Cruciate Ligament Ruptures

[Kelly_Louise]

Oh it sure is just the best feeling ever... it's like a huge weight has been lifted!!! It's just such a great day... especially when I wasn't expecting to hear that news just yet!!!

Thanks guys for your support, it has been an extremely loooooong journey... well it feels that way anyway. And thank goodness I have been able to share this experience with such great new friends that I have found here.

It's just fantastic, and I can only hope that all those currently still going through the process can have such a good outcome and get to feel this feeling of pure triumph!!!

:cool: :D :p :D :D :wink:

Here's to having a 'normal' bionic dog!!!

Hugs right back to you guys, and to those still suffering.

Lots of love,

Kel and ChloBo

[malleerr]

:p :D :D :D :D :cool:

THATS THE BEST NEWS - ITS REALLY MADE MY WEEK!!! YAY FOR CHLOE

Kel, thats the best news, finally the loooong lonnng wait is over. Walkies in the park here we come.......

I am soo pleased for you and Chlo Boo. Its just fantastic, i can't wipe the smile from my face.

Please please please give my fave red girl a big congratulations hug from me, and keep one for your self also....

Even though you have the all clear you still have to keep in touch.......or else...............

[Kelly_Louise]

Thanks so much Antoinette, I sure will pass on a cuddle to Chloe just from you and Mallee Moo. She's a bit oblivious to all the excitement today (was a big day for her yesterday) but she knows... she has been jumping up on me in excitement when I get home etc and bowling me over quite a bit lately, so I'm sure SHE knows that she's a normal dog again!!!

Thanks for being there for me at all times, and lifting spirits when I needed it... and thanks for sticking with me on this long journey!!! Yourself and the others that have participated in or just read this thread have made a huge difference and now become firm friends. So, of course we will stay in touch and we'll keep flogging this thread to death... much easier with all the new patients to keep it flowing and active!!!

So we've now joined the elite Bionic Dog Club with you guys. Aren't they just a super special bunch? What brave fur-friends we have to have endured so much and still come out smiling (and also much more spoilt ).

Hope Mallee is still holding her throne on the new couch, and continuing to do well and improve also. Long way from being told she would never be able to do so many things isn't it? :D

Thanks again!!! Will post a couple of pics when I can get them off my phone and onto the 'puter... of the super cool Chloe on her way to her triumphant vet appt!!!

Lots of love,

Kel and ChloBo (who sends a kiss to Aunty Antoinette!!)

[fido666]

Hi all,

Check out the Photos forum, I've posted some pics of Duncan helping Mel to celebrate her 1st Birthday today :p .

Cheers,

Corine

[Kelly_Louise]

Corine they are absolutely beautiful... better not tell Chloe she will be jealous!!

[malleerr]

TOO CUTE CORINE

[fido666]

Thanks guys

Cheers,

Corine

[berly]

Oh it sure is just the best feeling ever... it's like a huge weight has been lifted!!! It's just such a great day... especially when I wasn't expecting to hear that news just yet!!!

Lots of love,

Kel and ChloBo

CONGRATULATIONS Kel and Chloe - that is such fantastic news!! After all this time, the moment has finally come. Chloe is cured! I am very happy for you...May she live on to the be the most super bionic dog ever! Alongside Mallee of course! Hope you have a great weekend playing and doing all sorts of fun dog things...

Sorry to have to put a dampner on the celebrations but Jordan has a really nasty slip the other night, he just went splat, limbs everywhere, bad leg in an awkard angle - I freaked out and gave him as much space as possible so he could get up. When he did he was holding the leg up completely off the ground for a minute or 2 before bearing some weight on it again. He didn't cry out or anything when it happened and I can touch his leg without any fuss but obviously I'm not going to try to do anymore than place my hand on his leg but he seems ok - I can't help but notice he is bearing a smidge less weight than before the fall - but can't decide whether or not that's actually true or if I've just convinced myself otherwise. Going to the vet in a couple of days so I'm just monitoring his behaviour/condition for...figures cross nothing snapped. Surely there would be a lot more pain if that did happen?

[bilby]

Brilliant news Kelly, and so so encouraging for us still in transit. I just want to see a pic of Chloe doing that frisbee catching like the cattle dog in my photo ... yeahhh right !

Oh Berly - can't believe it - same happened here 2 days ago!

Not sure exactly what did happen ( though had some very very terse words with husband the night before when I came home to find Bouf loose with him & the other 2 dogs in the sitting room .. except since I'd come home they were all bouncing & shoving in the hall to get to me. "He's all right by now, surely ? " ... how many times do I have to explain? )

We're at week 5 today & Bouf had been weight bearing properly for 2 & half weeks. Get him up the next day & he's holding the leg off the ground, hopping & only toe-tipping when weeing.

