We drove up to Boyd Lake Veterinary Center in Loveland yesterday for Winston's first swim. Everyone that I met was really nice, and the lady who was in charge of him being in the pool had just adopted a Mastiff, which set my mind more at ease (I'd been worried up to this point that I'd have to explain about their soft personality). Hooray!
I got all checked in (they needed shot records and wanted his history) and then they brought out a life jacket for him and asked if he needed it. Since he hasn't been in deep water since he was 6 months old, I had no idea whether he would know how to swim so we thought it best to put one on him. She seemed a little concerned that he wouldn't like having the jacket put on, but he was fine; it buckled in the front so it was easier to put it on than his winter coat which we slip on over his head.
I'm not allowed in the pool area, so I had to watch through a large picture window. He went out into the pool area just fine, but didn't want anything to do with getting in the pool itself. Since it was his first time, she didn't want to make it a traumatic experience for him so she came back into the building (the pool is outside) and asked one of the other employees to ask Dr. Doherty if I could come into the pool area to help coax Winston into the pool. A few minutes later, the employee came out and said that Dr. Doherty was going to help get him into the pool. I watched them get him in, and it didn't seem too bad. He wasn't happy about it, but they got him in there and weren't mean about it.
I don't know how deep the pool is, but it's over his head because once he got down the stairs into the pool and had to start swimming, he went totally under for a second and when he came back up, he was panicked and flailed about a little before he got balanced back out and into a more normal swimming motion. The pool is pretty small, so to keep him swimming, they have long lines hooked to the handle on the top of the life jacket, and they keep him between two people. They keep enough tension on the lines to keep him pretty centered in the middle of the pool. He swam normally for a short time and then almost made it to the edge of the pool before they pulled him back away from it and that caused him to flail a bit again, but then he got settled and swam normally for just a bit longer. He was definitely using his back legs, but I could tell that he was really tired.
They could tell the same thing, so they pulled him towards the steps so he could get out. They toweled him off and put his own leash back on and brought him back in to me. Dr. Doherty came in to say "hi" and also that Winston wasn't able to swim for 5 full minutes, but made it to 3.5. I'm really glad they didn't try to push him further because he was pretty exhausted.
They said that was a really good start. They'd had one client's dog who had to start at one minute and after 4 weeks built up to 13 minutes. I forgot to ask how often the dog swam to build up to that.
I can't afford to go more than twice a week, so we'll see how he does with that. Our next visit is scheduled for Monday.
Winston didn't seem too sore last night but today I can tell that he got to his limit. He's a little limpy, but not too bad, but once when he came over to the bed at my feet, he sat unexpectedly while he was circling before lying down. You should have seen the look on his face: "OOPS! Uh, I meant to do that."
We're taking a break from the sit-stands today but we've been walking several shorter walks so that he gets to stretch his legs out and doesn't get too stiff.
July 31, 2009
July 27, 2009
July 27, 2009 - 8 wk post TPLO checkup
We just got back from AMVS for Winston's 8 week check. Boy did he NOT want to go in there! They took him back for x-rays and said that he was just facing toward the door the entire time, poor guy. Dr. Trousdale has finished his internship and has moved on to his residency in California. They told me that it was a prestigious position with a lot of competition, so they were all really happy for him to have gotten it. Hooray for Dr. Trousdale!
So I met with the new intern, Dr. Flint (I think?) and with Dr. Duerr. They said that Winston's bone hasn't completely healed, but has healed enough that we can move to the next step in his rehabilitation which is swimming and doing more muscle building activities. They said that they could feel some movement in the joint still most likely due to all of the soft-tissue healing not catching up to the rest of the healing. He's got a tougher road ahead of him because it wasn't a "fresh knee" with no trauma. We had a lot of damage to the soft tissues because of the Tightrope and the infection, and then some further degradation because of the atrophy.
Of course, I would have loved to hear that everything is peachy-keen and we never need to go back, but they want us to start more muscle-building activities and then go back in 4-6 weeks for another re-check to see if the movement in the joint is better. At this point they feel that with some more muscle on his leg to hold things in place, the movement will go away.
