Have been agonizing over Kenz's appointment with the new ortho for the last couple of weeks. Apparently needlessly so. The report was much better then I anticipated. Scott doesn't feel the MPLs are significant at this point in time and the least of her worries. He had a good feel over the shoulder and felt the musculature on both sides was pretty even and there were no real sore spots anywhere.
As to why she came up so badly lame only recently - its really anybodies guess. A few different pathways from here on - some very expensive options involving MRI/arthroscopic examination and some not so expensive options which might mean a DogLeggs brace to use on her during any activity which I think might cause the shoulder to become a problem (if it really is MSI the issue) or even something like a steroid injection.
Scott was keen to get her in post a collapse episode so both he and Kristen could have a look at her. Not sure if its of any value at this stage so will give it some more considered thought.
He did feel that she could go back to obedience as he didn't think there was anything to drastically against that. Will see how she gets on I guess the option is always there if she suddenly comes up lame again to make another appointment.
Kenz currently weighs 12.8kg.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
A weekend of trialling - Kenz Rally Advanced Title
Just over a fortnight ago Kenz's world was turned upside down when Ness ruptured her cruciate just one day after her 13th birthday. The last fortnight has been focused on making sure everything would be set for Ness to have surgery. A few questionable blood results indicating potential kidney issues and waiting on a phone call from John with the repeat results have kind of left me a little preoccupied.
Kenz isn't quite sure what life is without having her big sister around. Suffice to say I wasn't really sure what I would get out of her given she has never trialled without Ness being there.
She certainly came through though and did two very nice rounds for her title and a spare leg. Couldn't be more thrilled with her attitude and performance in both rounds. She scored a 94/100 on Saturday with a silly error of jumping the sign rather than the jump and managed to score one better under "spooky" Keith on Sunday with a 95/100.
Kenz is now known as Winpara Dream Chaser CD RA DWDF.S JD
Kenz isn't quite sure what life is without having her big sister around. Suffice to say I wasn't really sure what I would get out of her given she has never trialled without Ness being there.
She certainly came through though and did two very nice rounds for her title and a spare leg. Couldn't be more thrilled with her attitude and performance in both rounds. She scored a 94/100 on Saturday with a silly error of jumping the sign rather than the jump and managed to score one better under "spooky" Keith on Sunday with a 95/100.
Kenz is now known as Winpara Dream Chaser CD RA DWDF.S JD
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Kenz's First Tracking Trial
With much trepidation Kenz was entered in her first tracking trial today. Track 1, 400m, 2 turns of ~90 degrees, 20-40 min time delay. Karron had agreed to lay her track as the "known" track layer. The day was forecast much warmer then I would have wanted and Kenz was scheduled as being the second track out for the day.
I had to rush from laying a track and then go out and run Kenz and to say I was stressed about how she would cope was a bit of an understatement. I was constantly processing and looking for signs of her struggling and didn't do a very good job of trusting her.
Judge Josie told me to trust my dog after she indicated the first corner and I didn't believe her. She then fluffed around and got frustrated and I was getting stressed out. She found the article and then went down the second leg only to get caught around the tree on the second corner. In the process of untangling she again fluffed around at the corner. I could see the frustration level increasing and with the warmer temperatures I was worried she wasn't going to make it.
In the end we sorted out the corner and she tracked down the final leg where luckily I spied Karron and it was a matter of just waiting for Kenz to find her which she did. Karron was met with plenty of squeaking :).
I cost Kenz some gradings but in the end she came away with a "Good" and passed her Track 1.
I am so proud of my little girl. Its a battle against her issues but she had a blast out there. I won't say it wasn't without "cost". She was struggling on her RH this afternoon and then was also lame in her front end. She has been well drugged tonight and will have a few very easy days of not very much.
I did let her have a bit of a play with Seeker on-lead and she had a ball though - a small price to pay to see her happy :).
I had to rush from laying a track and then go out and run Kenz and to say I was stressed about how she would cope was a bit of an understatement. I was constantly processing and looking for signs of her struggling and didn't do a very good job of trusting her.
Judge Josie told me to trust my dog after she indicated the first corner and I didn't believe her. She then fluffed around and got frustrated and I was getting stressed out. She found the article and then went down the second leg only to get caught around the tree on the second corner. In the process of untangling she again fluffed around at the corner. I could see the frustration level increasing and with the warmer temperatures I was worried she wasn't going to make it.
