Week 1, Day 2

I think the lampshade is bothering Maeby's ears.

As soon as I take it off, she rubs her ears with her paws. That's not a good sign! I think her ears touching the plastic, and the moisture of her breath getting trapped in the cone might be giving her an ear infection. This seems to be a problem with other dogs on the orthodogs list too.

I mixed a couple drops of tea tree oil with water and cleaned her ears out with a cotton pad. Hope that keeps her from getting a full blown ear infection.

Her TPLO leg seems to be doing really well. She loves stretching it out, and she's even scratched her head with the leg. She also lay down with the leg behind her, "frog style" today.

As far as her walking, she's putting more weight on it. The sloooooooow, slooooow walking is really making her use the leg. I wouldn't do this if it seemed like her leg hurt her, but based on her comfort with stretching it out and laying on it, I think she's not putting weight on the leg because she just doesn't really try to.

It's not 100% down, but it's not just her toes tapping the ground either. About half of her paw is touching the ground and bearing weight. This is a HUUUUUUUGE IMPROVEMENT from even just a few days ago!! (See video below!)


it doesn't bother her to extend her leg backwards.



By the way, her toes on her TPLO leg were starting to curl in. Someone on the orthodogs list mentioned massaging the foot and extending the toes, as it would help the dog walk better. I've been doing that for the last 2 days, and it's really made a difference.

Post-op Week 1, Day 1: Finally some progress!

Maeby started putting a little more weight on her leg last night during our final walk, but this morning she was holding it up again.

I know this is probably normal, but I was hoping Maeby would be one of those dogs that made crazy amazing progress. I guess I'm just a little disappointed.

***

I spoke with Maeby's vet tech TM around lunch time and told her that Maeby was only slightly touching her toe to the ground when she was standing still. TM said that she should be toe touching by now, and suggested that I walk really. really. slooooooooow with her to make her actually walk with her toe touching the ground. If you walk fast, she says, they'll just walk with 3 legs because that's the easier thing to do.

So I did it. AND HUZZAH! Maeby actually was walking and putting some weight on her toe! I am so excited!! I imagine this is how it must feel to witness your baby's first step. WEEEEEE!

I normally let her wander around her recovery room after our walks, but now that she's putting some weight on her knee, she'll be going right back into her ex-pen. YAY MAEBY!

Post-op Day 7: I'm too soft

I thought I'd give Maeby a break from the lampshade last night while we were sleeping. She wears the darn thing all day when I'm at work! How cruel to leave it on another 8 hours through the night, right?

WRONG.

I did put her leg through a piece of fishnet stocking. Silly me thought it would stay on all night. We woke up this morning to stocking off and 2 places on her incision looking pretty inflamed. Her leg is definitely bothering her more today. She's holding it up a little more and there's less toe touching going on.

(5 minutes later)

I just checked it again. It looks pretty bad right now. There's actually a little bit of bleeding going on. I can't even take a picture of it. She won't let me. I dabbed it with a warm paper towel, dabbed on a teeny bit of antibiotic cream, and gave her 4 arnica balls.

How did we end up HERE, TODAY, after yesterday's beautiful photo?

BECAUSE I TOOK THE E-COLLAR OFF.

So let that be a lesson to you, dear TPLO friend: DON'T BE A SOFTIE. LEAVE THE E-COLLAR ON. ITS ONLY FOR 10 DAYS!!

***

Went home for lunch. The incision looks SO MUCH BETTER. Thank heavens for homeopathic remedies.

Post-op Day 6

looking good. they say puckering in the middle is normal.

Maeby's starting to put her toe slightly to the ground when she stands. There's zero weight bearing when she's walking though.

Tried taking a video of her walking today. It pretty much sucks. But you can see how she's still hopping around.




The above video isn't TPLO related, but its AMAZING! Watch it!!

Post-op Day 5: e-collar HELL

By 11PM last night, I was wiped out from Maeby's shaking scare and ready to go to bed.

Maeby had on her lampshade style e-collar and slept for a few minutes... but the second the lights went off, she started thrashing all over her x-pen. I put the lights back on, and made the pen smaller, but she was all bug eyed and wouldn't relax. I gave her Rescue Remedy, but she still stayed anxious. She started to shake and breathe very erratically. I thought maybe it was an effect of the F-patch still wearing off, but the minute I took the collar off, she stopped.

I tried putting on her pro-collar (even though it doesn't do a darn thing bc her neck and nose are so long!) and the same thing happened. Crazy breathing, bugged out eyes. I eventually got one of those "baseball tshirts," the ones with the 3/4 sleeves and stuck her leg in one sleeve, and cut the end of a pair of old fishnet stockings I have and covered the tshirt with that. I slept DIRECTLY next to her crate with the door open and lights on, so I could monitor if she started licking, or if my t-shirt concoction came off.

