MARLEY a gentle giant who needs 2 new hips -urgent

Hello my name is Chris and I am raising money for Marley as he needs 2 new hips as soon as possible.......

Marley is a 20-month old Pyrenean Mountain Dog, or Patou as they are called in France, a gentle giant of a dog.

Marley has not had the best start in life. At 6 months he was abandoned to a refuge from where he was adopted and then returned. He then went into foster and was adopted again and subsequently abandoned...... again. He was adopted yet again and then returned again. All this through no fault of his own ….unless you call being a big bouncy pup a fault! Finally, into foster, from where we adopted him. All this within a year, which made him more than a little insecure.

It didn’t take many runs around the garden to see something was not right so a trip to the vet for a panel of x rays.........

Sadly it was discovered that, Marley, was born with a genetic disorder – hip dysplasia – a condition that makes every step painful. It is caused when the ball and socket of the hip bone are out of alignment. Instead of gliding smoothly together, the joint is unstable, causing excruciating pain leading to arthritis, tissue damage or even dislocation. Unfortunately for Marley both his hips are affected.......

The huge fear right now is that Marley dislocates his hips. He lives with two other Pyrenean Mountain dogs, and Marley loves nothing better than to run about bumping into the others as a game or even us if too exuberant and forgets his manners ! That is what these big dogs do – they use their mass when playing. Except that Marley runs the very real risk of dislocating his hip. His long bones have not formed correctly, and any awkward contact could easily result in the head of the femur slipping from the socket. And if that happens, the only option would be to have him put to sleep.

Sadly, the condition is degenerative: Marley will suffer increasingly with pain and slowly become less mobile, when even walking is agony. Marley is still so young and just wants to bound about and play, but already you can see this horrible condition is affecting him in the way he runs, or should I say bunny hops as his back legs are often together. It breaks our heart to think our young, joyful pup is condemned to such suffering.

Just like when humans have hip pain, dogs can undergo hip replacement. However, because Marley is a 44 kilogramme (97 lbs) baby and still with 1.5 years of growing/filling out, he needs to go to a specialist orthopaedic centre in Cremona, in Italy with a surgeon experienced in doing this type of operation, which as you imagine is very costly. Marley will need two operations, one for each hip; it is pointless doing one operation as the weight distribution needs to be across both hips. Each one will cost a whopping sum, ....just under 5,000 Euros!

The good news is that the outcome is excellent for this type of procedure., 95% of procedures are completely successful., It would be absolutely life-changing for him, giving him a long and pain-free normal existence. Please help us give this most precious gift to Marley. We can cover the cost of travel, accommodation, post-operative rehabilitation and special diet he requires for joints and inflammation. We are hoping to raise 10,000 euros to help cover the cost of the 2 surgeries.

We have a provisional date of the 27th September for the first operation, so it is critical that we raise half the funds as soon as possible.

Each person who donates will receive a Thank you from Marley, a digital collage of Marley in the stunning Pyrenean scenery where he lives, as our way of showing our huge appreciation to you.