In the end we sorted out the corner and she tracked down the final leg where luckily I spied Karron and it was a matter of just waiting for Kenz to find her which she did. Karron was met with plenty of squeaking :).
I cost Kenz some gradings but in the end she came away with a "Good" and passed her Track 1.
I am so proud of my little girl. Its a battle against her issues but she had a blast out there. I won't say it wasn't without "cost". She was struggling on her RH this afternoon and then was also lame in her front end. She has been well drugged tonight and will have a few very easy days of not very much.
I did let her have a bit of a play with Seeker on-lead and she had a ball though - a small price to pay to see her happy :).
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The latest in the run of "bad luck"...
Despite some improvements around home with the stairs and life generally Kenz has been having a few random screaming issues and a bit of front end lameness. I have been putting off getting Matthew's opinion over John's thoughts re further MPL surgery because I was quite happy living in a bit of a state of denial. That is until she started refusing her "beg" trick and I started to see a little to much front end short striding.
So yesterday the girls were back to see Matthew for a check up. The "good" news is that Matthew felt the patellas weren't significant enough to warrant surgery. They seemed to withstand a reasonable amount of pressure and remain in the groove correctly. He didn't doubt that they were still able to luxate just that he didn't want to push it to that point.
That was about the best of the news he had re Kenz. He said he could feel lots (presumably scar tissue) in her LH stifle. Her back was showing significant evidence of roaching. He made a few adjustments to her sacroiliac joints which should help with the extension and movement as she was pretty jammed up through there.
The news he gave me over the front right shoulder wasn't especially good. Matthew feels that Kenz has medial shoulder instability :(. The interesting thing is only a month prior John figured the shoulder felt fine. Hindsight is probably that at the time Kenz went to John I had been resting her pretty heavily for the 6 weeks prior aside from twice weekly UWTM sessions and lots of drugs. Over this last month I have basically said screw it and eased her back into life.
Any way Matthews general view is that I shouldn't worry about putting Kenz through further MPL surgery with the front end bothering her as much as she is. He also doesn't feel we have a full handle on what is going on.
We spoke about appropriate pain management and working within her present limitations - that unfortunately also means her obedience days are over. She is still allowed to do tracking so long as its at a moderate pace.
Have organised more meds from John as she is just about out of her latest supply. I have her entered in a Track 1 tracking trial in a fortnight so she is on fairly heavy exercise restrictions and pain meds as necessary until then in the hope that she can get around her track.
Included in this blog post are a couple of photos taken last weekend at the tracking trial when Ness passed her track 3 for her TD title and we were busy chilling at the oval waiting for presentation.
So yesterday the girls were back to see Matthew for a check up. The "good" news is that Matthew felt the patellas weren't significant enough to warrant surgery. They seemed to withstand a reasonable amount of pressure and remain in the groove correctly. He didn't doubt that they were still able to luxate just that he didn't want to push it to that point.
That was about the best of the news he had re Kenz. He said he could feel lots (presumably scar tissue) in her LH stifle. Her back was showing significant evidence of roaching. He made a few adjustments to her sacroiliac joints which should help with the extension and movement as she was pretty jammed up through there.
The news he gave me over the front right shoulder wasn't especially good. Matthew feels that Kenz has medial shoulder instability :(. The interesting thing is only a month prior John figured the shoulder felt fine. Hindsight is probably that at the time Kenz went to John I had been resting her pretty heavily for the 6 weeks prior aside from twice weekly UWTM sessions and lots of drugs. Over this last month I have basically said screw it and eased her back into life.
Any way Matthews general view is that I shouldn't worry about putting Kenz through further MPL surgery with the front end bothering her as much as she is. He also doesn't feel we have a full handle on what is going on.
We spoke about appropriate pain management and working within her present limitations - that unfortunately also means her obedience days are over. She is still allowed to do tracking so long as its at a moderate pace.
Have organised more meds from John as she is just about out of her latest supply. I have her entered in a Track 1 tracking trial in a fortnight so she is on fairly heavy exercise restrictions and pain meds as necessary until then in the hope that she can get around her track.
Included in this blog post are a couple of photos taken last weekend at the tracking trial when Ness passed her track 3 for her TD title and we were busy chilling at the oval waiting for presentation.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 14 and other fun and games...