We have the "ok" for him to do stairs on his own (no leash) as long as he's not tearing up and down them. He is usually pretty sensible about that, so I'm planning on leaving the baby gate down while we can watch him and put it up if we're not around. I'm also going to start doing the series of sit-stands that we did with the last two knee repairs. He sits for a tiny biscuit then stands up then sits again to get another biscuit, and so on until he's done 5 reps, and we do this 2-3 times a day. It's kind of funny because Josie thinks it's wrong for him to get a treat without her, so she caught onto all of his exercises just as quickly as him, so they both do the exercises together.
I called the Boyd Lake Veterinary Center in Loveland to check on their pool again. Last time I spoke with them it sounded like I'd be doing all the work with getting Winston to swim, but now they've changed it so that their staff is doing all the work. The time of the session has dropped from 30 minutes to 20 (we're supposed to only start with 5 minutes of swimming so that's fine), but the price has also gone up. His first session is set up for Thursday evening at 5:00pm.
We've been having evening thunderstorms lately, so there's a good chance we'll have to reschedule. I've got my fingers crossed!
So I met with the new intern, Dr. Flint (I think?) and with Dr. Duerr. They said that Winston's bone hasn't completely healed, but has healed enough that we can move to the next step in his rehabilitation which is swimming and doing more muscle building activities. They said that they could feel some movement in the joint still most likely due to all of the soft-tissue healing not catching up to the rest of the healing. He's got a tougher road ahead of him because it wasn't a "fresh knee" with no trauma. We had a lot of damage to the soft tissues because of the Tightrope and the infection, and then some further degradation because of the atrophy.
Of course, I would have loved to hear that everything is peachy-keen and we never need to go back, but they want us to start more muscle-building activities and then go back in 4-6 weeks for another re-check to see if the movement in the joint is better. At this point they feel that with some more muscle on his leg to hold things in place, the movement will go away.
We have the "ok" for him to do stairs on his own (no leash) as long as he's not tearing up and down them. He is usually pretty sensible about that, so I'm planning on leaving the baby gate down while we can watch him and put it up if we're not around. I'm also going to start doing the series of sit-stands that we did with the last two knee repairs. He sits for a tiny biscuit then stands up then sits again to get another biscuit, and so on until he's done 5 reps, and we do this 2-3 times a day. It's kind of funny because Josie thinks it's wrong for him to get a treat without her, so she caught onto all of his exercises just as quickly as him, so they both do the exercises together.
I called the Boyd Lake Veterinary Center in Loveland to check on their pool again. Last time I spoke with them it sounded like I'd be doing all the work with getting Winston to swim, but now they've changed it so that their staff is doing all the work. The time of the session has dropped from 30 minutes to 20 (we're supposed to only start with 5 minutes of swimming so that's fine), but the price has also gone up. His first session is set up for Thursday evening at 5:00pm.
We've been having evening thunderstorms lately, so there's a good chance we'll have to reschedule. I've got my fingers crossed!
July 26, 2009
July 26, 2009, 8 weeks post TPLO
Tomorrow Winston has his 8 week post-op check. We've got our fingers crossed that the bone will be healed and that nothing has moved. We've increased the time on one or two of his daily walks by 5 minutes and so far so good, he's still getting up ok after lying down and walking up and down the stairs easily.
One thing that has happened twice this week is that he has yelped and either jumped up (he was sitting down) or shot forward (he was walking), and then looked around with surprise like someone had poked him with something sharp. This had happened one other time many weeks back and he's been fine since then, so I made note of it and figured I'd just watch to see if it becomes regular. I mentioned it to one of my friends and she said that she's had a sudden sharp pain like that following her recent surgery and her doctor told her it was the nerve endings healing and a part of the normal process of healing.
If we find out that the bone is healed, we'll be able to start taking him for walks somewhere other than in our neighborhood because it will be ok for him to go up and down the ramp into & out of the car. Hooray!
One thing that has happened twice this week is that he has yelped and either jumped up (he was sitting down) or shot forward (he was walking), and then looked around with surprise like someone had poked him with something sharp. This had happened one other time many weeks back and he's been fine since then, so I made note of it and figured I'd just watch to see if it becomes regular. I mentioned it to one of my friends and she said that she's had a sudden sharp pain like that following her recent surgery and her doctor told her it was the nerve endings healing and a part of the normal process of healing.
If we find out that the bone is healed, we'll be able to start taking him for walks somewhere other than in our neighborhood because it will be ok for him to go up and down the ramp into & out of the car. Hooray!
