# Rapid onset cataracts



## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Hi all. I noticed a change in Ollie's good eye about a week ago. Thursday of last week, after I got off work, I saw a further change, and I realized he is completely blind.

Having had the trauma to his other eye, he already has an opthamologist vet. She squeezed me in the next day, and I found out Ollie has a rapid onset cataract, which is a clouding of the lenses. Some of you may know he is half hav, half shih tzu. The vet said shih tzu's are known for retina dettachment, and havs are known for rapid onset, juvenile cataracts. Meaning the crop up quick (2 weeks or less) and happen at a young age.

Cataracts are genetic. and she mentioned she's seen 2 havanese in the last year, both 1-2 yrs of age with rapid onset cataracts.

So, Ollie is currently, completely blind. I don't notice around the house b/c he knows his way around very well, and I have a small house. Outside on walks it's really obvious, as sometimes he can walk a straight line and other times not.

I am considering surgery. 5 grand. the post op care is pretty involved so I am considering Thanksgiving week as I have that week off (I work at a public school). With rapid onset cataracts, he is at risk for the lenses rupturing, so I am checking his eyeball daily, and he has non-steroidal drops as well.

I am not trying to panic anyone, I just wanted to inform you all and also, let you know about Ollie's condition. His temperament is the same, sweet as always.

As you can imagine I am very very sad.


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## Karen Collins (Mar 21, 2013)

This is very sad news! You are wonderfully committed to your pup. He's very fortunate to have you. It is of course, another case in point as to why health testing is so important. Eye cerfs should be done annually and no dog should be bred unless they are clear several generations back and bred to a dog that is clear for several generations. The price the dog and owners have to pay is too high not to.

I will be praying for Ollie.


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

So sorry to hear the news about Ollie. It's so hard when our dogs have issues but Ollie is blessed to have you as an owner. From all my visits to the ER and surgeries with my dog, I am amazed how resilient they are and with lots of love and belly rubs, Ollie will recover.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I am so sorry to hear the sad news. I am sure this is so hard for you seeing him like this. He is lucky to have you. Give him some kisses and belly rubs from me and my furkids.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I'm so sorry to hear that he has trouble. Hopefully it will be easily manageable.

I'd like to address the quote that Havanese are known for Juvenile Cataracts. This was indeed the case in the 1990's, and the reason Havanese people started CERF testing to begin with. There was a small panic in the late '90s with breeders who produced it wanting to find an answer.

In reality though, the dogs that had produced the problem were just not used for breeding any more, and breeders who really cared stopped producing it, so it was fairly easily selected away from. I haven't really heard of a single case since something like 1998. I'm not saying there hasn't been some, but no breeder that we know and are close with has had a single issue in this Century.

I hope there is not enough of it left in the breed, that it's any longer fair to say that Havanese are known for it.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Molly and I send our best wishes and puppy kisses for Ollie!


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## VictoriaClark (May 31, 2014)

So sorry to hear your sad news! You both will be in my thoughts and prayers!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi Jacqueline, while it's possible that Ollie's is an juvenile cataract, he only has one eye, and as a eesult, it's hard to know whether he would have it in both eyes or not. i hapve a friend whose Golden just had a cataract removed from one eye. (Goldens are NOT known for juvenile cataracts) She had a bout of vestibular disease quite some time ago, and the best guess is that at some point during that, she may have lost her balance and damaged her eye against something. In her case, it was a couple of years later that they realized what was going on. Since she had one good eye, she still could see. She had a bit of a head tilt at times, but they attributed that to a lingering result of her bout with vestibular disease.

The good news is that cataract surgery for dogs is just the same as it is for people... And it works very well! Winne, my friend's Golden is a top agility dog. She was only out of competition for two months after her surgery. Yes, it's a bit of a pain putting the drops in several times a day (it was for me when I had mine done last spring too! ). But it isn't for that long, and then he'll have a perfectly useable eye again! 

