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We have some dogs in longer term foster – one such dog is the delightful Sidney. Quite a few people have been following his story – he was the subject of the epic journey to Spain to pick him up – and many followed Brian’s blog and his journey to the UK. We were originally led to believe that he had a broken leg that had set improperly. He was brought to the Orthopaedic specialist and it became apparent that his pelvis had been smashed at some point – and he was suffering from Legge Perthes disease. Through the generous donations of our supporters, we were able to operate on one side of his hip – and then he stayed in foster (the lovely Brian and Sandy) until he could heal well enough to have the other side done. The original plan was to operate on both legs, get him stable and then put him up for rehoming. He has just visited the specialist again and sadly she does not wish to operate on his right leg as he relies heavily on this for all movement with his left leg a little shorter and weaker. His hip joint on the right although affected by Perthes Disease is considerably more stable than the left side was and the acetableum (the hip cup) is not damaged as the left had been. Her thoughts are to continue to improve movement on the left bearing in mind this side will always be weak but at least is no longer causing him considerable pain.

Operating on his right side is at present not suitable or necessary but may in the future if the femoral head deteriorates further with the Perthes disease – that is an unknown quantity as he may or may not get worse and if he does it may be slow onset or rapid. He will need to be on pain killers (Metacam and Tramadol) possibly for the rest of his life and certainly in varying quantities depending on how he develops over the years.

Those too will potentially cause him other issues which again may shorten his life BUT better a shortened life with less pain than a longer and more painful existence. As an added point, Sidney needs to have short walks and gentle exercise despite his intentions to run everywhere at 100 miles an hour so a more sedate home with an older dog or a dog with similar needs to him. He may seem to want to run all day but the reality is he shouldn’t as he will make himself very sore and will need more drugs to settle down his joints which in turn will have a greater affect on his organs etc. Sid will tell you he wants to race about but he shouldn’t He seems to enjoy his walks and he is on a 40 foot line which he trundles about towing along. He does express an interest in chasing other dogs but is very happy to sniff the hedges and wander about.

So we have decided Sidney needs a sedate home – and one that understands his condition and help him understand that although he is a terrier – he needs to take it easy! And as we all know – how hard it is to tell a terrier what to do! This is not how we wanted it to go for him – but he still deserves a second chance and we hope to find him the perfect home.

He is about 5, spayed and vaccinated.  No cats, small furries or children under 10. Current location: Lincolnshire. Interested? Please download a TerrierSOSQuestionnaireMay2015. Many thanks.

Sidney playing with Lili schnauzer