July 21, 2009
July 21, 2009 - on the couch again
Ever since he got the infection Winston hasn't been on either of the couches in the living room, at first because his leg was so unstable that I don't think he could manage it. He could stand on his good left leg, but couldn't manage to lift the bad leg up enough to step onto the couch. He'd also walk up to it in the other direction but you could actually see him think, "now how am I going to do this if I can't stand on that leg?" Poor boy.
After his TPLO surgery he didn't get on either of them again. I'm not sure why.... pain? habit? I don't know. All of a sudden this week he has been lounging about on "the dog couch" just like always. I guess he'll "do stuff" when he's good and ready to do it; at least it seems to be another sign of healing.
After his TPLO surgery he didn't get on either of them again. I'm not sure why.... pain? habit? I don't know. All of a sudden this week he has been lounging about on "the dog couch" just like always. I guess he'll "do stuff" when he's good and ready to do it; at least it seems to be another sign of healing.
July 18, 2009
July 18, 2009 - what a beautiful day!
It's one of those wonderful sunny summer days where the temperature is just right. We've already been for a walk this morning and it's almost lunchtime. Both dogs are sleeping at my feet as I write this.
Winston is happy and starting to play more. He sort of trots around the living room with the squeaky snowman and he's been chewing on the nylabones, and he bounces around when we pass bunnies on our walks. Whenever we pass other dogs, he gives his best Lassie impression.
We've been spending a little time outside while I pull weeds out in the yard. We have fields to the west of us where the wind nearly always blows from, so there is no hope of ever having no weeds, but this year has provided us with a bounty of them. I hate just sitting around outside, so whenever we go out, I give my hands something to do. Josie is loose in the yard and Winston is attached to a cable and the other end of the cable is either clipped to my weed bucket or just near me like a long leash. Mostly he's happy to lie in the shade of the tree, but sometimes he gets up and acts silly as people walk by.
AMVS called earlier this week to check on Winston. We have our 8 week check scheduled for the 27th, but since they haven't heard from us in awhile (hooray!), they wanted to make sure that he's still doing well. They asked if I had any questions and I figured since I had them on the phone that I'd ask if we were "out of the woods" as far as infections go. She put me on hold and asked one of the surgeons about this. The response was that 99% of the time, an infection will occur in the first 2 weeks. Since we were already that 1% that didn't fit the pattern, and there's an implant we should always watch for changes, but we were most likely past the worst danger. Huh. Wasn't quite the answer I was hoping for, but it also isn't awful either.
Back to the standard care that I think each of us goes through daily for our furry family members -- are they happy today? Are they eating and drinking normally? Do all four legs work right? Any tenderness anywhere? Does their fur look good? Does their breath smell normal? and so on....
Winston is happy and starting to play more. He sort of trots around the living room with the squeaky snowman and he's been chewing on the nylabones, and he bounces around when we pass bunnies on our walks. Whenever we pass other dogs, he gives his best Lassie impression.
We've been spending a little time outside while I pull weeds out in the yard. We have fields to the west of us where the wind nearly always blows from, so there is no hope of ever having no weeds, but this year has provided us with a bounty of them. I hate just sitting around outside, so whenever we go out, I give my hands something to do. Josie is loose in the yard and Winston is attached to a cable and the other end of the cable is either clipped to my weed bucket or just near me like a long leash. Mostly he's happy to lie in the shade of the tree, but sometimes he gets up and acts silly as people walk by.
AMVS called earlier this week to check on Winston. We have our 8 week check scheduled for the 27th, but since they haven't heard from us in awhile (hooray!), they wanted to make sure that he's still doing well. They asked if I had any questions and I figured since I had them on the phone that I'd ask if we were "out of the woods" as far as infections go. She put me on hold and asked one of the surgeons about this. The response was that 99% of the time, an infection will occur in the first 2 weeks. Since we were already that 1% that didn't fit the pattern, and there's an implant we should always watch for changes, but we were most likely past the worst danger. Huh. Wasn't quite the answer I was hoping for, but it also isn't awful either.
Back to the standard care that I think each of us goes through daily for our furry family members -- are they happy today? Are they eating and drinking normally? Do all four legs work right? Any tenderness anywhere? Does their fur look good? Does their breath smell normal? and so on....