I did the same as you .. ie feel the leg & panic

Anyway he did carry it gingerly the next day - I think .. wondering if I was imagining it as you said. Seemed back to normal yesterday but it's hard to tell in the dark.

l've taken today off work as I was thinking I'd be racing him down to Murdoch, but maybe not. I'll watch him when he gets up ( hey it's only 8am .. he is not an early riser .. this is not an active dog) & decide.

I just had a thought .. I wonder how many hours & minutes we've all spent collectively with our eyes glued obsessively on a dog's back leg ?

[Kelly_Louise]

Thanks very much berly... it is a great feeling and hopefully you and Jordan will know what it feels like soon!!! She is the queen of the castle at the moment and when the hair finishes growing back, hopefully no one will ever guess what she's been through for the last year.

Sorry to hear of Jordan's fall. It's very worrying isn't it? Chloe also had a fall with her first leg and landed in the 'splits' position, but luckily it didn't hurt her. You will feel better once the vet has had a look though. Dogs can be deceiving and don't always show pain as we would expect them to, especially when it's their legs and they are pretty much forced to use them, pain or not. But if he is letting you touch the leg and hasn't regressed in his progress too much hopefully it was just a scare and it may be just a bit tender. However, nothing anyone says will stop you worrying until you get to your vet appt... trust me I know how that feels!!! Just keep an eye on him and keep him as quiet as possible, he is your boy and you will know if something is not right. How are you going with his weight management? Have you started him on a diet? If so, what are you feeding?

Anyway, keep your chin up, you and Jordan are doing well and I'm sure you'll get a good report at the next check up.

Lotsa love,

Kel and Chloe

[Kelly_Louise]

"He's all right by now, surely ? " ... how many times do I have to explain? )

I just had a thought .. I wonder how many hours & minutes we've all spent collectively with our eyes glued obsessively on a dog's back leg ?

Thanks to you too Bilby!!! Not sure if we'll ever see her doing the flying catch, but hopefully she will be able to chase a ball again in moderation... and after all we've been through, believe me that's the best I could ever hope for!!! Since her restriction she's become a bit of a bum lying around alot, however when you jingle that lead she's off to the gate like a shot. It's so heartening to see, considering only last year she would hide in her bed at the thought of going for a walk and if she was forced to go she would lag behind sadly. Now you have to keep up with her!!! So I can only hope the best for your Bouf too.

Regarding your OH, yes same attitude I got from my family. They thought I was just being anal and overly obsessed. They didn't understand that if the risk was there, then the chance to have it all go horribly wrong was also present... and I certainly didn't want to start all over again. Just gotta be patient and keep reinforcing the rules, as you guys are now in the danger period where Bouf is probably feeling much better than he has for a while and wants to go go go. Not good to hear of his accident either. Hopefully he has just made it a bit tender and sore but done no real damage. My surgeon was always of the opinion that if they suddenly went backwards in their progress for a period of longer than 24 hours or so then it was best to rush them back for a check up... but hopefully Bouf will come good and maybe even have learnt his lesson not to try to do too much (yeah right!!).

Hehehehe, the last comment was a good one!!! It's an interesting theory!!! Add that to the amount of time we think about them and worry when they are not in sight, the loss of sleep etc, and you know what... the others are right... we probably are a little insane surely!!! In hindsight I must have been a terror to live with and my obsessive ways with Chloe... All I can say is we have some damn lucky pooches!!! But oh so worth it!!!

Hugs to Bouf hope he's back on the road to recovery again soon.

Lots of love,

Kel and ChloBo

[berly]

Jordan seems to be back to normal now - well as normal as he can be. He's back to weight bearing again so i dont think the fall affected him as much as it did me. He's being really energetic these days and it's so hard to keep him quiet, he's caught on that when he gets taken out of his crate it's for the toilet and once he is done he has to back up again so lately he's been mucking around, sniffing and carrying on before he does his thing because he knows it buys him some extra time out of the crate. Just today he tried to jump on me - he weighs nearly 50 kg!!!!

Speaking of his weight - last time he got weighed he was 48kg and since then i've cut back on his dry food and replaced it with some vegies. I've also been feeding him more raw meals - at the moment it's alternating between raw meat (lean human grade stuff) one day and dry the next with varying amounts of vegies, sometimes pasta/rice and egg once a week etc. The proportions are quite smaller now and i give him a pigs ear or some other treat in the morning. I don't know if it's actually working in terms of him losing wieght but at least he's healthier? The only issue is when i give him raw he poos without fail 2 hours later, but lately after eating dry (sometimes not all the time) he doesnt poo til the next day. He's a pretty big dog and I'm used to him pooing twice a day - thoughts and opinions please?

