Buster’s op delayed to allow doggy diet
Overweight pooch
The owners of Buster the lovable Labrador were dealt a blow after an operation to give him a much needed new knee had to be postponed.
The Reformer reported last week that Buster was due to go under the knife after his dog walker, Kirsten Griffiths, launched a crowdfunding page to help his elderly Halfway owners pay the significant surgical fees.
However, after the vet sedated big Buster, who weighs a whopping 40 kilos, she delivered the news that Kirsten had been dreading: the dog’s cranial cruciate ligament that connects the back of the femur with the front of the tibia had completely snapped.
Although the vet said she could proceed with surgery at a cost of £1000, she warned it may not be successful.
Kisten called owners Janice Anderson, 65, and husband John, 75, who provide round-the-clock care for their disabled son, Scott.
The couple, who both suffer ill health, reluctantly agreed that it would be too risky to go ahead.
A specialist will examine Buster next week and he then faces a fiveweek wait for a more intricate op.
That gives Kirsten and the family more time to raise the £2600 needed to replace both knees and fund post-surgery hydrotherapy treatment for the gentle giant.
“It is just devastating,” said Kirsten, who runs Walkie’s dog walking service in Rutherglen and Cambuslang.
“But it wouldn’t be fair on the people who are donating and it wouldn’t be fair on Buster to go ahead when there’s a chance it might not work and he’s to go through another operation again.”
The gofundme page has so far raised £235 and some of Kirsten’s big hearted clients have donated a further £25.
To donate, visit www.gofundme. com/big-busters-new-knees to donate.