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Thanx everyone, she is just too adorable and so typical Rottweiler.
She puts both the bassets in their place at the same time. One moment she's a sweet whimpering puppy and the next moment she turns into a tigress of note.

If bad things happen to my pets I tend to fall into months long depression and my son just thought, 'oly cow not again!..... and here she is, the perfect diversion.

MM, I know that feeling... those eyes....

She is beautiful, JenB.

Hi JenB!

She is just adorable . I can see in her eyes that mum will have her hands full with this little one . Enjoy your new baby .

Absolutely beautiful, Jen! Animals are magnificent!

As some of you know, we have a two-year old labrador/beagle/whatever cross called Calico. At the moment she is just two years old, but this week sadly has been diagnosed with a low-grade, but painful, hip displasia. We noticed about six months ago how, after a sprint in the local botanical gardens, she would show a slight stiffness in the rear joints, but it seemed natural based on her crazy wish to chase birds, bicycles, and retrieve her ball for extended periods. She always looked like a cheetah when in full flight, supremely fit, and so we thought that is how she will be for many years to come.

However, in late December, she found guinea fowl in a tree and was leaping skyward for several minutes in an attempt to dethrone their positions. After that, we noticed that she seemed to be in pain. It came and went depending on her rest periods and how much she ran at the park. For the last two months, though, she has been in such pain that she has barely been able to walk after a run, dragging her hindquarters along the ground for several hours and hobbling for days on end.

We found a fantastic vet - one who was indeed born to do veterinary science - and he has given a good prognosis for her, with changes to her mad-rushing lifestyle that need to be encouraged of course. We are trying meds at the moment to alleviate her pain and once the right combination is found, she should live a relatively pain-free life, for at least another decade. He says that he has seen this condition before in young dogs, and that it is hereditary, but is not always a well-understood phenomenon amongst the veterinary community. However, he is confident that she will enter a 'honeymoon phase' which should see her condition improve for many years to come. She is such a loyal, loving dog, and intense animal love can never be ignored or substituted! They truly are one of GOD's amazing creations, and we have to do whatever we can to maintain the mutual love we share.

OWN, our late beloved German Shepherd whom I bought as a puppy (against all sense from a pet shop with no history!) was also diagnosed very young with the condition. We did have to curtail her more strenuous physical exercise but she didn't seem to mind and for the best part of her life she did not need continuous medication. The discomfort would come and go; as she got older we would medicate when the discomfort was noticeable.
The condition is manageable and it sounds like you have a great vet so I think you can be positive about her future.

On our own pet front; Saffie the newly adopted dog (by default) has settled in really well and is now able to be left with my other three dogs unsupervised while we are away from home.

@MM: my SO and kids pegged me for the 'crazy dog lady' some time ago (I was always eccentric)

OWN, I am so sorry to hear about Calico. I have always enjoyed her exuberant and playful nature. I am pleased that you have found a vet who has given you so much hope.

A big to Callie.

I'm so glad you found a good Vet Onewithnature! What would we do without them? We are very lucky to have a fantastic Vet as well! I sincerely hope Calico will continue a pain free life for many years to come!

My eldest Pekingese is struggling to walk properly (from old age) and is taking medicine for the past 3 years to ease his pain (will be 14 in June), and took his pills without any problem every day. But lately he doesn't seem to want them any more, and I saw that he walked the same with or without those pills. I try to give it to him every day, and keep record of when he took them, to discuss with the vet. It seems that he knows when it is really needed. He will take it for three or four days, and then he doesn't want it for a day or two. I don't want to force him to take it, but I also don't want him so suffer. I wish they could talk!

I am just going to share something quickly with fellow animal lovers.

I did not have a good long weekend. My Ballinese, Casper disappeared at the start of the weekend and despite calling, searching, walking everywhere, I could not find him.

Despite being highly pedigreed, Casper is a rescue animal from a Kitty Haven. He is possibly the most loving and affectionate cat I have ever owned. He is sensitive to cold and allows me to share his bed with him at night. In the daytime, he tries to make sure that I don't strain my eyes by reading too much, by lying on any page I might have open.

He is a never ending purr bag.

By Wednesday, I had given Casper up for dead.

I had to take someone to Park Station at 5am and as I was about to leave, I heard a cat climbing through the laundry window. It was Casper.

Poor baby. He is very ill. He had not eaten for days and seems to have flu. In a couple of minutes I am leaving to take him for his second injection. This morning he drank water without choking for the first time.

I am for the first time feeling hopeful that I truly have my gentle, sweet Casper back.

Casper with my daughter.

Glad he is back MM and hope he gets well soon I sent you a PM

MM I am sending good thoughts for Casper's full recovery. Cats are usually very resilient even when you think they have used up all their lives.

One of the stable girls found one of the cats at work in a terrible state one day. Barely concious, unable to walk and severly dehydrated he had cuts and swellings everywhere. We think one of the horses trampled him. We made him warm and gave him water with sugar in a syringe tube into his mouth every hour for the first day. He didn't get up for 5 days. But eventually with our care (my boss wouldn't take him to the vet ) he fully recovered.

With you on his side your beautiful boy will bounce back soon I'm sure of it.

Hope Casper recovers soon and completely MM!

OWN, I'm so glad you found a good vet, Most of them are far to quick to want to do the "best of the animal" IMO. Calico will do great on medication I'm sure, it's manageable. Igor suffered from extreme arthritis in his one elbow and with a warm comfortable bed and pain and arthritis medication, he did well and they soon learn what the can no longer do.

Threedogs, crazy dog lady , I knew that Staffie would settle! I'm sure her mind was made up to be settled the moment she stepped into your home.

Hilda, yes I wish they could talk but maybe we don't give them enough credit? I'm sure he knows what the pills are for and he is probably just self medicating.

MM, good luck and I hope Casper will soon be himself again. I'm so glad that he made it back home where he belongs.

Tokoloshe just chewed up a SD camera card I left on the coffee table This morning it was a lens cover from my binoculars which had fallen down behind the couch cushion yesterday afternoon and I couldn't find it - she found it for me

That IS good news, 3D! The vet we found, despite being several-decades experienced, still elected to send the X-rays through to Onderstepoort so that he can get a final confirmation that he is correct in his diagnosis. Furthermore, he wants to spend a half hour with us going through a full programme he has developed to ameliorate Calico's pain and allow her to lead as full a dog's life as feasible. He insisted that we smile after he told us the results because he is so confident all will be okay with her.

Also glad to hear that your German Dhepherd lived a decent life despite the condition, but I'm wondering how one insists that a highly active dog curb her enthusiasm? We thought that we'll try walking her on lead for about half an hour before letting her loose to cavort a little, hoping she will be less prone to sprinting over mountain and down steep valley walls. The vet did say flat surfaces are fine and that swimming is tops; also, he has changed her medication to a human one, which seems to be giving better results.

Glad to hear your Saffie is fitting in well with your pack; already being left unattended is three-quarters of the battle completed.