Finally - movement

Yes, sad to say I'm documenting this, but FINALLY we have the digestive system running again, and running with a vengence. Jack caught up on the past 4 days this morning on his constitutional. I have no idea if it was just the amount of time that finally pushed things along, or if it was reducing his codeine intake (started tapering off night before last, went to twice daily vs. 4 times daily), regardless, he's evidently more comfortable (as are we). On top of that, his leg is looking better as well (a lot of the redness and swelling have gone down). He's pretty much walking on his leg (still a bit of favoring, but not holding it up at all) now when he's doing his business. Today is the end of the dreaded antibiotic horse pills, and also (barring issue) the end of the codeine as well (puts us back at Rimadyl only now for another week), and last night Jack finally started eating normal food again (he's been overly picky since the surgery). Here's what Jack's leg looks like this morning. As for the e-collar, Jack got through the night with minimal evident movement (we moved a mattress into the room he's jailed in til recovered - yes, we're THOSE kinda dog parents), he's adapted to it, although DEFINITELY DOES NOT like it. It seems to make it tough for him to get comfortable, but he manages, and we are NOT going to leave it off him until his staples are out (it's for his own good). What's odd is during the evening I'll wake up to find Jack with his head lying right next to mine, collar propped up on my pillow (our sleeping surfaces are at the same level) and breathing right on me - sometimes awake staring at me, sometimes asleep. It's odd... cute, but odd.

Evening update - digenstive system still in full swing, and livliness has up'd the ante also, Jack's starting to get back to normal wrt his inside behavior (he's ready to leave the confines of the office already... he has no idea what's yet to come).

Day 4 - just like day 3

Not a ton of progress to report on either way. Codeine definitely has a constipative effect, no poop for 3 days, and there's no way Jack's eating pumpkin (suposed to be a laxitive). Luckily the codeine runs out today, so I'm hopeful for a bit of movement either late today or early tomorrow. Jack slept better last night w/ the bucket, a lot less moving around. The surgical scar looks the same to me, maybe a bit more coherent (tissues knitting together); I don't expect the bruising to subside before Friday. No pics today, looks the same as yesterday.

The gates to giving meds

Just so everyone has a common perspective.

At this stage, just want to get through week 2

Jack doesn't whine, but every time he moves at night I wake up to check on him (probably more me than him). The bucket seems to keep him from getting any significant sleep (which is so far keeping the same from me as well). The color of his leg is gradually improving, the skin irritation from shaving is gone, and the bruising is evening out. This picture was taken last night before we went to bed. No photos yet today. At the morning constitutional he was a little more confident going outside (getting the hang of being on a leash and sling in his own yard), although seemed a bit more unstable on his legs when peeing. It's likely just me, but he seems to be getting more clearheaded this morning (at day 3 in jail, w/ 53 more to go, he is definitely going to get bored). And for the life of me I don't understand why animal meds are not MEAT FLAVORED; getting the mouth of a 100# dog who does NOT want his mouth open is loads of fun (yes, he now trusts no food to not have hidden poor tasting surprises - he's even completely chewing up his chicken to make sure). Oh did I ever mention, Jack has some seriously large and well honed teeth; thank God he trusts us (although at this rate, I'm not sure for how much longer).

1st night down - 2 days post-op

First night home wasn't that bad. Jack slept (or at least laid mostly still) all night with his e-collar on (he is NOT a fan of that thing). Jack is definitely a "no-energy" dog this morning. He's completely out of it (which is probably a good thing). Now a word about the veterinary pharmacy industry. You would think that by now, companies making drugs for animal consumption would find some way to make them taste good to animals. Getting Jack to eat his antibiotics is probably the most challenging part of all of this. Thankfully he's trusting enough to let us put them in the back of his mouth - albeit not without a good bit of resistance. This is Jack today, lying on the "new" leg. Note the face of "go away and leave me alone."

Update - Jack's urine has returned to normal at lunchtime today (it had a good bit of blood in it initially - expected since he was cathetered), and his appetite is starting to come back, but still very mopey.

Home - 1 day post-op

Just got Jack home from NWVS. The x-rays were insightful, and exactly as expected. He has 8 screws in his tibia (4 in the newly positioned head, and 4 in the tibial shaft). He's actually bearing some load on the leg which was surprising, and the incision doesn't look that bad. First order of business when he got home was to do his business. Walking with the sling is going to take some learning (Jack's fine with it, it's me that has no coordination). A little blood in his urine, and a pretty soft stool, but the good part is he's easily able to take care of business (one of the big unknowns). Oh, and big time loser parents us gave Jack too much water too soon (he drank down an entire bowl, and then proceeded to throw it all right back up. He's lying down in the office now, where he'll spend the next 16 weeks (remember, he's going to have his left leg done as soon as his right is healed). 1 day down, 101 days to go (seems like a longer time when I type it out in days).

Worth mentioning - we were very impressed with the thoroughness of the discharge procedure at NWVS. The vet tech made the follow up appts, then walked us through the medication details, and the details of the rules for the next 8 weeks. I have to say the folks at NWVS are on top of their game.

Surgery's over - no surprises

Got the call from the vet, Jack's right leg had a completely torn CCL w/ some miniscal damage, but overall the procedure was fairly textbook. Really a relief to KNOW that we did the right thing. He'll recover today and tonight, and assuming all goes well will come home tomorrow.

Surgery today...

We dropped Jack off last night, he'll be in surgery some time today.

T - 4 days

This isn't an update of substance per se, just me rambling. We're scheduled to drop Jack of at NWVS Thursday afternoon, and his surgery is scheduled for Friday some time. Sometime Saturday midday we'll go pick him up and bring him home. It all makes sense, need time to prep, shave his leg (as the photo shows, the boy has hair - we take vaccuums to the task in this house), make sure he fasts long enough before surgery, and then make sure post-op goes well, he comes out of anesthesia fine, and there are no evident complications. I have to give Dr. Lozier and his NWVS staff kudos so far, they've been nothing but objective, helpful, communicative, taken time to answer all my questions, volunteered a lot of extra information both about the condition as well as the surgery, and post-surgical activities. I'm not planning to update the blog again until after we bring Jack home. To feed your eyes, I grabbed a picture from Jack's past, he was about 2y old when we took this picture at Christmas time at the lake.

Formally diagnosed with torn ligaments, 1st surgery scheduled

Like you (likely if you're reading this) we have a dog, Jack, who was diagnosed with torn CCL (cranial cruciate ligament). In Jack's case, both stifles (knees) are affected, so we're going to have two TPLO surgeries performed, one for each leg. Because Jack's a big (100#) active dog, our vet recommended against trying to do both (bilateral) at the same time. In doing research about the injury and and recovery options, we read several blogs and stories of others who've gone through this procedure, and we figured we'd share Jack's experience with you in the hopes of helping you figure things out if you're facing a similar situation and not sure what's in store. Tune in here every now and then as we'll be updating this story as it unfolds over the next several months. Jack's scheduled to go in for his first TPLO next Friday.

This is Jack before his injuries and subsequent lameness (limping) set in.