recovering spectacularly. In fact, she's quite certain she's completely healed and the biggest challenge now is making sure she doesn't overdo it.

    It's been a stressful at times, she had an allergic reaction to her Fentanyl patch, and had a few meltdowns about being confined in a pen that led to a few regressions in toilet training. I had a bit of a meltdown at that point as well...special thanks to Stella for bringing emergency puppy pads!

    She wasn't coping with the boredom of the pen so I focused on spending time cuddling and brushing her, and eventually I found a dog stroller online and bought it for her. She would rather be out running but she definitely enjoys the stimulation of new smells and new people and other dogs when I take her out, and she sleeps well when we get home.

    She's putting weight on the leg, and the vet has warned us to be careful with her on wooden floors. Apparently it's right about this time that the dog starts getting more confident that they overdo it and accidents happen.

    She's got a little ear infection - she's prone to them and I forgot to air out her ears while she had the cone on. They're tied back now to help them dry out completely. It doesn't bother her at all, and the tie can come off shortly.

    She has to go back for weekly injections for the next few weeks and continue with the cage rest.

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  • Poor Sad Little Chicken (Leg)

      25 May 2022
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    The first operation went smoothly and Raya is now home and ready to enter the recovery stage.

    While the vet could tell Raya had luxating patella prior to the surgery, it wasn't until she went in to operate she could tell the extent of the issue. She said that Raya had started to suffer some cartilage damage to her left knee already, and she has very little joint fluid which exacerbated the problem. Hopefully, with the repair done and a pin in place, and ongoing supplements to encourage fluid and cartilage production, the damage may be reversed but at least halted. She will suffer arthritis in the joint for the rest of her life.

    She was very woozy yesterday and didn't eat or toilet until after midday today. She's eaten her pain meds and antibiotics so that's the important thing.

    She needs to go back on Saturday for a check up and will need to return weekly for pain injections for the first month.

    She's woken up a bit today and is feeling very sorry for herself and is bored of her pen already, and is crying to let us know she wants out, but she's not allowed to walk around unless it's to toilet and even then she has to stay on the leash. Sorry Raya!

    I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for you kind donations. While it's not a life-threatening surgery, the vet said often people leave it for 3-5 years and a lot more damage is done in that time. If it weren't for this Givealittle page I'd have had to wait longer. Thanks to all of you her quality of life will now be much improved once she recovers, thank you all again.

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  • The Big Day!

      24 May 2022
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    Today's the day! Raya is having her first knee operation. She will be dopey for a few days after I pick her up this afternoon and recovery takes 6-12 weeks, but I will post updates.

    I just want to say thank you to everyone has donated, I feel incredibly privileged to have such a sweet pup who has made her way into so many hearts, and to know so many generous people. We have raised nearly $1000 which is a tremendous help - it's going to cover half this first operation!

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  • Surgery booked!

      26 April 2022

    Hi everyone,

    Raya's first knee operation has been booked in! It will be the 24th of May, so about a month away.

    Thanks to all her generous donors we now have $600 which is a great kickstart to paying for it. It will be between $1700-$2200 for this first leg, and then when she has fully recovered we will schedule the next knee.

    I've also created a video on the page, so check it out!

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  • #onfridayswewearorange

      15 April 2022
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    Raya wearing her orange bandana in support of the DHB Allied workers in their negotiations.

    The page has now been moderated, and Raya and I want to thank everyone who has so generously donated over the past couple of weeks. It's been amazing to see what a broad array of people have been touched by Raya's sweet nature and chipped in.

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