OT - Dog Surgery

#1

Hi all,

Just thought I’d update for anyone who was following the post I’d made almost a couple weeks ago regarding my baby Colorado and his patellar luxation surgery.

Well, he had the surgery today and he’s been back home for about 4 hours. He’s doing remarkably well! I can’t believe it. The orthopedic surgeon was absolutely wonderful! They let us be there right after Colorado woke up from anesthesia. He was shaking and drooling and trying to get up, but immediately calmed when we entered the room. They left us with him for about an hour or so, during which time he because much more alert and much less shakey. Then, we got our discharge instructions and meds and we got to go home. He slept for a couple hours, woke up starving and needing to pee. He has a sling to help him walk (he had an epidural), but he wants no part of it, insisting that he can do it himself, and he CAN! Dogs are amazing! If it were me that had had that surgery, I’d probably be crying and whining for my mommy!

In case anyone is interested and not squemish, they cut the tibia (with the ligament attached), twisted it to realign it with the femur and reattached it using a couple pins. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! and he’s not crying, or whining or doing anything that would lead me to believe he’s not comfortable. He’s sleepy, but that’s about it.

#2

I’m glad that the surgery went well for him!!! :cheering: :cheering:

#3

good news!

#4

Oh, that is wonderful news!! :cheering: :cheering: :cheering:

#5

That IS great news!!!

Dogs ARE amazing. They just dont DWELL on things like people do…they just live in the moment and get on with life! I am CONSTANTLY trying to be more like my pooches. :lol:

#6

So glad he’s doing well. :smiley:

#7

Yay!! Isn’t it amazing what our little lovies can do? I think he needs a new hand knit sweater for this ordeal. :slight_smile:

#8

:cheering: :cheering: I’ve been wondering how your dog did with the surgery. I’m such animal freak, I get worried about ALL and ANYBODYS animals! :oops: :heart:

#9

Thanks for all the kind comments! :smiley:

My little love is still doing quite well this morning. He has minimal swelling around the incision site, but is not in any pain. He is pretty much back to his usual happy self and he has a really good appetite, which the surgeon told me is wonderful news. The surgeon called me last night to ask how everything was going and he told me that he expects a 100% recovery, based on what he saw during surgery. Colorado is very strong and there was very little damage to his joint and absolutely no ligament damage, so once the surgery is done healing, he should be better than “normal”, since normal to him was a kneecap that popped out spontaneously.

I do think I’ll have to knit him a sweater! I’ve resisted doing it because he loves to roll around in mud, muck and snow, but he won’t be allowed to do that for at least a few weeks, soooooo… :wink:

#10

Glad to hear Colorado pulled through okay! Although he clearly disregarded Owen Potato’s caution to mind his parents as they nurse him back to health! :lol:

Sounds like Colorado had a similar proceedure to mine, in a way. The patellar tendon resection went similarly with me - they used a huge staple to reattach the bone bit with the tendon in my case. Now we’ll both be able to set off security alarms at airports. :rollseyes:

#11

Yeah, I thought of that yesterday when we were on our way home with Colorado. :lol:

No, he’s not minding Owen Potato’s advice of minding us! He’s very determined, but on the plus side the surgeon told us that as long as he wasn’t straining the operated leg, he could do what he wanted, since forcing him to do something he doesn’t want might make him try to run from us using the bad leg. I see his point…

Hope your knee is doing well, WynnieG! I hate knee pain and am terrified of knee injury, which is really bad since I’m an avid hiker. I have a “bad” ankle from a really bad sprain about 15 years ago, and I don’t need any other injury.

I started Colorado’s physical therapy today. We have to do a massage, starting at the toes and going up to the hip. I pretty much skip the the knee area and he tolerates it well and seems to relax. Then I do range of motion, by flexing his knee until he resists, and holding it there for 30 seconds. He tolerated that fine for about 3 reps. I was told not to force any of it and to stop as soon as he wanted me to, so I thought that went well. The last part of PT is icing. That’s the only thing he HATES. I’m supposed to ice the knee for 10 minutes after PT, but he only tolerates 1 minute. Ahhh well, overall, I’m pretty happy with the rest of it and I won’t force it. The last thing I want him to is jump up and run from me and the bag of frozen peas ice pack.

#12

:heart: Hugs :heart: for all of you! Glad to hear he’s recouperating well, and what a great vet you have to call and check on your baby! :heart:

And I agree with Colorado re the ice pack; it is not very comfy! (Though frozen peas is my favorite form of ice pack.) Alas, though, it is a necessity. Maybe you can work up from one minute to ten :wink:

#13

I’m glad that Colorado is doing so well Stephanie!! :cheering:

#14

Have you tried maybe a thin tea towel over the peas? It mitigates the freezer burn feel of icing. Or perhaps you can knit him an ice pack cozy?

My knee is hanging in there although these weather fronts keep me in a constant state of ache lately. The weather has been mild, but a bad freeze is coming…which means I’ll have to dig out my cleats again when it comes time for walkies.

Some days I wish I had a pair of Wallace and Gromit’s Techno-Trousers.

#15

:cheering: glad to hear everything went well they become our little furbabies with that first look!!

#16

Glad to hear that Colorado is doing well. Hope he continues to do so.

#17

I have tried a thin tea towel, as well as a thicker towel, but he just doesn’t like it! His swelling is so minimal and he’s really good about range of motion exercises, so I doubt he’s in pain. He just doesn’t like the cold feeling, I guess. The problem is that he tries to run from me when he sees the bag of peas now. LOL I don’t want him to run, though.

He began bearing weight on his operated leg this morning! The vet said he would start really soon, and he was right. When he wants to move a little faster, he picks it up and hops on 3 legs, but when he’s walking slow, he uses all 4! Amazing!

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone! It’s really helped me get through the first anxious days. Now, it’s just a matter of slowing him down, I think.

Glad to hear that your knee is hanging in there, WynnieG! Good luck with the walkies. I call them walkies too! :wink: But, I’ve been shying away from using that word lately.