Slooooooow progress, getting tougher

Well Jack is most definitely feeling better. Unlike the first surgery, he's now reached the point where staying in the room when someone is home and in the house, is NOT what he wants to do. His most recent antic is to put his front paws on the top of the gate - freaked me out when he did this b/c he absolutely can clear it if he wants to. It's evident to me he's feeling much better now, more so than the same time after the first surgery; his left leg must have been hurting him still which would explain how relaxed he was pretty much the entire time. Well that seems to have gone away now. It's not bad when you're out of earshot and eyesight, but if he can see you or hear you in the house, he really wants out of that room. 34 days to go til xrays (85 days from the first surgery, and a whopping 11 months from when this all started back last October). Sorry, no interesting pics today, I did see Hector out in the park yesterday morning before work, I think he was trying to catch a crow. Oh well... more soon

Crazy - more about Hector

Well, we've learned a few really neat things recently. It turns out, that once you get a great little sanctuary in place, a few good bird feeders, a nice bird bath, some protective shelter, basically a great little wildlife shelter, well that in turn becomes a big giant bird feeder. We've now apparently built the neighborhood's biggest and best bird feeder... for falcons. We now have almost daily sightings in the yard of various birds of prey. This little guy lit on the front porch one day earlier this week, then flew over to the dogwood tree and scoped me out before flying away. Turns out, he's not Hector, Hector's MUCH bigger and definitely a Peregrine; this little guy's either a kid, or a slightly different species. Oh well, now we know, bird feeders come in stages; little bird feeder + birds = bird feeder for bigger birds. I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere, like "just when you relax because everything seems just perfect... that's when the big meat-eater bird comes down, plucks you up, rips off your skin and eats you." Maybe there's a nicer way to phrase that. :)

Just bahdin mah tahm

Jack here, killin time with a little chew. Turns out this "jail" thing ain't so great, but I get by. Mostly just sittin around on their bed, doing my best to lay on just about every part that even remotely smells like the 'rents. Course I get my fun. My parents only THINK I shed like this all the time. Little do they know, I can turn it on and turn it off. Suffice to say, right now it's ON. I just love hearing Mom complain about "how can there be THIS MUCH hair after only one day?"... heh heh heh, if only she knew. Well, guess I'll get back to it, sittin here, killin time with a little chew. Hmmm, could use a little squirrel-seasoning.

Hooray hooray, the staples are gone

And with them the collar (or disc - might be more accurate). Vet visit was Thursday, and it's definitely easier the 2nd time around... to a point. About a mile or two away from the vet, still on the highway, Jack started getting antsy. He definitely knew "where" he was. Once we got inside, the same vet tech came out to assess him, and Jack had absolutely NO intention of letting this guy take him anywhere. I even saw his hackles go up at first... leaving me thinking, "no, please do not eat this nice man, he's trying to help you", but it was all fine; we did the same "fake out" maneuver, all three of us walking to the back, and then they go through and I turn around and go sit down. Every time the door opened I could hear Jack's 'chirps' (he does this, it's a short, high pitched sound, when he can't see us and he knows we're there, I interpret it as "hey, I'm right here, where are YOU"), he wasn't real pleased with being back with these folks that always seem to cause him pain.

But even faster than the first time, out he came, trying with all his might to come back to me, and getting no traction whatsoever on that linoleum floor. Surgical site's healed up and his use of the leg is very good at this stage (I rated him at about 85%, almost no evidence of limping or favoring - not bad 2 weeks after invasive surgery).

So we're in the downhill slope now, with every day getting better and better, legs getting stronger, and slowly getting back to normal. Jack's still in jail for the next few weeks, but before we know it he'll be back for X-rays, and then it's free reign of the house, out for walks, life back in the real bedroom, and eventually freedom to go back outside and run, chase, guard... basically be Jack.

As I type this, Jack has eviscerated a toy that to date had proved much more resistant (must have just not had his full attention - it's dead now, you can see the final carnage in this picture). We're now going to see how this Tuffies dog toy stands up. Suposedly from the website a 300# tiger was given one of these things and couldn't destroy it. Jack for the first time today started giving this thing some serious attention... we'll see. More to come next weekend.

Incremental progress

Well Monday evening early, today we had a "lunging incident" early in the morning (someone was walking their dog past the fence next to where Jack does his business, and of course he had to explain to them that this is his yard), nothing serious and he didn't get much into it before I caught him. Note - this is the downside of living next to a park with a dog, there is NEVER a quiet moment, even at 6am.

Limping appears to be down again today, although midday his leg did seem a bit swollen, so 1 Rimadyl to help that go down. Also he for some reason developed a desire to lick his "good" foot today, and started licking a raw spot on it; no flipping clue. It's all these little things that kill me.

Is it Thursday yet? Is it October yet? I am so ready for this to be done. Can you tell it was a long day?

Last E-Collar Weekend (X-46 days)

Well Jack got through this weekend well, the new collar is about 95% (only two occurrences of leg-licking acrobatics), and no loose staples or raw spots; biggest benefit is that he's able to sleep "normally", doesn't "bump" into things, and can drink water, all with the soft collar on.

Note - this soft collar is NOT for aggressive lickers, Jack doesn't lick because he's really not that interested, and the collar provides enough of an impediment, combined with him being so laid back, that he just leaves well enough alone. Any dog serious about licking his leg will get past the soft collar and you'll be back at the vet to get them sewed up again.

