Kenz Post Surgery Week 7

So today marks the end of 7 weeks post surgery and I would really rather the situation was a  little rosier.

The good was last night was the first night in 7 weeks I have had my black and white fury hot water bottle back. Emma said she could see no problem if Kenz decided to jump off the bed overnight so long as it was only the once or twice :). Kenz loved being given a little more freedom overnight without having to spend the night in a crate.

Today we started out with a 5-10 min walk before work. Hmmm not good. Kenz came up 3 legged lame on the way home :(.

She was left crated for roughly 7.5 hours while I was at work. Let her out for a toilet break and she was barely toe touching and not a happy camper.

I left her for a little while and we headed out for another 5 min walk about half an hour after I got home from work and she seemed ok although was showing evidence of fatigue in that leg when we returned home.

I just wish the situation would improve. She shouldn't be looking anywhere near as bad this far along and I am a little concerned :(.

Here are a few photos of Kenz happy to be back on the bed after 7 weeks of sleeping in a crate.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 48 (A Plan)

Its a gorgeous day, the sun is shining, clear blue skies and Kenz is lapping up being allowed out and about and having more freedom around home. There have been no more 3 legged episodes since Monday and I am quietly thinking life may soon be back to normal and lame Kenz will hopefully be a thing of the past.

John has said there is nothing she can do at this point to upset the surgery so that is a relief. Emma is hoping by the time she sees her again in 3-4 weeks we have built up to 20 min of walking twice a day and no more crating :).

Seems there is finally light at the end of the tunnel and no its not a freight train.

ETA. Spoke to soon on the leg has seemed fine while not on 3 legged she wasn't happy on it when we walked back into the house after our second 10 minute walk for the day (we had only gone about ~600m) and just before when I had her loose in the back room she went to sit and it was obviously uncomfortable and bothering her badly.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 46

Emma has just been and we now have a plan :). There was some twitching and muscle spasm through her surgery leg which she released and she has stressed the most important thing to do over the next 6 weeks is to build muscle. Some general overall soreness but the shoulder seems ok and no issues with the biceps tendon. The problems she are having a highly likely to be the result of not very much muscle support for the patella so fingers crossed it all works out in the end.

Kenz can start with 2 x 5-10 minute walks each day for the next week and can add 5 minutes the following week. Building up to 30 min duration. She is also allowed a little more freedom at home so long as all she is doing is walking around and not being stupid.

I won't say the last 3 days have been totally trouble free with half a dozen incidents of Kenz picking up her surgery leg for varying lengths of time. It is enough to worry me but as Emma said the patella needs muscle support to remain in the groove so she isn't to surprised by the current issues.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 44

We managed 2 walks today and Kenz thought they were the best things ever. She was bouncy, happy and enjoyed a small amount of freedom and being allowed out of the car to walk around the oval rather than left in the car while Ness was off exploring.

Kenz's version of a walk consisted of 1-2 minutes of sniffing and then she spent the rest of the time bouncing in heel position, asking to work. Bless her little white socks she is a workaholic that is for sure. She is happiest doing stuff.

I am still concerned about the verdict from John. I guess we can only see what Emma has to say on Monday. 24 hours later I am still a tad unsure of where things are at and what to expect in the future.

Kenz Post Surgery 6 Week Follow Up

Back from her 6 week appointment and a some what mixed verdict from John. She has some moderate muscle wastage (to be expected) and the disappointing news is the patella is still luxating slightly :(. On a grading scale he probably only grades it at a half but not really the news I was hoping for. He is hoping with physio and building up the muscle that it holds it in fine.

We can now start adding leash walks back into her schedule and swimming and building things back up again. Her current weight is 12.7kg.

I am a little disappointed in the "news". I just hope she doesn't have to go through this again in the future.

In other news Kenz happily coped with going out to the DWD trial venue for a little look around and to try on a balance harness. The only disappointment was when we finished in there I walked her out to the car and she again ended up on three legs :(.

I have touched base with Emma and she has a physio appointment on Monday morning. Apparently it might not be all such a downer - Emma seemed to suggest some degree of subluxation is to be expected with that much muscle loss so I will reserve my judgement on whether its a problem until after Monday.

Kenz also got her first leash walk since surgery tonight. Just a short walk to the local post box and around the block and home again. She was using the leg well but I won't do to much with her before Emma has seen her. She enjoyed being out and was a lot better behaved then I anticipated.