Yesterday I came home from work and drove the girls to the bush track for a gentle stroll in the afternoon sun. Let Kenz out the car and from the moment she got out she was a serious mess. I couldn't work out why she was really quiet when I got home yesterday afternoon as normally she is all over me wanting to do stuff.
Poor girl we hardly got very far at all and most of the time she was lagging behind to the point where when I offered to carry her and she was more then happy to be in my arms. Ness on the other hand was racing around like a mad things charging up the path and turning around impatiently waiting for us to catch up. So very unlike Kenz to be not up the front.
She also had some issues with her LH patella popping out :(. I bought her home and gave her an anti-inflam and put her to bed for the night. I was seriously wondering if I should cancel her UWTM session today because she was really a bit of a mess.
Kenz woke up this morning though full of life and so I went ahead with her UWTM session. Managed to get them to increase the speed up to 2 MPH and she had 1 x 5 min session and 2 x 6 min sessions. No problems, slept a little bit in the car on the way home but hit the ground running and was feral from the moment we got home. All good signs :). If we are going to continue with UWTM Robby has suggested working up to 30-35 minute at a rate of between 2 and 3 MPH. I am not sure whether its value for money at this stage so will give it a bit of consideration over the weekend.
This afternoon we headed out for another walk and she was back to normal. Leading up front just as she should be.
She has also run up and down the stairs a couple of times this afternoon.
Our other "homework" has been to work on the penguin trick. I have finally managed to fade out the hand touch to get the behavior.
Here is the latest effort from tonights training session -
Poor girl we hardly got very far at all and most of the time she was lagging behind to the point where when I offered to carry her and she was more then happy to be in my arms. Ness on the other hand was racing around like a mad things charging up the path and turning around impatiently waiting for us to catch up. So very unlike Kenz to be not up the front.
She also had some issues with her LH patella popping out :(. I bought her home and gave her an anti-inflam and put her to bed for the night. I was seriously wondering if I should cancel her UWTM session today because she was really a bit of a mess.
Kenz woke up this morning though full of life and so I went ahead with her UWTM session. Managed to get them to increase the speed up to 2 MPH and she had 1 x 5 min session and 2 x 6 min sessions. No problems, slept a little bit in the car on the way home but hit the ground running and was feral from the moment we got home. All good signs :). If we are going to continue with UWTM Robby has suggested working up to 30-35 minute at a rate of between 2 and 3 MPH. I am not sure whether its value for money at this stage so will give it a bit of consideration over the weekend.
This afternoon we headed out for another walk and she was back to normal. Leading up front just as she should be.
She has also run up and down the stairs a couple of times this afternoon.
Our other "homework" has been to work on the penguin trick. I have finally managed to fade out the hand touch to get the behavior.
Here is the latest effort from tonights training session -
Monday, June 24, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 13 and not so great news...
Will start with the not so great news...
Kenz has had a few issues again with her LH patella luxating over the last weekend. I also had an email from John regarding what I had seen the weekend before in relation to both patellas slipping and Kenz ending up balancing herself on her front limbs.
The current recommendations from John are as follows:
Surgery for the right MPL
4 weeks of rest
recheck exam with radiographs
if all looks good, start slow UWTM at 4 weeks post op
recheck at 6 and 8 weeks
By 8 weeks, if all is doing well, we could do the left MPL at that time.
If only my life would start working out and I could afford to put Kenz through further surgery. Never mind the fact we will be facing 4 months more crate rest for the poor girl.
This afternoon was her usual Monday UWTM session. She happily managed 3 x 5 min sessions at a speed of around 1.9 MPH. She looked great once she settled and didn't seem to show any signs of a problem. Particularly hopeful for me considering she has been showing a slight tendency to short striding in her front end over the last few days.
So we are still taking things a day at a time and hoping we can continue to avoid what is looking like inevitable further surgery.
Kenz has had a few issues again with her LH patella luxating over the last weekend. I also had an email from John regarding what I had seen the weekend before in relation to both patellas slipping and Kenz ending up balancing herself on her front limbs.
The current recommendations from John are as follows:
Surgery for the right MPL
4 weeks of rest
recheck exam with radiographs
if all looks good, start slow UWTM at 4 weeks post op
recheck at 6 and 8 weeks
By 8 weeks, if all is doing well, we could do the left MPL at that time.
If only my life would start working out and I could afford to put Kenz through further surgery. Never mind the fact we will be facing 4 months more crate rest for the poor girl.