I am really concerned about the state of his bad leg though - the muscle tone is basically non existant and i know there's nothing that can be done now but how is he suppose to increase his wieght bearing on it if it's weaker anyway due to less muscle tone even if the ligament is stronger??

Meanwhile what happend to Bouf? Has he returned to weight bearing yet?? I hope so...keep us updated

[bilby]

How bad a mother am I ??

Hope the family never reads this board.

Youngest son Nathan ( living at home) broke his collar-bone paintballing this morning.

Middle son Sam rang from Casualty just to prepare me ..

1st thought: Is he OK ?

2nd thought: Yessssssssss Bouf will have 24/7 companion for the next 6 weeks

I am so bad.

[bilby]

Thanks for that "24 hour" guideline from your surgeon, Kelly. Very useful to know.

Bouf seems absolutely fine again now .. no toe-tipping even.

Berly .. I have been so conned by Bouf too ... we gaze at the stars, we sniff the air, we sniff the icy grass that I'm usually standing bare-footed in, half lift a leg .. hope & memories of my warm bed .. no, let's move on to a better place .. & repeat the process as long as it can be stretched out. I thought my night-time nursing days were over once I'd weaned the boys. Thank goodness for Axle .. having another male marking territory under Bouf's nose eventually makes him let go.

I used to only feed the dogs once a day. Changed to twice a day after Gem had a scary close bloat episode. I feed Eukunubra dry food, + fishoil + glucosamine chronditin supplements, shared can of sardine & raw egg once a week or so + polony, bacon, scraps etc treats if training.

Gem (my 40 kg female GSD) was really overweight & I changed her diet to Eukubra senior & she lost weight fast whilst not seeming hungry & also seemed a lot more mobile. But I did also start adding the fishoil & gluc to her diet as well as Bouf's at the same time so it may have been 100% due to that.

Eukunubra seemed so expensive but I do use so much less. I buy it in bulk through my trainer who gets it wholesale. I think it probably works out the same if not less than the supermarket dry foods ( Chum, Pal etc), but I have seem a much better result in the dogs. I sound like an advertisement, don't I ? Jacquie did a independant comparison of the different dry dogs foods as her thesis & based on that she reckons it's the best... I was very suss to start with but have to agree now.

Bouf does 1 huge poo about 10 minutes after eating in the morning (I knew you'd want me to share that with you), Gem does 2 a day & Axle seems to do multiples.

Bouf also has a puny little back leg.

The schedule given to me is that once he's had his 6 week X-rays, assuming all is OK, we then start a progressive slow steady walking program to build up that hamstring muscle starting at 10 minutes 2 x day & reaching 30 minutes 2 per day over the following 6 weeks. Development of that muscle is all important in helping the mechanics of the leg so I guess it would be the same for Jordan.

But maybe some of the more experienced bionic dog owners have other suggestions ?

[fido666]

Your dogs will regain muscle tone once they can weight bear and exercise a little too. My Duncan had his leg bandaged for 4 weeks when he originally broke it and then for 10 days after the ortho surgery to correct the resulting growth defect. Imagine what was left of his leg after all that immobilisation . I had a helping hand to recovery in the form of the Underwater Treadmill tank at Dogs In Motion, what a godsend that was. I'm told Duncan is only the 2nd dog the physio has ever seen go in the tank who taught himself how to float, the other being a Golden Retriever (who you would think would like water). I'll see if I can find a photo to post on the thread, be back shortly!

BTW, my surgeon said no swimming for the first 6 weeks as it's too much strain on the leg, the treadmill was oK as it was low impact.

Cheers,

Corine

[fido666]

Here's a few pics, the one with blue vet wrap on his leg was taken just after he broke his leg (see how little he was!). The one with the pink bandage was taken the night we brought him home from the ortho surgery (he's doped up on Morphine so looks a bit gross). The last is in the treadmill tank, basically a giant walk in tank with a treadmill in the bottom. They bolt the front up when the dog is in and then fill the water up, very disconcerting for the dog the first few times as it comes up from underneath. Duncan not only taught himself that if he pulled up all 4 paws he didn't have to work, he used to use the rail at the front to rest his paws on and then just "work" the back legsl what a lazy bugger he was .

Cheers,

Corine

[Kelly_Louise]

Oh isn't Dunc the cutest thing? Seemingly too smart for his own good, but still adorable.

