A bit of a blow, poor Miliko!

I can write this blog today, as I am having a good day, and so is little Miliko, but I'm afraid this is a bit of a difficult blog to write. When we took Miliko to see our local vet, Andres, we discussed with him the fact that Miliko's breathing ability was getting worse, as the weather was getting hotter. He was still coming out walking with us, or should I say running with us! He would run from tree to tree then stop for a rest, then run to the next tree, and so it would go on. We knew when he had his dislocated hip operated on, there had been a problem with his jaw also. Our vet in Cordoba that operated on him, had sadly had to break his jaw during the operation to enable him to get a tube down his throat. He discussed this immediatley after the op with us, and of course monitored it, when he was regularly checking his hip. At the time of the operation, luckily he also took an x ray of his head, to show the jaw problem. Well Andres had booked Miliko in for a castration, but the day we took him, he said he had been worrying about the operation, for a week, since he had done the blood test, and if something was to go wrong he would not be able to get a tube into him. He recommended we saw the vet in Cordoba, to discuss the options with him. He told us that if it was a bone problem it could probably be fixed, however if it was muscular, there was the possibility that nothing could be done.

The appointment was made, with Andres phoning Javier and discussing his thoughts on Miliko. Miliko of course was treated like the long lost puppy, loads of fuss and attention, and they always call him Miliko Miliko Miliko, which has him so incredibly excited his whole lttle body shakes, bless him! We spent aproximately half an hour with the vet, as he showed us books with images of jaws, and explained in great detail Miliko's condition, which was then translated to us by Maria one of the young vets at the practice.

Sadly it certainly was not the news we wanted, or even expected to hear. We thought his condition was either operable or not. We were sadly told that the trauma caused to his little body, that dislocated his hip and jaw, had caused the soft tissue in his face to malform. The x ray from around three months previous was noticably much better than the x ray done just two weeks ago. The problem is, if Javier was to operate and for example do a similar operation to the hip dislocation but to the jaw, once again the soft tissue would become even more damaged. Bless his heart, it was rather like being given a death sentence for him. Javier measured the amount Miliko could open his mouth and it was 17mms. At this stage he can eat small pieces of food quite well, but struggles with larger morsels. We have to feed him three times a day to keep his jaw mobile, to see if this helps the condition. We are taking him back one month later. Javier is willing to try and operate, although he knows it is more than likely to be unsuccessful. So we have to take it day by day. There will be a time when he cannot open his mouth at all, but we will love and care for him until this time is closer. We will discuss an operation again, but we will be led by our vet. If he operates and Miliko goes through that ordeal we do not want him to be in the same situation again just a couple of months down the line, that will be no quality of life for him. So poor darling little Miliko is likely to have a short life with us, and we will have the best time together we can possibly have! Below are just a few of my favourite photos of him!

Sitting on Blue, watching TV

Having a cuddle from Arthur

Cuddling Geri

Can't get comfy!

Carlos's turn

The three "little ones"

Probably my favourite!