I pretty much woke up EVERY HOUR until about 5am. It kept coming off, or she'd start licking. I was so tired, I tried the lampshade again, and yes, she flipped out again in her quiet, scary way. So finally I put EACH LEG in a sleeve, pushed her tail through the head hole,pulled the rest of the shirt up around her bottom, and tied the excess up with a rubber band.

We slept peacefully until around 7:30. And when we woke up, it was still on! Hallelujah!

Too bad the minute she stood up to eat, it slipped right off. It was my first day back at work today, so I HAD to leave her at home with something.

I decided to play tough mommy and left her home with the lampshade. She wasn't as panicky about it when I left for work this morning, but I was still worried. I wasn't sure how I'd find her when I came home for lunch. Shredded doggie bed? Ex-pen on the other side of the room? Or, God forbid, Maeby laying motionless??

SHE WAS FINE! That little drama queen. She just really really hates the darned lampshade, but will survive. There are a lot of other collars that seem better, like the soft-collar (looks like a big disk) or flexible e-collar (like the lampshade, but made out of fabric) but by the time I get a new one, her staples will be out.

I bought some Impatiens over my lunch break, and am giving that along with the Rescue Remedy now. (of course, with lots of love and treats too!)

I also have to add that the people on the orthodogs list are WONDERFUL. I left a frantic post this morning about my horrible experience last night, and people were so incredibly thoughtful and supportive, offering funny stories and alternative ideas. Apparently, panicking is QUITE NORMAL. And though it may seem impossible, the dog will grow accustomed to the e-collar and will stop acting crazy after a few days. Someone on the list now is experiencing what can happen if you give in: Her dog kept licking the incision, it wouldn't heal properly, stiches kept popping open, and now the dog has a horrible infection that needs to be treated with additional antibiotics. THANKFULLY, it's a relatively benign strain of bacteria! Moral of this story: DON'T GIVE INTO YOUR PANICKING DOG! Try Rescue Remedy, Benedryl, lots of treats, ANYTHING. But that incision really needs to heal properly otherwise you're in for so much more trouble later.


my (not so brilliant) idea

Post-op Day 4

Maeby isn't acting as happy as she normally is today. It's worrying me a little. Is she already getting depressed from the confinement??

She's putting a little weight on the Pink Stump today, but alternates between bearing weight and slightly holding it up.

The leg with the morphine patch on it has also been shaking/quivering a little bit when she's sleeping, everytime she inhales. It's off and on. I called the hospital about it, and they said her leg is probably just annoyed by it but to still leave it on. I can't wait to get that thing off her tomorrow. Good riddance to that and the Pink Stump!

***

Ok, so this afternoon around 4:30, the leg shake/quiver evolved into a WHOLE BODY shake/quiver every time she inhaled. It kept getting worse and I couldn't get a hold of her surgeon, so I rushed her over to the hospital ASAP. She kept shaking during the whole car ride too, which freaked me out even more. Her surgeon was in surgery, so another random vet took a look at Maeby and said that it was probably due to the fentanyl (?) patch. Eventually he took her in the back, and he and Maeby's surgeon removed that along with her bandage.

When they brought her back to me, I was really surprised at how good her leg looked!! The Robert Jones bandage + arnica must have really worked, because her swelling is nearly non-existent. The bottom of the leg looks a little red from probably razor burn. She is holding the leg up A LOT, but started toe touching ever so slightly today.

I'm really glad I rushed her to the vet, because the gals on the orthodogs group did some research while I was gone. It turns out that fentanyl patches can cause respiratory problems, which is perhaps why Maeby was shaking while she inhaled. THANK GOD I GOT THAT THING REMOVED TONIGHT. I should have just gone with my gut and taken it off yesterday!



swelling so far is little to non-exsistent


she's so mad at me, she looks like a little devil dog

The incision area is crazy. It looks really good -- no fluids or puss or blood -- but wow, she literally has staples in her leg holding the incision together. It's my first time seeing that.

I knew keeping her from licking it would be tough (she's a major nibbler!) so on went the dreaded lampshade. We tried the pro-collar thing (the soft inflatable kind) and her shnoz is just too long for it to work. That's too bad, because SHE HATES the cone. She sulked for a bit until I took it off and kept her mouth busy with a bully stick. And we have to do this for 10 more days!!! MEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Post-op Day 3

It's only been 3 days and she's already sick of me playing paparazzi


I've only had Maeby for about 2 and 1/2 months now, but in that time I've heard her bark maaaaaaybe.... 4 times? 5? She's just a really quiet gal. She really doesn't whine either. We think she may be part Whippet, and that breed is generally a very quiet, un-vocal dog.