The biggest issue, of course, is the cost. Dogs DO adapt to being blind quite well, and for a small house dog, being blind might not be THAT big a problem. Only you can decide what is the right answer for you and your little cutie. But it would be sad if he couldn't do his work as a speech/language therapy dog any more!


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Jacqueline, I'm so so sorry to hear about Ollie's cataract. You're such a great fur mom so I'm sure with your love and care he's going to be fine. I wish I could say or do more. Emmie's sends her best with sweet licks and kisses. -Jeanne-


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

sorry to hear this., Jacqueline. Just one word of caution, please make people aware that your dog has next to no vision, and don't let them startle him, as it is possible he may bite if surprised by someone unintentionally.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I am so very sorry Ollie is having this problem. My friends Westie had a Juvenile Cataract and had surgery. Sending positive thoughts and best wishes for Ollie's recovery.


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## dottedone (Oct 10, 2014)

I am so sorry to hear about Ollie. Hugs


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayer for Ollie, he appreciates it!

He seems to be stable. He gets the non-steroidal eye drops once a day.

He doesn't seem to startle at home, but he does have a groomer's appt on halloween, and I will let them know. It seems if you talk to him that helps him quite a bit.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Update: Ollie went to the Opto yesterday and there is no change in his cataract eye. good news.

I am thinking of scheduling the cataract surgery during winter break, because I get two weeks off and the intensive post op care...


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Good to hear Ollie is doing well...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the little guy!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Jackie, so sorry to hear this news. I just told the boys and they are also feeling really sad. Hope things work out for him.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I'm happy he is doing well. I think that's a great time to do surgery.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Here are some pics, so you can see his new do and it's his left eye:


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Hi, Jackie:

I just found this thread about Ollie's eye having a cataract. One of my HRI foster dogs, Bear, last year developed a cataract in his left eye only at 5 years old. The other eye was fine at the time. 

He was seen at a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in El Cerrito. The Vet suspected it was hereditary. The estimate for his surgery and lens implant was about $3,500. Because he still had a good eye, she recommended waiting until his second eye had a developed cataract (if that ever happened) because it would cost not too much more to do the second eye at the same time. Obviously, this is not the case with Ollie.

She showed me that statistically, dogs have about a 95% chance of having successful surgery.

The Board of Directors of HRI decided that is would benefit Bear to have his eye repaired while he was still young and statistically would have a better outcome while his eye was young rather than waiting until he was older. HRI had used a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in North Carolina several times before, and he charged much less than the cost for us here in the Bay Area. I ended up flying with Bear to North Carolina where he had his surgery, and he was adopted there after he recovered.

His recovery was uneventful. He needed to have eye drops several times a day and he needed to rest quietly instead of playing with the other dogs in the household. 

Please let me know if I can help in any way. We don't live far from each other.

Starr


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Hi, Jackie:

I just found this thread about Ollie's eye having a cataract. One of my HRI foster dogs, Bear, last year developed a cataract in his left eye only at 5 years old. The other eye was fine at the time. 

He was seen at a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in El Cerrito. The Vet suspected it was hereditary. The estimate for his surgery and lens implant was about $3,500. Because he still had a good eye, she recommended waiting until his second eye had a developed cataract (if that ever happened) because it would cost not too much more to do the second eye at the same time. Obviously, this is not the case with Ollie.

She showed me that statistically, dogs have about a 95% chance of having successful surgery.

The Board of Directors of HRI decided that is would benefit Bear to have his eye repaired while he was still young and statistically would have a better outcome while his eye was young rather than waiting until he was older. HRI had used a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in North Carolina several times before, and he charged much less than the cost for us here in the Bay Area. I ended up flying with Bear to North Carolina where he had his surgery, and he was adopted there after he recovered.

His recovery was uneventful. He needed to have eye drops several times a day and he needed to rest quietly instead of playing with the other dogs in the household. 

Please let me know if I can help in any way. We don't live far from each other.

Starr


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

My friends young Westie suddenly developed a cataract and had surgery. The surgery was double the cost here in the Bay Area. Ollie is adorable with his new haircut  Ollie will be in my thoughts..


