Hi everyone, my name is Surly (supposedly named after my moms mountain bike and NOT the adjective).
I am a red merle Australian Shepherd.
I was born on June 3rd, 2008. Yes, yes – I am neither old enough in dog or human years to legally have a Blog page, but – I have a serious problem, and I’m hoping all you kind animal lovers out there will help me.
My parents, Jennifer Gamewell and Lauri Talbott, first met me in a parking lot in Buda TX. They were hesitant at first to even consider taking me home that day, so I had to up the ante by planting myself between their feet!
By the time we all got home that day, I had already melted myself into their hearts…of course, at the time I’d no idea this would mean posing for constant pictures, being carried around everywhere, or getting a daily dose of cheese wiz…SWEET!
Before I was 6 mos old, my mom noticed a “popping” in my hip area. I was taken to my Vet, Dr. Anderson, and she took some X-rays. It was hard to tell at that age, but I was diagnosed with having very shallow hip sockets – a genetic disorder that sort of runs in my shepherd genes – and it was causing my hip joints to rotate in and out of place. My Dr. said there was a good chance my muscles would grow/strengthen and take care of the issue by the time I was a year old.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. As I matured, I started feeling less and less like myself. Instead of long hikes and runs – I could only last 15-20 minutes before I’d have a limp.
Trust me, this was really depressing – I wasn’t voted one of Austin’s Top Ten Fittest Dogs by Austin Fit Magazine for nothing’! I wanted to run and play – hard…but couldn’t.
Under the advice of my Dr. – I had another X-ray when I turned a year old. Oh, man, the news was not good. My hips were worse! My family and I were told that the reason I limp and get sore when I play is because my hip joints are popping in and out of their sockets!
My parents were very upset – what did this mean? Would I never be the Aussie I was meant to be? Would I never get to run and play like I want to again?
My Dr. referred us to an orthopedic specialist, Dr. Hulse. He’s the head honcho at A&M and works here in Austin a few days out of his week. I went to go see him and, after doing some tests of his own he had some good news for us!
Although it is very, very rare that a pup my age would have the issues I have – there is a surgery that could fix me! It’s called a T.P.O – and, very basically involved rotating my hips a bit to where the sockets fit better over my joints – so they don’t pop out anymore!
But, there’s a catch. There is only a small window of opportunity in which I would be a candidate for this type of surgery. I can be no older than 18 months of age. I’m 14 months now, btw. 
After the window has passed, the Doctors said that I have a 100% chance of developing arthritis in my hips and having to have a total hip replacement as I age. Not fun.
My parents are very responsible, and would never have taken me if they were not financially capable of raising me. However, my mom was recently laid-off of work, and so times have been a bit hard financially.
The cost for my surgery is $3,500 – and my parents have to come up with at least half of that to give to the clinic before they’ll do the surgery. Since I’m in a crunch for time – I was hoping you all could help.
I have my very own PayPal account set up to take donations towards helping my family raise the funds for my surgery.
Many of you know me personally, and would do anything to help me out – thank you! For those of you who don’t know me, maybe you would still consider donating anything – even just $10 – in the name of any pup (or any animal) you’ve ever loved?
Would you, please, consider?
BTW, I will keep posting how the donations are going, amounts, patrons, etc. on my wall!
Thanks everyone!