This afternoon was her usual Monday UWTM session. She happily managed 3 x 5 min sessions at a speed of around 1.9 MPH. She looked great once she settled and didn't seem to show any signs of a problem. Particularly hopeful for me considering she has been showing a slight tendency to short striding in her front end over the last few days.
So we are still taking things a day at a time and hoping we can continue to avoid what is looking like inevitable further surgery.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 12
Progress - 3 x 5 min sessions at 1.7 MPH - no real sign of struggling and lots of long stretches of nice solid walking. Fingers crossed she pulls up sound tomorrow. So far so good she even made it up the stairs at bedtime for a piece of steak.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 11
Today was underwater treadmill session number 11 for Kenz. I have been a little frustrated with her lack of duration but today was the first time I actually felt we might be getting somewhere with the running of it. Pin took her session today and the first thing he said to me was, was she doing 4 minute sessions yet? My answer was no and with that today's session consisted of 3 x 4 min sessions. Her first session started around 1.5 MPH and then by the third session it had been increased to 1.7 MPH.
She was a little ratty today. Having been home alone for nearly 4 hours without any walk this morning meant she was literally bursting for activity. She settled a bit but there was a lot more double stepping then her previous session. I am not totally sure on what benefit the UWTM is having at this stage but I am a little worried about stopping it in case its helping more then I think it is.
Due to the generosity of a lovely bunch of DOL'ers she still has another 3 sessions remaining after today's.
She was a little ratty today. Having been home alone for nearly 4 hours without any walk this morning meant she was literally bursting for activity. She settled a bit but there was a lot more double stepping then her previous session. I am not totally sure on what benefit the UWTM is having at this stage but I am a little worried about stopping it in case its helping more then I think it is.
Due to the generosity of a lovely bunch of DOL'ers she still has another 3 sessions remaining after today's.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Tracking Training
This morning we were up at the crack of dawn (well almost) to head up to Monarto for the Tracking Club Training day.
Tracking has mostly been a Ness activity and Kenz has very much taken the back seat and certainly only really run a handful of tracks by comparison. Ness did a nice job of her track 3 and then it was Kenz's turn this morning.
An "unknown" to her tracklayer set a track of around ~600m or so (although may have been less) with 2 corners. The terrain was a little rough - through trees, lots of longish grass, rocks, up-hill.
Kenz use to be a very laid back tracker. She would normally barely put tension in the lead and would almost just trot around on a relatively loose lead. Well today was a totally different ball game. I walked her up to the start and she took off. She was very accurate on the track and didn't quarter very much. Even when at one stage when I couldn't see the next track marker and wasn't 100% sure where the track went and I called out to ask but she was right. She had no issues indicating all her articles.
I have been told there is no reason based on her performance this morning that she shouldn't enter the next trial. Not bad considering it was an unknown tracklayer and track 1 and track 2 both normally use a known tracklayer.
The best bit is she was physically able to manage the task and didn't seem overly bothered by her hind end at any stage. She was a little warm towards the end and pretty ready to find the nearest puddle to cool off and get a drink but she didn't end up wobbly.
Maybe there is hope for her yet and maybe she can play at tracking.
A lovely day to be out and about.
Tracking has mostly been a Ness activity and Kenz has very much taken the back seat and certainly only really run a handful of tracks by comparison. Ness did a nice job of her track 3 and then it was Kenz's turn this morning.
An "unknown" to her tracklayer set a track of around ~600m or so (although may have been less) with 2 corners. The terrain was a little rough - through trees, lots of longish grass, rocks, up-hill.
Kenz use to be a very laid back tracker. She would normally barely put tension in the lead and would almost just trot around on a relatively loose lead. Well today was a totally different ball game. I walked her up to the start and she took off. She was very accurate on the track and didn't quarter very much. Even when at one stage when I couldn't see the next track marker and wasn't 100% sure where the track went and I called out to ask but she was right. She had no issues indicating all her articles.
I have been told there is no reason based on her performance this morning that she shouldn't enter the next trial. Not bad considering it was an unknown tracklayer and track 1 and track 2 both normally use a known tracklayer.
The best bit is she was physically able to manage the task and didn't seem overly bothered by her hind end at any stage. She was a little warm towards the end and pretty ready to find the nearest puddle to cool off and get a drink but she didn't end up wobbly.
Maybe there is hope for her yet and maybe she can play at tracking.
