The Good Old Days

Yesterday Winston had his third follow-up visit post-surgery. The vet says he's doing well, but told me I should still keep him on leash or crated except when I'm able to closely supervise him.

Oops. He's been off leash since the first week after surgery, with me scrambling around to keep him under control. Hopefully I can keep Winston from self-destruction over another fourteen days because that's when we have our (hopefully) final appointment. The vet says if everything looks good, Winston will be taken off restriction.

Winston, of course, doesn't feel he should ever have been on any sort restriction at all, and is offended over my helicopter pet parent ways.

What do you mean, we can't wrestle?

I think this poor puppy has given up on ever being allowed to have fun again. He hasn't gone to puppy day care, been in a training class, or strolled through delicious goose poop in more than a month.

Geez, Mom, whatever happened to the good old days?

One Day Post-Op

We are one day post-surgery,and you may notice that only one of Winston's legs is bandaged. On the morning of surgery, the vet called me and said he woke up at 4:30 am thinking about Winston's case. He told me he had a strong feeling that he should not operate on Winston's right leg, since at this point Winston wasn't having any problems with it. The vet feared that surgery might make things worse for his non-limping leg.

To tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad. Winston is so pitiful with one bum leg, I can't imagine how we (meaning I) would be able to cope with two surgically altered legs at the same time.

As you can see, Winston is wrapped up in a weird way, almost as though he's on the tip-toe of his foot. That being the case, he doesn't want to put any weight on his leg at all, and hops around on three legs instead.

Poor guy. He's pretty miserable, and can't find a comfortable position to sleep. Since he's on a no running, no jumping, no roughhousing, no anything regimen; I try to put him in his crate to keep him safe. This is NOT a popular idea. Barking, and crying, and whining, oh my!

There's only one thing now that makes Winston happy. Food. He may well end up doubling his weight by the time all this is over. When Winston is clearing all the peanut butter from the Kong, he's quiet. This buys me about five minutes to breathe. Five.Whole.Minutes.

Oh, and guess what? In the midst of all the fun we're having, my daughter phoned. Seems her pup tore an ACL jumping on the bed. Now little Tinker Bell has surgery scheduled next week.

When it rains, it pours. Hope you're not getting as soggy as we are.

Our Paws are Crossed

Today was the day. Winston and I trekked our way across the mighty Missouri for a second consultation with the veterinary orthopedic surgeon regarding his wonky little front legs.

Since both legs are bad, they both need surgery. The vet said we could do one and then do the other at a later date, if I preferred to spread out the cost, but his recommendation was surgery on both front legs at the same time...a double ulnar ostectomy. 

The procedure basically entails removing a small section of the ulnar bone on each leg and inserting some fat taken from Winston's leg in between the two sections of bone. This (hopefully) will allow the still-growing radius bone to grow without being pulled into bowing out even more than it is now because of the no-longer-growing ulnar bone. After surgery, Winston will be in the hospital for 1-2 days and then placed on 4 weeks of rest, while we cross our fingers for success.

Definition of success: Improvement. I've been cautioned that his legs will never be perfect, at least until the veterinary world comes up with a satisfactory knee replacement procedure. The bad news is there's a chance everything could be for naught, as surgery could worsen his condition. Since I think that can be true for any surgery, I decided to press on. 

I must admit to whining a tiny bit to the vet since we've already spent $700+ just for consultations, exams, and x-rays. He must have taken pity on me as he said he'd see what he could do. When he gave me the cost for surgery on both legs, it actually turned out to be far less than what I imagined it would be, although still enough to put a decided dent in the old pocketbook. 

After thinking it over for about a second, I decided to go ahead and have both legs done at the same time. Who needs a second anesthesia and a second 4 week recovery period? Not us! Let's get on with it and hope for the best.

So Winston is scheduled for surgery next week on June 1. Positive thoughts and crossed paws would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Could an Apple a Day Keep the Vet Away?

This morning, a friend asked me if I watch any of the veterinary shows currently on television.

I told her no, because my house is a veterinary show.

There's my son's dog, Brady, who's at my house about half the time. Between his plethora of medications for severe skin allergies and the diaper I have to keep on him to prevent his teeny little marking habit, I might as well be a vet tech.

