Bark! The Blog

Day 3 was much easier.  We slept in and I finally got her feeding and pill intake on the right schedule to agree with her stomach.  She seemed a little more sore and slower moving around, but I think that was due to a little too much activity the previous day.  The swelling was the same, but her bruising looked much better.  Due to gravity and the extra activity, a large fluid sac has formed around her lower leg joint.  Dr. Lozier has assured me that this is normal since they inject a lot of fluids into the body when performing surgery.  He said that it’s not painful at all and should decrease in size in a few days.

We spent the majority of the day watching a Heroes Season 2 Marathon with the occasional potty break.  She is a little resistant to go outside.  I think it’s because we have to use the sling to help her get down the step and out the front door.  Once she’s out there she stares desperately towards the sidewalk, the direction we take to go for our daily walks.  It will be another six weeks before we can go for a walk.  With a little persuasion she eventually sniffs around the yard and does her business with relative ease.

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Crazy dog owner sleeping arrangement...

We had an early start to the morning.  Neither one of us were sleeping all that well, I think Kaz was recognizing my stress as I was waking up every hour through the night to check on her.  Around 7am I brought her out for her first potty break of the day.  She immediately headed towards the sidewalk, ready to take our usual morning walk route.  It keeps surprising me how active she really is on her leg.  I reigned her back and she made a couple laps around our small yard before relieving herself (again, just a pee).

Concerns:

I made the mistake of feeding her all her medication before breakfast, then hand feeding her kibble afterward.  Sure enough, an hour later I was cleaning up her vomit on the bedroom floor.

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After an hour of discussing the surgery and recovery procedure, Trish (the Vet Tech) finally brought Kaz into the exam room.  Kaz came walking in slowly, with the help of a sling, but her tail was wagging and she looked alert and happy.  I was surprised at how mobile and aware she was.  Trish helped me walk her out and showed me how to use the sling and leash, while Kaz took her sweet time stopping to smell anything that gave a whiff of interest.

The hardest part about Kaz’s homecoming was getting her in and out of my Blazer.  107 pounds with a bum leg is hard to move around.  I had folded down all the seats and layed her big bed in the back to give her a big comfortable and flat area.  Trish helped me load her in by placing her front paws up on the bed and gently lifting her whole back end in.  We thought of a strategy to get her out of the car and my friends, Natalie and Janan, met me at home to execute it.  We dragged the bed to the back of the open tail gate and basically fork-lifted her out of the car with one person supporting her front half and one person supporting her back half.  Once she was out, she was ready to walk on her own right into the house.

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Northwest Veterinary Specialist, Dr. Scott Lozier, was Kaz’s surgeon for the TPLO.  With the help of his awesome assistant, Trish, they successfully completed Kaz’s TPLO and expect a good to excellent recovery.  Here are the vets’ notes from the surgery:

Diagnosis: Complete tear of the left cranial cruciate ligament.

Kaz's Angry Ligaments

Procedures Performed: 11/12/09 Arthoscopic examination of the left stifle (knee) revealed severesynovitis and synovial proliferation.  There were mild osteophytes (athritis).  A complete tear of the cranial cruciate ligament was noted.  The radio frequency unit was used to ablate portions of the fat pads to improve visualization of the cruciate ligament and menisci and to remove the remnants of the cranial cruciate ligament.

The medial meniscus was damaged with the caudal horn folded forward.  The medial meniscus was treated by removing the caudal half.  The lateral meniscus appeared mildly frayed at the central margin.  The lateral meniscus was debrided with the radiofrequency.  The articulate cartilage appeared to have suffered grade I (mild fibrillation).  This injury was in the region of the tibial condyles.  The cranial aspect of the caudal cruciate ligament was moderately frayed at the cranial proximal lateral aspect.

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Winter is upon us!  Here are some great tips from Wapiti Labs Inc on how you can make the most of the cold season with your dog.

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