A lovely day to be out and about.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 10
Kenz had her tenth underwater treadmill session this afternoon. She is continuing to make improvements and quite comfortably managed her 3 x 3 min 15 second sessions. We were able to up the speed a little from her last session and they were quite happy to increase the speed when she was comfortable. No trying to cheat with her front feet on the edge of the treadmill today so we must have had the speed about right.
Here is the video from today's session -
I have also included a couple of photos taken tonight. Justin from RHVC requested a video of Ness so I had to get the camera out to take the obligatory product posing photo for inclusion and the princess hopped up on the bed waiting for her turn for a photo. To cute not to share :).
Here is the video from today's session -
I have also included a couple of photos taken tonight. Justin from RHVC requested a video of Ness so I had to get the camera out to take the obligatory product posing photo for inclusion and the princess hopped up on the bed waiting for her turn for a photo. To cute not to share :).
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 9
This morning Kenz had her ninth UWTM session. Its starting to get a little bit frustrating as it seems to take her about 6 minutes to settle into and lose a lot of the double stepping and then its all over before she has barely started. She was able to have the speed raised marginally today up to 1.4 MPH.
Here is the video from her session this morning -
The last few days have not been great. Friday she managed to luxate both patellas while walking in the front hallway and ended up in a huge amount of pain and a bit sooky. It happened again on at least one occasion over the weekend. Very very frustrating. Further surgery is pretty much an inevitability but John is happy for us to remain doing as we are for the moment to try and improve Kenz's comfort and function.
Here is the video from her session this morning -
The last few days have not been great. Friday she managed to luxate both patellas while walking in the front hallway and ended up in a huge amount of pain and a bit sooky. It happened again on at least one occasion over the weekend. Very very frustrating. Further surgery is pretty much an inevitability but John is happy for us to remain doing as we are for the moment to try and improve Kenz's comfort and function.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 8 - Progress at last!!!!
Kenz has her eighth UWTM session today and while I was thinking it was (and has been) a bit of a waste of time given she had another 3 sessions already paid for I thought I should really let her use them and we would just accept it probably wasn't going to be hugely beneficial.
Well I am a little surprised when reflecting on todays video. By her third session she actually seemed to really get the hang of it and all the double stepping in her hind end seemed greatly improved. By the time the 3 minutes were up of her final session she was really in the swing of things and moving more fluidly then I have seen to date in the UWTM.
Given she has no meds on board for the moment and given she had a walk this morning before her session she came home from UWTM as bored as anything. There was no sign of her being ready for much of a nap and she was keen as mustard when I took her out again this afternoon for another shortish walk.
Next session is booked for Tuesday and it will be interesting to see how she pulls up in the next day or so without the meds.
Well I am a little surprised when reflecting on todays video. By her third session she actually seemed to really get the hang of it and all the double stepping in her hind end seemed greatly improved. By the time the 3 minutes were up of her final session she was really in the swing of things and moving more fluidly then I have seen to date in the UWTM.
Given she has no meds on board for the moment and given she had a walk this morning before her session she came home from UWTM as bored as anything. There was no sign of her being ready for much of a nap and she was keen as mustard when I took her out again this afternoon for another shortish walk.
Next session is booked for Tuesday and it will be interesting to see how she pulls up in the next day or so without the meds.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Back to see John
After last weeks lameness episode on the UWTM and after further discussion with Robby it was decided that Kenz could really use an appointment with John to see what he felt over the current situation (and to make sure there was nothing else now going on).
Kenz had her appointment with John yesterday morning. She weighed in at 13.1kg which is a good weight for her and on that alone over her previous appointment with him she had potentially regained quite a bit of muscle.
The bad news (but not completely unexpected) is that her RH MPL has continued to deteriorate and is now worse then it was in January. The LH still has a residual grade 1 but he did feel her LH had improved over where she was when she saw him in January. Her front end all checked out fine though with quite good muscle build up and there was nothing else to be found going on anywhere else.
John's thought on the RH is that its potentially popping and then when it disrupts the joint capsule she is showing signs of pain for a few days after. Hence the lingering nature of the episodes. He also felt the stair issue is potentially a behavioral issue rather than a pain issue.
Kenz was fine for the rest of the day post-examination (John was curious to know how she got on over the rest of the day) and we are just back from a walk this morning and she seems to be 100%. She was possibly shifting a small amount of weight off her RH when stationary but nothing overly significant.
