Katie has been limping around a lot lately, with some obvious problems in her back right leg. Two years ago she had to have knee surgery on the back left leg, and these symptoms looked very familiar. She doesn’t whine or whimper, but it obviously gives her so much trouble that we’ve essentially stopped taking walks. Because the specialist who treated her last time only works from referrals, I took her to my vet last week and got the referral (this time I made sure they didn’t x-ray her which last time cost me $200 to put her under and have the x-ray taken, only to have the specialist use his own much better x-rays that didn’t require her to be under anethesia).
Before I took her in today they had said that if surgery was required they might do it today. That meant I would get her back tomorrow and I signed leave for that day and Friday to stay home with her and make sure she doesn’t have problems or move around too much.
The doctor examined her and said she did need the surgery and she should be able to recover fully, but he wanted to have blood work done to head off any possible problems with the anesthesia and surgery. Because it takes a day to get those results back they will now be doing the surgery tomorrow.
Keep your fingers crossed for Katie. Even if all goes well, she is under house arrest for the next eight weeks. (See a follow-up after two weeks)
Lucky Katie that she has Ted for a daddy. Other owners would have just put her down! I hope all goes well for your little black doggie with the multi-colored tongue! You are a very caring care-giver. Does this call for prayers?
The doctor called me tonight and said that Katie had come through the surgery fine and the post-op x-ray showed everything was fine. After she wakes up and gets a checkup tomorrow morning I can take her home. Clio was very, very glad to see me when I came home. She’s not used to be in the house by herself all day.
I brought Katie home this morning. She is pretty out of it. She whimpers sometimes so I know she is in a lot of pain but they gave me a couple of different kinds of pain medication for her to take. I need to go to the store to buy some cheese to wrap the pills in. Everything looks exactly like the last time. But this time they did give me an x-ray. It shows the T-shaped plate that holds on the top of the tibia now that it has been cut and rotated. Six screws hold the plate on. They use regular sutures to hold the incision shut, but they also have metal staples that you can see. There is a stray staple below the surgery where they removed a small bump that was on her leg.
My dog had TPLO surgery 3 weeks ago and has had a slight regression. She is starting to limp a little more than she was and holding it up while standing. Didanyone have the same experience? I am taking her back to the vet in 3 days to check it out (I couldn’t get her in any sooner). I need some encouraging words!