12/08/2026
MIKA: The Little Dog Who Refused to Give Up 💞
New clients who don’t know me often ask me how we achieve the results we do.
The truth is, sometimes the answer isn’t one treatment, one procedure or one moment of brilliance.
Sometimes it’s months of refusing to give up.
Mika is one of those patients.
Mika came to us with an exposed bone plate in her right front leg after a failed revision arthrodesis surgery. Her first surgery had failed too, and both carpi had ultimately collapsed because of osteomyelitis — a serious bone infection.
Her little body had already been through so much.
And yet, somehow, Mika kept going.
For five months, we have thrown everything we could at this case — HBOT, ozone therapy, herbal formulas and constant monitoring and care.
Something incredible happened.
Mika remained infection free
Five months.
No further infections.
And even more importantly, she hasn’t needed pain medication.
But there was still one enormous hurdle standing between Mika and healing.
We simply could not get the tissue to close over the plate.
The plate has no blood supply, making the wound incredibly difficult to heal.
We tried everything we could.
And eventually, I had to make a decision.
I wasn’t ready to give up on this wound without trying one more time.
So Mika, her Mum and Dad packed up and made the long road trip from home all the way down to Victoria for one last attempt at surgery.
We have been working closely with the incredibly talented orthopaedic veterinarian, Dr Malcolm Ware, and because Mika’s case had become so complex and so important to all of us, I personally flew to Melbourne and then drove to Dr Ware’s clinic on a Sunday to be there and assist.
Alongside Dr Ware and his wonderful nurse, Annie, we gave Mika one more chance.
That is what dedication looks like behind the scenes.
It’s not glamorous.
It’s the flights.
The long drives.
On a Sunday.
The endless phone calls.
The constant researching.
The discussions late into the day about what else we could possibly try.
It’s lying awake thinking about a patient long after the clinic has closed.
It’s carrying their case around in your head because you desperately want to find the answer.
Because when an animal trusts you with their life, giving up is never the easy option.
The surgery went beautifully.
Mika was an absolute superstar.
Everything looked promising.
We left that day with hope in our hearts.
We truly believed this might finally be the turning point.
But sadly, over time, Mika’s leg began to deteriorate again.
And we found ourselves back where we started.
I won’t pretend that wasn’t devastating.
After everything.
After five months.
After the travel.
After the surgery.
After all the hope we had placed in that day.
It would have been easy to feel defeated.
But there was one thing we had achieved that mattered more than anything:
Mika was still infection-free.
And that is our greatest victory.
Because being infection-free means her bone has had a chance to heal.
It means she is not living in constant pain.
It means we still have time.
And as long as there is time, there is hope.
So we realign the goal posts and keep working with what is showing us our best success.
And we proceed with clarity and patience.
Our hope is that if we can keep Mika infection-free for a few more months, we can eventually remove the plate and finally give her wound the chance to close and heal.
When we take on a complex case, we don’t walk away when the road gets hard.
We keep moving forward.
We reassess.
We change direction.
We try something different.
And sometimes we cry.
Because we care.
We have worked incredibly hard for this little girl.
But then came the message from Mika’s Mum tonight
The message that reminded us exactly why we do what we do.
"Mika is living her best life."
Despite everything her little body has been through.
Despite the surgeries.
Despite the infection.
Despite the disability.
Mika is happy.
She is enjoying her life.
That one sentence means everything.
Because sometimes healing doesn’t look the way we imagined it would.
Sometimes victory isn’t a perfectly healed leg.
Sometimes victory is an animal who wakes up happy.
An animal who wants to play.
An animal who is comfortable.
An animal who doesn’t know that her mum and dad and her animal practitioner are fighting a massive battle behind the scenes.
And sometimes the biggest victory of all is simply being able to say:
“She’s chasing lizards. She’s happy. And we’re not giving up.”
Now our focus is on rebuilding and remodelling Mika’s bone to give her the strongest future we possibly can.
We don’t know exactly where this journey will take us.
But we do know this:
Mika has fought for us every step of the way.
So we will keep fighting for her.
Because she deserves that chance.
And because little lives like Mika’s are exactly why we never give up, all 5.5 precious kilos of her. 💞
Go Team Mika. 🐾