Now we know what the lay of the land is tomorrow she is back for more UWTM.
Kenz had her appointment with John yesterday morning. She weighed in at 13.1kg which is a good weight for her and on that alone over her previous appointment with him she had potentially regained quite a bit of muscle.
The bad news (but not completely unexpected) is that her RH MPL has continued to deteriorate and is now worse then it was in January. The LH still has a residual grade 1 but he did feel her LH had improved over where she was when she saw him in January. Her front end all checked out fine though with quite good muscle build up and there was nothing else to be found going on anywhere else.
John's thought on the RH is that its potentially popping and then when it disrupts the joint capsule she is showing signs of pain for a few days after. Hence the lingering nature of the episodes. He also felt the stair issue is potentially a behavioral issue rather than a pain issue.
Kenz was fine for the rest of the day post-examination (John was curious to know how she got on over the rest of the day) and we are just back from a walk this morning and she seems to be 100%. She was possibly shifting a small amount of weight off her RH when stationary but nothing overly significant.
Now we know what the lay of the land is tomorrow she is back for more UWTM.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 7
Another Thursday, another treadmill session for Kenz. Today was session 7 in the tank. Given she was lame after her last session Pin shortened things quite significantly so she only had 3 x 2.5 min sessions today. He also reduced the speed down to max speed of 1.3 MPH as he felt she was skipping less at the lower speed.
After a discussion with Robby, Kenz is also booked back in to see John next Tuesday morning to get an assessment on the current state of her patellas. He did suggest she could start back with some reverse 2o2o in the meantime though which will give us both something to do.
After a discussion with Robby, Kenz is also booked back in to see John next Tuesday morning to get an assessment on the current state of her patellas. He did suggest she could start back with some reverse 2o2o in the meantime though which will give us both something to do.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 6
So as is fast becoming our new normal Monday morning routine - Kenz had her sixth underwater treadmill session this morning.
Pin was very receptive to Robby's suggestions and after a few conversations with Robby over the weekend to fine tune things I was looking forward with some degree of optimism to Kenz's session earlier today.
Today's sessions were all at 1.5 MPH as per Robby's advice. We also started her at a lower water level while the tank was filling to try and break the habit of her swimming. First session was "ok". We then got to session two and she started skipping more regularly in her back end. By her third session she was off-loading serious amounts of weight from her right hind and when I walked her out she was struggling to place much weight on her RH at all. It did improve though and on the way back to the car she didn't seem to bad.
Came home and jumped online and when I mentioned the outcome to Robby the advice, coupled with the fact over the last day or two she has had a few more incidental RH lameness issues was pretty much to postpone further UWTM sessions until she has been back to see John and had a reassessment on the stability of the patella. So I have emailed John and sent the video off to him and will wait and see what he has to say.
Kenz is otherwise BORED tonight and firing on all cylinders.
Any way here is the video from today's session:
Pin was very receptive to Robby's suggestions and after a few conversations with Robby over the weekend to fine tune things I was looking forward with some degree of optimism to Kenz's session earlier today.
Today's sessions were all at 1.5 MPH as per Robby's advice. We also started her at a lower water level while the tank was filling to try and break the habit of her swimming. First session was "ok". We then got to session two and she started skipping more regularly in her back end. By her third session she was off-loading serious amounts of weight from her right hind and when I walked her out she was struggling to place much weight on her RH at all. It did improve though and on the way back to the car she didn't seem to bad.
Came home and jumped online and when I mentioned the outcome to Robby the advice, coupled with the fact over the last day or two she has had a few more incidental RH lameness issues was pretty much to postpone further UWTM sessions until she has been back to see John and had a reassessment on the stability of the patella. So I have emailed John and sent the video off to him and will wait and see what he has to say.
Kenz is otherwise BORED tonight and firing on all cylinders.
Any way here is the video from today's session:
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 5
Kenz had her fifth session of underwater treadmill this morning. Pin is more then happy to go ahead with what Robby has suggested should happen for her sessions however I felt given that Pin was running today's that I would at least have her in the life jacket rather than her DT harness because of the attachment point being further back and giving more control over the back end.
Today we focused on varying speed so we could assess what is happening with Kenz's gait. Her first session was run at 1.1 MPH. The second session was run at 1.5 MPH and the third session at 1.3 MPH.