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

$4500 at the Fremont/Pleasant Hill Optholamogy practice, but the retina exam is $400. so it's $5000 plus the life long eye drops he'll need lol.

Thanks Starr, for the support. BTW, Brian Crawford's mom works at my school.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

*Eyeball update*

Hi, Ollie had his retinoscopy today. It is a pre surgery procedure to determine if he is a good candidate for the cataract surgery. He is. btw it's about $500 for this procedure and he is sedated.

because he is half shih tzu, this breed tends to have a genetic disposition of retina issues. For a dog his age, the opto vet would expect (for excellent) 100-120 (don't remember the measurement unit), he was an 80. He might have always been an 80, but some of you may recall when he had trauma to his right eye, he had swelling of the brain, which caused pressure on both his optic nerves and caused temporary blindness, which may have caused permanent damage to his 'good' retina.

They also found a perfectly round 3mm ulcer in his other eye, not infected, but they prescribed antibotic drops just in case.

Due to possible retina issues during surgery, my opto vet, who is the retina specialist of the practice, will do the cataract surgery but the date had to be moved up as she will be traveling for the upcoming holidays. So surgery is December 16, 2014.

Thanks for all the support.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Good luck with surgery! It's so hard I know. I just went to an orthopedic surgeon yesterday With Fred . It's hard to watch them go through this without being able to explain to them whats going on

Keep us posted!


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Best wishes to Ollie for a successful surgery!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

hoping for the best.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Surgery is tomorrow Tuesday, so everyone cross your fingers and say a prayer for Ollie's one good eye.

TIA.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Ollie will be in my thoughts tomorrow. Hoping for the perfect outcome for your little guy.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Good luck Ollie. Will be sending healing energy your way. :angel:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Wishing the best for little Ollie!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Our thoughts are with you and Ollie. Hang in there.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Hoping things went well for Ollie.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

well, there was an eye emergency this morning, so Ollie won't be operated on till 3:30pm which means he won't be done till after 5:30pm. mucho traffic at that time in the bay area, plus it's been raining monsoon style out here the last week or so. I'm still holding my breath.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Waiting is so difficult…Sending healing thoughts Ollie's way. I am on the other side of the bay and the dark clouds are rolling in. Looks like the rain has just started. Will Ollie be released tonight?


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Yup I will get my $500 per lb dog back tonite.

I know we need this rain, just not 4 inches at a time.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Ollie's surgery went well. Just waiting for him to wake up. Whew.


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

sprorchid said:


> Yup I will get my $500 per lb dog back tonite.


Wow, $500 a pound, you should be glad he doesn't weigh 20 lbs like my dog.  I am so glad that the surgery went well, and am wishing all the best for Ollie as he heals.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Happy to hear all went well for little Ollie


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Yay Ollie! Get better quick little guy!


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm happy to hear that Ollie's surgery went well today!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

*black mail photos*

Not the most flattering, but this is what my stinky boy looks like right now:

enjoying his pain meds:


turn the light off please, look:


close up:


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

I'm so happy surgery is over and he's finally home with his mama. Poor baby looks so sad in his cone. Get well soon Ollie. :hug:


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Poor little guy…Hope Ollie is feeling better soon.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Poor baby!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

He's so sad looking. Glad to hear everything went well and hope he's back to himself soon. Feel better little guy. We all feel for you and your Mom.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

get well soon Ollie


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

So he had his day after appt late this morning. Everything checked out great. Then he had an appt once a week for the next two weeks.

lots of meds!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Glad to hear everything is going great for little Ollie!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

I forgot how fast Ollie is!

I will hafta bring him to work tomorrow. I had to leave him today for 3 hours, separated from my other dogs (they would probably lick all his eye meds off his eyeball). 

Ollie was fine, but NOT happy. can't wait till his face hair grows back!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Took Ollie to work today, so I could adminster all his meds.

My office is 5 steps from the library and a good friend of mine wanted to see Ollie, but her class was in the library (and she had no time to come see him in my office), Ollie and I often use the library as a short cut.