July 13, 2009
July 13, 2009 -- still doing good!
Yesterday we went for 3 "around the block" walks and 1 walk to the edge of the field and back which is just slightly shorter than around the block, and this morning Winston got up more "normally" than he does when he's really sore.
Last night he "ran" around the living room squeaking his squeaky snowman. He didn't really run, but he walked excitedly around just squeaking away, having a grand old time. What a big goofy boy!
I think I can finally say he's definitely on the road to recovery without that nagging worry in the back of my mind. Today I feel like I mean it.
Last night he "ran" around the living room squeaking his squeaky snowman. He didn't really run, but he walked excitedly around just squeaking away, having a grand old time. What a big goofy boy!
I think I can finally say he's definitely on the road to recovery without that nagging worry in the back of my mind. Today I feel like I mean it.
July 12, 2009
July 12, 2009 - 6 weeks post TPLO
Winston seems less sore and we're back to walking around the block again. My goal is to walk around the block every time we walk, but if Winston is too sore or it's too hot, we'll shorten it up. Yesterday was pretty darn hot when we went for our mid-day walk so we stuck to the shadiest route which is a bit shorter than the block. We got out for 4 walks total and 3 of them were around the block, and today Winston is fine, so I'm still convinced that when he does start limping, it's muscle soreness from that poor atrophied leg trying to get built back up.
I've been trying to figure out where I can take him so that he can walk in water. I described in an earlier blog how he doesn't fit in the treadmill, so I've been trying to figure out where I can take him. There are a few dog swimming pools in the Denver metro area, but when I've called around, it sounds like there are only two options for us where he'll fit (one of the perils of having such a large dog), and one is WAY too far away to go regularly, and the other isn't all that far, but they expect the person swimming their dog to know what they're doing (they don't have support staff, so I would just reserve and pay for a 30 minute block of time and I'd have to know what I'm doing). I haven't driven up there to see what it looks like yet and it didn't sound like there was much area for walking, it sounded like it was just a ramp into the pool and then we could do swimming. Winston hasn't been cleared to swim yet, so that will wait. The physical therapist recommended waiting for 12-16 weeks before we tried swimming with him after the TPLO. By that time, the pool will be closed for the season as it's outdoors. Maybe we can try it next year.
There is a "dog training beach" at a nearby reservoir, but the water is murky like most lakes around here, and it's also a stocked fishing lake with boating, so last time we were there (years ago), there were dead fish and fish hooks/fishing line washed up on shore, even in the dog training area.... not really my idea of a "safe environment". Guess I should check it out again to see if things have changed. In the meantime we'll just keep walking on land for now and he'll build muscle on that leg more slowly.
I've been trying to figure out where I can take him so that he can walk in water. I described in an earlier blog how he doesn't fit in the treadmill, so I've been trying to figure out where I can take him. There are a few dog swimming pools in the Denver metro area, but when I've called around, it sounds like there are only two options for us where he'll fit (one of the perils of having such a large dog), and one is WAY too far away to go regularly, and the other isn't all that far, but they expect the person swimming their dog to know what they're doing (they don't have support staff, so I would just reserve and pay for a 30 minute block of time and I'd have to know what I'm doing). I haven't driven up there to see what it looks like yet and it didn't sound like there was much area for walking, it sounded like it was just a ramp into the pool and then we could do swimming. Winston hasn't been cleared to swim yet, so that will wait. The physical therapist recommended waiting for 12-16 weeks before we tried swimming with him after the TPLO. By that time, the pool will be closed for the season as it's outdoors. Maybe we can try it next year.
There is a "dog training beach" at a nearby reservoir, but the water is murky like most lakes around here, and it's also a stocked fishing lake with boating, so last time we were there (years ago), there were dead fish and fish hooks/fishing line washed up on shore, even in the dog training area.... not really my idea of a "safe environment". Guess I should check it out again to see if things have changed. In the meantime we'll just keep walking on land for now and he'll build muscle on that leg more slowly.
