Loungefly Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 (edited) Hi all, Just thought I might ask for some feedback regarding Mia, our 12 month old Kelpie/Lab cross that is going in for patella surgery on Monday. Some background first.....About 3 weeks ago my wife came home from work and found her hobbling around, holding up her right hind leg. We aren’t sure how it happened (I was at work when the Mrs. came home). Inititally we thought she might have had something stuck in her paw, or at the most maybe just pulled a muscle. She wasn’t limping the entire time. It was intermittent, but not frequent enough for us to think that it wouldn’t take care of itself, plus she didn’t seem to be in any obvious discomfort (we were ignorant about luxating patellas at the time). A couple weeks later (in hindsight we realise we shouldn’t have waited so long) we took her to a vet. He said there was a chance she had a luxating patella. He mentioned the procedures involved and said it would be about $1000 or possibly more to fix it (not including the initial x-rays to suss it out completely first). My wife and I were stressing about this as this couldn’t have come at a worse possible time for us financially. On the advice of a few co-workers I got a second opinion at another vet that has been highly recommended. She mentioned pretty much the same thing. Told us if it was what she thought it was it would cost us between $800 and $1000 including x-rays. Long story short, we had the X-rays done a few days ago. It turns out that a small piece of bone at the top of the tibia (that the ligament attaches to) has broken off the bone which is creating slack in the ligament which is causing the knee to pop out of place. The vet said there’s a chance the groove in the femur probably won’t have to be deepened and that they will most likely just have to reattach the piece of bone to the tibia using a wire or a screw. The surgery will be costing $600. She offered to let us pay half after the operation and the other half we can pay off over time which is a big relief. She’ll be going in for surgery Monday morning. My wife and I are crossing our fingers that everything goes off without a hitch. At this point our main concern is keeping her from aggravating it while recovering (6 weeks I think she said). As I mentioned she’s a kelpie/lab cross and is a nutcase when it comes to taking off at the drop of a hat when she’s in the mood to play or if she sees one of our cats passing by. She’s a very energetic dog. We’re taking some dog wire fencing and making a 3 by 3 metre area just outside the back door so she’ll be able to go outside and do her business while not being able to run around like a nut. The couch is her favourite place to lounge around inside so I think we’ll have to try to break her of that for the time being. She’s never been crate trained because we never felt the need (kinda regretting that now). She’s pretty much well behaved for the most part but she is prone to taking off at full pelt around the house or out in the yard when she’s in a playful mood. I’ve always tried to stick to a routine of daily walks for to release some of the pent up energy and to get her out there to socialise with other dogs and people. If she goes without a walk even for a day or two you can see gets increasingly fidgety over time so this is worrying me a bit if we’re going to have to limit her mobility for an extended amount of time. It’s going to be a long 6 weeks. Before we had the x-rays the vet mentioned a splint so I’m hoping this would slow her down a bit, although from what I’ve read the splint only stays on a couple weeks? I guess I was just looking for some feedback from others who have had this sort of surgery done for an active medium to large breed with lots of energy. Sorry about the novel. It's just been on our minds constantly the last few days Edited August 20, 2010 by Loungefly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Have a talk to your vet, they may some recommendation for you about what to do with her. Good luck with the surgery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I imagine she will need to be rested completely as happens after cruciate surgery. The only way to do this properly with an energetic dog is to crate them. The dog needs to be confined so she cannot run, jump or twist suddenly and be toileted on lead. No other exercise. She wont be happy about it but will get used to being confined. Provide lots of things to chew to keep her amused. The vets are usually no help at all unless they live with very active breeds. They usually just give you a funny little smile and wish you luck after telling you the dog needs complete rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I would also second acrate. Yes it is going to be a steep learning curve for her, but the recovery phace of these types of surgery is absolutely vital. I would be crating her and walking her outside on a lead to toilet, she should be kepy very still. Confining her to a house and small toilet yard will not be enough it is much to large of an area. I always advocate crate training for this reason as a young dog, you may not use it alot as an adult ( And I hope that no dog ever has to go through surgery that requires confinement) but if they have been crate trained it will come in handy later. Not only that but ANY time they need to stay at the vets they will be in a small hospital cage. Having a dog used to the greatly reduces the stress on them. I would buy a crate and start now! Good luck with her surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokhahouse Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Although Mokha did not have this type of surgery he had arthroscopic surgery for OCD of the elbow at 1 year of age. He had used a crate as a pup but I wished I had kept it up as it was a problem keeping him quiet after his surgery, evening confining him to a small penned area he would still try to jump up as he so desperately wanted to get out and play with our other lab. He was either on a very short lead for toileting or we had to use the crate. He did not like it and did put on a little weight because I would give him a kong to quieten him down. At times we crated our other lab so Mokha could be out of it but he would be on lead and with me. It was exhausting to say the least. I just dont know how you can get around the situation without a crate. If you can get a crate today at least you can introduce her to it,give her treats in there so when she comes home maybe it wont be so frightening to her. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loungefly Posted August 22, 2010 Author Share Posted August 22, 2010 (edited) Thanks for the replies everyone. I regret not getting a crate for her when she was still a young pup. I had heard about crate training but at the time didn't think it was necessary for her. Obviously at the time I didn't take into consideration what's happening now. Looks like that's what she truly needs. Unfortunately we're stretched to the limit and can't afford one. (We've had to put off paying a few bills in order to pay for this operation as it is). I think we'll have to make more use of the laundry room for her during the day. She sleeps there at night and it's the only place we have now where we can put her that she can rest comfortably yet not enough space to run around in. I'm not really looking forward to it since she's such a people oriented dog that loves to follow us around like our shadow, but it won't be forever. Thanks again :p Edited August 22, 2010 by Loungefly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokhahouse Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Is there anyone you could borrow a baby gate from so you could section of a smaller part of your laundry room, we did this when Molly came home from the shelter as she had just been spayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Good idea Mokha. The laundry may be to big, they need to be very confined after surgery like that. It is no use having the surgery then having it not heal properly due to not being adequately confined. The recovery which includes strict confinement is absolutely necessary for the best result possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loungefly Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 (edited) Well, she's back home from surgery. The vet gave us some antibiotics and Mia has her leg bandaged all the way up. Luckily it's bandaged up pretty tight and thick so her movement is restricted pretty well. Mia has to go back in a couple of weeks to have it rebandaged. She's laying on a blanket now in the loungeroom with a somber "what in the hell has happened to me?" look on her face. Is there anyone you could borrow a baby gate from so you could section of a smaller part of your laundry room, we did this when Molly came home from the shelter as she had just been spayed. Actually the laundry room is tiny so I think it will do. The actual floor space to walk is about .7 by 2.2 metres (yes, I actually measured it ). Edited August 24, 2010 by Loungefly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all that glitters Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 A crate or babygated area is much better because that way the dog is still in the usual area of the house and can see everyone, not ousted to a little dingy laundry feeling alone, just my opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Actually the laundry room is tiny so I think it will do. The actual floor space to walk is about .7 by 2.2 metres (yes, I actually measured it ). That's a pretty good small space. But watch that she doesn't jump up & down & hurt it that way. That's one reason a crate is better than a room - little head room for jumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 ^Agreed We have a dog in at work at the moment who was put in a laundry about the same size and still managed to get herself into trouble... hopefully she behaves herself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokhahouse Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Well, she's back home from surgery. The vet gave us some antibiotics and Mia has her leg bandaged all the way up. Luckily it's bandaged up pretty tight and thick so her movement is restricted pretty well. Mia has to go back in a couple of weeks to have it rebandaged. She's laying on a blanket now in the loungeroom with a somber "what in the hell has happened to me?" look on her face.Is there anyone you could borrow a baby gate from so you could section of a smaller part of your laundry room, we did this when Molly came home from the shelter as she had just been spayed. Actually the laundry room is tiny so I think it will do. The actual floor space to walk is about .7 by 2.2 metres (yes, I actually measured it ). I hope everything is going well. I didnt think there was anyone with a laundry smaller than mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankari Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I also agree crating is the good option. My Golden Retriever had an operation in May due to having a torn Cruciate Ligament so they had to open up the knee joint remove the damaged ligament and put in a fake ligament. She was on 6 weeks STRICT crate rest, not allowed out of the crate unless on lead for toileting only. Our entrie house except for bedrooms are tiles. So I bought metres and metres of rubber matting to prevent slipping as we were walking her out of the crate/pen i made up for her and outside to toilet. All I did to keep her occupied was toys toys toys, some dogs needs treats etc to keep them happy and quiet for their recovery. From 6 weeks after surgery i immediately started swimming sessions for her. It built up muscle tone without being stressful on the leg. Slowly we built her up and now 3 months on she is able to do zoomies again! Let us know how your dog is! She's a beautiful dog by the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 Crate, crate, crate! Is pointless putting your dog thru the pain of surgery, otherwise. Short term pain for long-term gain. Our very active standard poodle had surgery for a luxating patella and adjusted to the crate without a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now