Well, I think that's going to start changing pretty soon. We started Day 3 with her whining this morning because she wanted me to wake up. Which I'm actually happy about, because now she can at least tell me she needs something!

She's putting weight on The Pink Stump now, and is actually walking on it. It's a little akward, because with all the stuffing and bandaging, it's longer than her leg should be. But she still tries walking on it nonetheless. And weight bearing is good, right?

I found out the bandage is called a Robert Jones bandage, and is used to reduce swelling. I'm so curious to see what her leg is like underneath. All that Arnica she's getting is supposed to reduce pain, inflammation, bruising, and swelling. Will her leg look like a mess when they take the bandage off? I HOPE the Arnica is doing something!!!

She is definitely feeling really great today. She wants to spend more time on her feet, exploring the living room and following me and the BF around. She also wants to spend more time outside. I'm not sure what I should be doing with her right now on her walks. She has a really short attention span and gets distracted by EVERYTHING. She will be on the verge of pooping, and if something catches her attention, she'll focus on that and forget she has to poop! This naturally results in more time spent outdoors than I feel she should be. She's not running or even walking fast, just spending a lot of time sniffing around. Is this bad?? Because Maeby ALWAYS has needed time to sniff around before she does her business.

I felt a little guilty pre-surgery because some ladies on the orthodogs list seem to take weeks off to be with their furry babies after surgery. Maeby's surgery was on Thursday, and I only took off Friday and Monday. But at the rate she's going... I wonder if I could go into work on Monday. I probably won't, just so I can stay home and be with her. But I don't think it would be the end of the world if I went in.

****

So I posted on orthodogs regarding how much walking on carpet Maeby is allowed to do and I got a wonderful response: (thank you deej_612!)

Grace, I'm thrilled that Maeby is doing so well! My dog Blue had a
TPLO, and I don't remember how heavy Maeby is, but for the next 8
weeks it's standard that she is on best rest and is not to walk even
in the x-pen. If she is pacing in the xpen then it is too big for
her and she might fair better in a crate. When Blue refused to lay
down in his xpen, I threw a sheet over the top so that it covered the
sides except for the bottom 6-8 inches and so he had to lay down to
see out, and that really helped. In two days he learned to lay and I
didn't need the sheet anymore.

Maeby really needs to be laying down to let her bones knit back
together, and up and around the implant to support it, especially if
she is over 63 pounds and I'm sorry I don't recall her weight. But
too much walking will slow down the healing and risk shattering the
leg, esp. if she combines that walking with bouncing, climbing,
running or steps.

Also as she has a pressure bandage, be sure to check the paw to make
sure it is as warm as the paw on her good leg, as the swelling can
cut off circulation and that is dire if left unchecked. Standing too
much affords gravity to worsen the swelling. Ideally Maeby should be
laying on her side and when she does with the surgical leg on top,
then slip a folded towel or pillow or something under it to elevate
it so that it is parallel to the floor, to lessen swelling and so
ease pain.

JMHO; best wishes!!! Oh, almost forgot your specific question: Blue
was prescribed 3 walks a day for 2 minutes each for the first 8
weeks. Because Blue is in the habit of going out to pee at will
several times a day, and because Blue seemed anxious with the
schedule, I got the ortho's okay to raise that to 5 potty breaks a
day, 2-5 min each depending just on if he had to pooh.

The ortho was very strict about 8 weeks bed rest (crate rest), the
crate could not be large enough for him to walk around (no bigger
than 4x4 for a 96 pound dog with an ecollar), etc. The xpen ended up
being 4x4 and Blue couldn't fit in the crate with the ecollar, so I
had to go with the xpen, but with the 6 inch thick ortho bed, it was
too squishy for him to pace as all he could do was curl up in the
central dent of the nest of his bed anyway, or stand (which was not
allowed, and he got to where he only stood when he had to pee so that
became his signal to go outside), but not walk around.

Take care.

So I tried draping a sheet over her ex-pen, and she's already laying down more. WHEW!

***

Okay, so I talked to a surgeon at the hospital, and she said it's okay if Maeby walks around the house on carpet, as long as she's not running/jumping/playing, and not in a situation where she can slip. I'm sure with heavier dogs, they would need more bed rest, but Maeby is only 40 pounds. So the instructions above are probably more applicable to bigger, heavier dogs.