So her class just got there, all tucked into a corner, ready to hear a story, and Ollie trots in with his cone of shame. And as he usually does, if I don't walk in with him he will turn around and come back to me.

My co-worker was just 5 feet from the door, his cone of shame quickly illicited sympathy from the students, and when he turned around to come back to me the kids begged him to stay. My co-worker called him back (she's known him since puppyhood), and he came to her. It was really cute.

Later, after school, she asked me how I could tell he could see.... um, cuz he doesn't run into things anymore, lol.

He's doing well. I'm watching him like a hawk.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Glad to hear things are going well! Get Well Soon Ollie.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Cute story, and so glad he is doing so well!


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Wonderful he can see again. Sounds like he is a very happy boy  Your such a good mom!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Thanks Heather, I definitely don't feel like a good mama!

So Ollie is recovering nicely. two of the 8 meds are 4x/day, which is killing me even though I'm off work. He is handling the cone pretty well. I don't know how he'll handle it thru the new year (has to wear it for two weeks). He is a good boy. His vision is improving, and I notice that he does watch me, now that he can see again.

dr. appt on christmas eve.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Wonderful to hear Ollie's vision is improving. It's nice that your on vacation because that is a lot of meds to keep up with! I am sure Ollie is very happy to have all your attention


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm always happy to read good updates about Ollie. Are you using anything special to get him to take the meds he has to swallow? My girl will swallow anything wrapped in cream cheese. My boy is always suspicious when I present him with cream cheese, but he'll eat a Pill Pocket without spitting out the pill.

Happy Holidays!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

either regular cheese or natural balance sausage, which is soft, so I make it small and round, and he swallows it whole. some times he might chew it, if it's tramadol he'll spit it out, but he loves those two things so much, he will keep trying them even if there are pills in them.

He just had his 1 week check up. he did great. gassed the room after he was done, I thought he was gonna kill the opto vet, it was really bad cuz of the antibotics.

The swelling has gone down a lot and his eye looks much much better. I know his vision is improving too, because he can respond to hand signals now, and he's happy to be at the vet.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout and Truffles will swallow any pill if it is wrapped in Boursin soft cheese.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm SO glad to hear Ollie is doing so well. I'm glad he's been back "at work" again too, even if he's a bit limited still! Give him a big Christmas hug from all his friends on the forum!!!


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Glad his surgery went well!!! It's hard to see them like this but you are taking such good care of him!!! Get well soon buddy


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

UPDATE: So Ollie's stitches have dissolved and his eye isn't buggy anymore. His close shave around his eye is growing back nicely. He still have a pretty serious eye drop regiment but I am very happy with his outcome and he's back to his old, outgoing, cheerful self.
Thanks for all the prayers and support.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Great news!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Glad to hear he's on the mend and his happy self again. :whoo:


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

good stuff


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Glad to hear Ollie's feeling better and his happy, fun personality is back.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

So very happy to hear your Ollie is back to his old self


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

I love a happy ending! Take care of each other.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I'm SO glad to hear that Ollie is doing so well!!!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

So, it's been 6 weeks, and I was almost out of eye drops. So the vet that did the surgery (she had vacation plans 2 days after the surgery), she squeezed him in. 

She hadn't seen him since the surgery and she said his eye looked fabulous. 

BUT his other eye, his right eye, had a little mineral deposit where she found the ulcer in early december. So, more expensive eye drops for Ollie. the vet said he probably isn't blinking enough and has a a mild case of dry eye (rewetting drops is the cure).

I've never seen a vet so happy. 

He has had a wierd weight gain, not tied to the prednisone. so he will be going on a diet, and I will probably join him lol.

Thanks again for all the support and healing thoughts.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I have been thinking of Ollie…So glad everything turned out well for the little guy!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Great news for Ollie and you. So glad everything worked out so well.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I am SOOOOO happy to hear Ollie's doing so well!!! Tell him that it's just those "holiday pounds" that have to come off. LOTS of us are joining him with a little dieting at this time of year!!!


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