His scar is looking good, sealed up nicely. He's limping slightly less today, all signs of progress. This Thursday he gets the staples out, which means the collar's gone too. HOORAY (that's from Jack)! As you can tell from this picture, externally things are starting to look normal (for a shaved shepherd that is), no swelling, no bruising, and the fur is coming back in nicely. Next stop Thursday evening, after that, hunting for that no-limping milestone.

Plodding along

Well not a ton new to report this morning, we've entered the "unremarkable" phase where things kinda stay the same for a while. Still a moderate limp, no worse, no better, swelling is pretty much gone (and luckily so is the Rimadyl), as is the bruising. Sutures look good, staples come out in 6 days. Settling in to the routine again. Nothing picture worthy this morning, more news maybe this weekend.

Day 6 (X-49)

Nights are getting better, Jack slept through most of the entire night (at least without me knowing otherwise). The swelling has gone down even more along with the bruising. He's weight bearing a bit more this morning which is a small, but good sign of progress. 1w from today to get his staples out, can't wait for that. Then the next big milestone will be normal weight bearing, hopefully no later than week 4. 49 days to X-rays to verify bone healing, then the true rehab can start. I may have already said this, but this leg seems to be a little worse for wear, and taking a bit longer to heal (looking mostly at the weight bearing aspect), but I could just have easily have forgotten the first leg experience details already (wait, I have a blog). Right now laying on the floor, tummy full, in foma (food coma).

Well I just went back and checked the May and June posts, so I may be wrong, this may be the same state his other leg was in. By Friday of that surgery (would be tomorrow) that leg looked about like this one does now, and he was still limping, so maybe things are running along at the same pace.

Meds are done - Yay!

Well here we are at day 5. Last night was great (thank you pharmaceutical industry), Jack slept pretty much the whole night with only a few times of moving around; the last time he half got off the mattress, but stopped instead to lay down on my legs, and proceeded to sleep there for the next 3 hours, effectively pinning me down. As of this morning, most of the swelling and bruising have gone away, and I think he's walking better, with slightly more load bearing on his left leg. Best of all, this morning was the last antibiotic, the really big pills that Jack HATES to take, so one big milestone down, next one is next Thursday, removal of the staples and the collar.

Not Jack related - wildlife sighting in metro Portland

This short note has nothing to do with Jack or his surgery, but is an experience I feel compelled to share. Yesterday afternoon late, I happened by the front window of the house, and saw this guy sitting on the trellis. These raptors are fairly common in the area, although it's not often you see one 4' away. Enjoy.

Post Op 2, Day 4

The swelling has gone down considerably, and the minor bruising has faded away, leaving only the major bruising and moderate swelling (noticeable in the ankle/hock area). Jack's still not weight bearing much on the leg, it appears more sore/sensitive than his right leg did after it's surgery, but then he did have more damage to the left knee than the right (the medial meniscus was folded over and had to be removed - so it makes sense that there's more inflammation still in the joint, making it still sensitive). Last night, for whatever reason, Jack was very restless, moving about every half hour to find a different position, so today's going to be a long day.

Wonderful start to day 2

I'll spare you the photos, but Jack started off today great. Up and out to pee, a little wobbly on the new leg, but that's okay. Then back inside for breakfast and meds. Took the meds fine, then scarfed down his breakfast, and settled in on my makeshift bed to start his daily nap... then the whining about an hour later, and baaaaaaaaaaaaarf. All the breakfast and pretty much all the meds on the carpet. Joyful.

Swelling and Bruising

It's now right about 21 hours after the second surgery ended, and Jack's leg has swollen up a lot, about as much as the right leg did the first go round. As you can see here, there's also a lot of bruising. This also happened the first time, and took a few days to subside. This is going to be a long week, but luckily we're starting the home stretch. Barring anything out of sorts, everything gets better daily from this point on.

Evolution of the E-Collar

I have to share this, we found a replacement/alternative to the e-collar, and we'll see how well it works over the next few days. It may not be as cumbersome as the original e-collar, but I hate to say it's a lot funnier. Sorry Jack, we have to share this with the world.

And it took only 4 hours to figure out that this new collar, albeit more comfortable for Jack, is not foolproof, he can reach his leg, extended, past the ring. Well there you go. Nice idea, and for preventing access to the torso, probably works, but for preventing access to the hind legs - not successful. So back to the tried and true "party hat" tonight. Sorry pal.

Back Home

Well Jack was MUCH more animated this time, and very ready to leave the vets. Got him home, gave him a little bit of lunch w/ sedatives and he peed a gallon; didn't repeat the water gulping-puking mistake from the first time home. Right now he's laying on the bed just about asleep... make that now passed out cold. As you can tell from the picture, the leg looks about the same as the right one did. What you can't see is that the suture site is bleeding a bit more than expected, but we're not alarmed. The key will be to keep Jack off his leg as much as possible, and let it heal. I wish I had the X-Rays to post here to show you what before and after images look like, it's really an amazing change. More to come later this weekend, or early next week.

Surgery went fine, coming home this morning

Jack went into surgery yesterday about 4pm and we got the call from the vet about 7:15pm. Everything went fine in the surgery, it was pretty much the exact same procedure as the right leg was 10 weeks ago. The vet said the CCL was completely torn like the right stifle, although the tear was "odd" and "different". She didn't go into details which was fine, we were just happy to know that everything went fine. We're waiting now to get the call to come pick him up. I'll post more later today after he's home and we've had a chance to get him settled.