July 7, 2009
Happy belated 4th! -- 5 weeks post TPLO
We all survived July 4th with surprising ease. Before we got her, Josie ran loose. She was the only mastiff who regularly left her owners property with their lab. She lived in the country with a lot of farmers, some of whom raised sheep, and apparently kept guns nearby. Anyway, I figured out pretty quickly one day while we were out in the field walking when some distant neighbors (we've got a lot of farmland north and west of our neighborhood) were either goose hunting or target practicing that Josie knew what gunshots were. As soon as she heard the guns go off, she practically dragged me home. She couldn't hotfoot it out of there fast enough. Up until July 4th, she'd been bothered by the sporadic fireworks that were going off in our neighborhood, she often hid in the main bathroom which is the only room in our house that she can get to that doesn't have a window.
On the 4th, we had two or three big parties on our street, and there were a lot of fireworks going off. I worried that Josie was going to go ballistic once the "real fun" started. During one of the lulls, I headed out with the dogs for a quick down the block and back walk. Just as we went past one of the neighbors, they let off a whole string of black cats or something similar. At first both dogs jumped, but then they both seemed to shrug it off, and the fireworks just kept going for the whole walk, and by the time we got back home, neither dog seemed to really care. We kept them inside except for a brief potty break before bed, but they just stayed in the Living Room just like normal.
Winston has been struggling to stand up for the past 2 days. Of course my first fear is always that he's getting an infection since he still has what appears to be a seroma at the bottom of the TPLO incision. I am watching him like a hawk for any other changes, but so far nothing else has changed. His leg looks the same, he doesn't seem to care when I poke and prod and squeeze his knee, and there's no other swelling, and he's eating, and once he gets walking he does pretty well. Is it overuse? grrrrr!
I stopped walking him around the block yesterday and again today. We've just been doing about 8 minute walks, and I've been massaging his leg muscles more than usual in case it's muscle soreness. Today he seemed to get up a bit more easily. It's been 5 weeks since his TPLO, I don't know if this is "normal."
On the 4th, we had two or three big parties on our street, and there were a lot of fireworks going off. I worried that Josie was going to go ballistic once the "real fun" started. During one of the lulls, I headed out with the dogs for a quick down the block and back walk. Just as we went past one of the neighbors, they let off a whole string of black cats or something similar. At first both dogs jumped, but then they both seemed to shrug it off, and the fireworks just kept going for the whole walk, and by the time we got back home, neither dog seemed to really care. We kept them inside except for a brief potty break before bed, but they just stayed in the Living Room just like normal.
Winston has been struggling to stand up for the past 2 days. Of course my first fear is always that he's getting an infection since he still has what appears to be a seroma at the bottom of the TPLO incision. I am watching him like a hawk for any other changes, but so far nothing else has changed. His leg looks the same, he doesn't seem to care when I poke and prod and squeeze his knee, and there's no other swelling, and he's eating, and once he gets walking he does pretty well. Is it overuse? grrrrr!
I stopped walking him around the block yesterday and again today. We've just been doing about 8 minute walks, and I've been massaging his leg muscles more than usual in case it's muscle soreness. Today he seemed to get up a bit more easily. It's been 5 weeks since his TPLO, I don't know if this is "normal."
July 1, 2009
July 1, 2009 -- walking around the block!
Last week we were still doing 5 minutes per walk, but we were walking 4-6 times a day, and towards the end of the week, I increased one walk to 10 minutes. On Monday this week we cut back to 3 walks per day -- it's starting to get HOT during the day, so our walk frequency will depend on the weather. It's hard to cool yourself down when you're close to 200 pounds and all you've got is a tongue to do it with! Uh... I'm talking about Winston of course :)
We increased the time of each walk to 10 minutes. Winston handled that well, and so last night on our last walk I got to the far corner of the block (the halfway point for that direction) and wondered if he could make it all the way around the block. The block is kind of wedge shaped and we're at the fatter end, so depending on how fast we walk, it's more like 12-15 minutes. He managed it fine and seemed ok again this morning, so we did it again on our morning walk. HOORAY! It's a little less boring.
We're going to head out for a short walk and hope for shade.
We increased the time of each walk to 10 minutes. Winston handled that well, and so last night on our last walk I got to the far corner of the block (the halfway point for that direction) and wondered if he could make it all the way around the block. The block is kind of wedge shaped and we're at the fatter end, so depending on how fast we walk, it's more like 12-15 minutes. He managed it fine and seemed ok again this morning, so we did it again on our morning walk. HOORAY! It's a little less boring.
We're going to head out for a short walk and hope for shade.
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