Agree with Corine, the leg muscles will develop once Jordan starts using them again. Chloe's had wasted away to almost nothing she had little chicken legs, but she has built much more muscle tone now however still a way to go. As they get stronger it will happen and your vet should let you know when it's time for him to work on his muscle and the best way for him to go about it. It is important for the muscles to build up as it will strengthen and stabilise the leg. We have built Chloe's up with short regular walks that have progressively gotten a bit longer... but we are not rushing anything yet!!

Glad to hear both Bouf and Jordan are back to their 'normal' selves again. What a relief. Bilby, I wouldn't say you were a bad mum, I would have done the same thing!!! You are pretty funny though. I thank goodness that my poor parents stayed with Chloe 24/7 after I finished my holidays, they were a Godsend.

About the pooing situation... , not sure Berly. I think it will differ depending on what you feed. I think Chloe poos about 2 or 3 times a day? Maybe 4? I wish I could ask her. I can't remember the last time she had "normal" non dieting food either so I can't even compare.

Well it's good to hear that the patients are still doing well. We love good news!!! Keep it coming!

Love,

Kel and Chlo

[Kelly_Louise]

Hi guys, how is everyone?

Nothing exciting to report here... Chloe goes to have her vaccinations today, and it's the first time since forever that she gets to go to a 'normal' vet!!! hehehe, it's amazing the things we get excited about.

She doesn't appear to be losing weight, and is now almost exclusively on her Prescription Diet, so I'm at wits end about her weight. It really concerns me. Been reseaching food and trying to get my hands on Natural Balance Calorie Reduced. I have also been doing spy work to see if anyone is feeding her when they shouldn't be. I know that next door throw bread pieces :p but no matter how much you threaten them they don't get it so we have to do a patrol of the fenceline every day. She's more active now but still isn't losing weight as she should, so we will have to try a few different things I guess.

Anyway, how's everyone else doing?

Lots of love,

Kel and Chloe

[bilby]

Hullo Kelly,

Just maintaining here, trying desperately to restict Bouf's movement. He is so bouncy & I just haven't found a way to stop him twizzling ( turning on the spot in a series of leg-thumping jumps). He always got lots of laughs & approval for it before .. he looks so silly. He still does it to try & please me .. but now I'm so down on him.

Poor old boy .. I feel I'm always growling at him .. "Steady! " Slow!" "Wait" .. & he's doing NOTHING wrong except in these circumstances. I daren't even pat or praise him too much or he twizzles! It's horrible .. he just looks so puzzled and so sad sometimes ..but we do have lots of hugs.

I took Nathan to the orthopaedic clinic yesterday & they only gave him 2 weeks off work. He can start moving his arm in 3 weeks & has another appointment in 4 weeks. I found that sequence a bit hard to follow.

2 weeks ? I don't think so .. Bouf has another 6 weeks convalescence to go. ;)

Rang the clinic to clarify that Nat had understood the instructions .. & had a big fight with some nurse about the unreasonableness of expecting him to return to work with 1 arm. When I asked if they were clearing him to drive in 2 weeks, she said "Is the car an automatic? ". :p Well no .. but even if it was, he's OK to drive to work with 1 hand ? OK to drive the cars at work with 1 hand ? Spray paint customers' cars whilst holding the spray gun with 1 hand ? that could give some interesting wavy effects. It was just bizarre.

Anyway .. will take him back to our GP who is a very sensible man .. & not as out of touch with the realities of working life for most people.

Axle tore his toe yesterday so trotted off to the vet again in the afternoon .. seems OK today.

The BIG day for us is next Wednesday when Bouf has mid-term X-rays. I just wish it could be today.

Fido .. Duncan is beautiful .. great info on the treadmill as well. Thanks.

[bilby]

Kelly, Chloe sounds a bit like me .. & we are both middle-aged !

I was just wondering if the same sort of feeding regime advised for spreading menopausal women might help with dogs. This is TOTALLY my thought .. have never read anything about it for dogs. But I would think that the same principle applies ?

ie boosting the Metabolic Rate that slows with age.

Since you're already doing the exercise & diet part, I was thinking of this part ..

How Often We Eat

Our metabolic rate increases during digestion of food, a process known as the Thermal Effect of food. In simple terms, if we go too long without food (5 hours for men; 3 hours for women), our body thinks there is a food shortage and our metabolism tends to slow down.

Eat Breakfast and Eat Regularly

To benefit from the Thermal Effect of food and ensure that your body burns calories willingly, eat breakfast and then eat regularly throughout the day

Maybe worth a try ?

Edited September 1, 2006 by bilby