Kenz Post Surgery Week 6

Today marks the end of 6 weeks post surgery and she is back to John tomorrow for a follow up. Things seem to be doing ok. I felt horrible for her this morning as before work she had a really upset tummy and I came home and suffice to say I now need to wash crate bedding and probably bath Kenz a little later. She is one miserable little girl :(.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 38

Today we headed out to SACA to meet up with Karron so that we could borrow a puzzle toy to keep Kenz amused during her rest. Here are a few photos I took of Kenz while she was sitting in the back of the car watching the herding. She was a bit frustrated at not getting in on the action but enjoyed her outing and is now sleeping quietly in her crate.

Kenz Post Surgery Week 5

So we have managed to reach the 5 week mark. Hard to believe as the time has flown. Back to see John next Friday and hopefully get released to at least start with some leash walking again.

Kenz is being super well behaved. Happy to chill out, get cuddles, stay quietly in her crate or lay on her bed in front of the heater.

All seems to be going ok apart from these random sporadic 3 legged lameness episodes in the evening. Another one tonight when I bought her upstairs after having taken Ness out for a walk to the post box.

Certainly counting down the days till we can start walks again.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 32

There were a few ups and downs towards the end of last week. After her dog bed episode on Tuesday night we had a similar episode on Thursday night and another similar episode on Friday night. John is not worried from what I have told him and has suggested using pain killers if necessary but not to get to hung up over the three legged episodes at this stage (well if I read between the lines of the email which suggests he isn't worried at all).

We have just got back from spending the long weekend up at my parents place in the country. I was a little hesitant taking Kenz along given mum is very anti-crating and just doesn't seem to get it. After we got off to a rocky start and being told I was babying her for carrying out the instructions the specialist has detailed after 24 hours I managed to win mum over to some extent.

Kenz enjoyed the change of scenery. She helped supervise collection of fire wood on Saturday, spent lots of time in her crate in front of the fire keeping warm and got to spend some time today and yesterday outside on the balcony in the sun chilling and watching the world pass by. We also had plenty of morning snuggles on the bed :). 

Here is a photo of her in her daytime crate on day 31 which was situated about 5 m from the wood fire. She seemed pretty happy to spend her time in there and was mostly well behaved without any major dramas. She did get a little more walking then I probably would have liked (the partial compromise for mum was that I didn't carry her around quite as much). She seemed none the worse for it thankfully and we managed to avoid any stupid behavior so thinking it should all be ok.

Kenz Post Surgery Day 27 (Week 4)

This blog post contains photos of Kenz chilling out on the cuddler next to my computer on day 27. The usual daily post surgery routine on days when I am working at home. She seems to be using the leg without any problems today so hoping what I saw last night is nothing to worry about. She was a lucky girl and got a car ride this morning to pick up the freebies from the Woofery competition :). I couldn't help but stock up on extra supplies while we were there. 

An email to John this afternoon confirmed that he didn't think my observations from last night were much to be worried about but did tell me to keep in touch if it got worse or any lameness seemed to persist. I am still pretty happy that she seemed ok this afternoon and this evening and was happy to settle to bed in her crate. 

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks since her surgery - who would have thought the time would have flown so quickly. Another 2 weeks to go until her next follow up appointment. 

 

Kenz Post Surgery Day 26

Things had been going really well. No real evidence of lameness, bored out of her brain, we had a car trip out to watch the herding training day over the weekend and she was a good girl laying quietly in the boot of my car with me enjoying the sun. Totally relaxed.

She had cuddles with her favorite human Karron. She has started showing interest in her squeakie toys and just wants to be doing things again.

All was fine with the world until about an hour ago.

Now I am not so sure. We have had a few outings in the car today and are just back from taking Ness out to obedience. Kenz came along for the ride and we did as we normally do and I carried her inside, took her out for a quick toilet break and she seemed fine. I carried her upstairs and she went to get on the cuddler next to the computer and her back surgery leg seemed to give way.

I have iced it and given her half a tramadol and she is curled up fast asleep.

I don't know what she is done and I am trying not to stress out. Fingers crossed its nothing major and she hasn't damaged herself.

She wasn't a happy little girl by any stretch of the imagination. I ended up moving her bedtime crate into my room after sitting in front of the heater with her for nearly an hour.

Poor Kenz :(. I took her outside for another toilet break a few hours later and she was still very much on three legs.