And now I have Winston. When I brought home an adorable little ten-week-old bundle of fur, I never dreamed about the possibility of mortgaging the house to pay for vet bills.

So far I've spent hundreds on x-rays, ultrasounds, and consultations with an orthopedic veterinary surgeon to figure out why he developed a small limp.

Winston has now been diagnosed with elbow incongruency and premature closure of ulnar physis. In short, he's got rotten knees. And not one rotten knee, mind you. Two of them. One is just a whole lot worse than the other.

The specialist gave me the bad news via phone. He's thinking Winston will need multiple surgeries to "fix" his problems. Of course after surgery, I must keep him perfectly still for 6-8 weeks. Did I mention he's a 7 month old puppy?

We meet to discuss the frightening details next week, and it's a sure bet the cost is going to be astronomic. Worse yet, from what I've read about surgeries for such issues, there's something like a 50-60% success rate. Awesome.

Winston, of course, is oblivious to what anyone says. Despite instructions to "take it easy" he's running everywhere and jumping around like the Energizer Bunny on stimulants.

Yesterday I found him here...

Yes, even the cat tree isn't safe.

And speaking of cats, Bogey is the only critter in my house who doesn't have some sort of weird health problem.

Another score for me in the game of cats vs dogs!

Peppy Puppy Problems

It's been an eventful few weeks. My dear, sweet mother-in-law passed from this life to the next on May 3 after a long and brutal illness. I'm glad she's no longer in pain, although she'll be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her, most especially her husband of sixty-four years. What a sad and lonely adjustment this will be for him. Sometimes the circle of life isn't very easy.

A while back you may remember me mentioning Winston developed a limp. This has not improved, so he will see a veterinary surgeon on Wednesday. Apparently, he may have a dislocated shoulder. The surgeon doesn't know whether he can put things back in place and keep them there using a "sling" or whether Winston will need a full blown surgery complete with a screw and bolt to keep his shoulder where it's supposed to be. I guess this is one of the issues that can happen with little bow-legged dogs. Who would have dreamed a seven month old puppy would have joint problems? All I can say is...yikes.

I'm hoping for the least invasive option, but it all depends on what the vet thinks is necessary. Regardless of what method is chosen, looks like there will be several weeks where Winston is not allowed to run around or jump while he heals.Good luck to me on accomplishing something like that with the peppiest puppy around.

Tranquilizers, maybe?

Even with his current sore shoulder he still leaps up and down more than any frog Mark Twain ever ran across in Calaveras County--or anywhere else for that matter.

Suggestions for the weary are welcome.

Practically Good as New

As you may recall, on Monday Indy had a scheduled follow up for a minor procedure that turned into a major ordeal primarily due to the medication he was given afterward. I couldn't decide whether to take him back for the appointment or not.

All my angst over the decision was wasted. Due to snowy, slippery roads, we canceled the appointment anyway. Haven't rescheduled it either. His eyelid looks fine to me. He's been to the regular vet twice since the surgery and has finally recovered from the never-to-be-taken-again meds. I have a new philosophy about the whole thing.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Indy's Surgery

The patient

A few weeks ago Indy's vet referred him to the doggie opthalmalogist to have a growth removed from his upper eyelid. We went to the appointment yesterday, and after a five minute consultation discovered that the doc would be able to do the surgery same day. Only, of course, after I received my estimate of expense.

That process took a little longer. An assistant came in with a handful of papers. Our conversation went something like this.

"Will I faint when I see the number?"

"Oh no. It's not bad at all."

I glanced at the list of things the doc proposed to do, but my eye drew immediately to the bottom line figure. The amount came in at roughly double the worst case scenario figure I'd contemplated. I gulped and whispered an inquiry.

"Do you take credit cards?"

Not to worry. Of course they do.

If this is a "not bad at all" figure, I can't imagine a "knock your socks off one." Perhaps it's equal to the gross national product of a small country.

Ah well, the costs of pet ownership.

Anyway, surgery is over. All things reportedly went well (pending pathology report--a bargain at only $90).

As you can see in the picture above, Indy's wearing the dreaded collar while his poor little stubby tail points south. That part of his anatomy is always a barometer to how he feels. Even Bogey, not known for his compassion, feels sorry for our boy.

We all hope he'll have tails up by tomorrow!