After Kenz's treadmill time Pin asked if he could have a look at the video footage. The consensus is still that she doesn't have great extension in either hind leg so need to increase her ROM exercises ~10-15 times three times a day and consider introducing cavaletti's into her rehab.
Here is today's video -
Today we focused on varying speed so we could assess what is happening with Kenz's gait. Her first session was run at 1.1 MPH. The second session was run at 1.5 MPH and the third session at 1.3 MPH.
After Kenz's treadmill time Pin asked if he could have a look at the video footage. The consensus is still that she doesn't have great extension in either hind leg so need to increase her ROM exercises ~10-15 times three times a day and consider introducing cavaletti's into her rehab.
Here is today's video -
Monday, May 20, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 4
After being an extremely good kid and spending a few hours crated this morning while I was out we headed off for Kenz's fourth UWTM session late this afternoon.
I pushed for a few modifications to her session based on Robby's recommendations including losing the life jacket in favour of a harness and upping the treadmill speed. Well we had mixed success with increasing the treadmill speed. Her first 3 minute session was at 1 MPH. It was then upped to 1.1 MPH and we tried the 1.2 MPH which is what Robby suggested was possibly the minimum speed he would recommend for a BC and Kenz started bunny hopping so it was dropped back to 1.1 MPH.
Hard to know whether she is making any progress. She is getting very bored with resting and not doing much and doesn't really settle the rest of the time. Having said that tonight she is sound asleep dead to the world after her time on the treadmill.
Thursday she has her final session of the first 5 appointments and then I'll have to make a decision as to whether we continue or whether I decide its not helping.
Here is the video from today's session:
I pushed for a few modifications to her session based on Robby's recommendations including losing the life jacket in favour of a harness and upping the treadmill speed. Well we had mixed success with increasing the treadmill speed. Her first 3 minute session was at 1 MPH. It was then upped to 1.1 MPH and we tried the 1.2 MPH which is what Robby suggested was possibly the minimum speed he would recommend for a BC and Kenz started bunny hopping so it was dropped back to 1.1 MPH.
Hard to know whether she is making any progress. She is getting very bored with resting and not doing much and doesn't really settle the rest of the time. Having said that tonight she is sound asleep dead to the world after her time on the treadmill.
Thursday she has her final session of the first 5 appointments and then I'll have to make a decision as to whether we continue or whether I decide its not helping.
Here is the video from today's session:
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 3
This morning Kenz had her third UWTM session at the Glenside Vet clinic. Pin asked how she had been getting on and how she had been tolerating her ROM exercises. Today Kenz had 3 sessions of ~ 3 min on the treadmill. She seemed to do better then she has previously.
Upon having a chat to Robby this evening he suggested the treadmill speed is much to slow for her and needs to be more like 1.2-1.5 MPH rather than 0.9 MPH which was the maximum Pin had it set to today.
Any way here is the video from today's session - fingers crossed I can convince them to turn up the speed a little bit for her session on Monday.
Upon having a chat to Robby this evening he suggested the treadmill speed is much to slow for her and needs to be more like 1.2-1.5 MPH rather than 0.9 MPH which was the maximum Pin had it set to today.
Any way here is the video from today's session - fingers crossed I can convince them to turn up the speed a little bit for her session on Monday.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Underwater Treadmill Session 2
Earlier today Kenz had her second underwater treadmill session. Kenz's second session was much less awkward then her first session. Maybe because Pin wasn't doing it and one of the vet nurses was. She coped a lot better this time however was potentially sore towards the end as she started shaking. She also had a few moments of 3 legging RH lameness on the way back to the car. Will be interested to see how she gets on at her next session on Thursday.
Friday, May 10, 2013
One year anniversary
Today marks 12 months since Kenz's LH MPL surgery. 12 months and we seem to have made no real gain. She is effectively as bad as she was this time last year. The only good news today is despite having to cut her meds because she has been unwell there has been no lameness or soreness today. She has been moving ok although she obviously isn't doing much of anything given she is back on almost full restrictions.
Here a few photos taken tonight because I have a very BORED BORD who is fed up with doing nothing and would much rather be racing around and training and doing fun things again.........
Here a few photos taken tonight because I have a very BORED BORD who is fed up with doing nothing and would much rather be racing around and training and doing fun things again.........
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
First Hydrotherapy/Underwater Treadmill Session
Things progressively went from bad last week to the extent where I felt more needed to happen. After a lengthy discussion with a few people I agreed to book Kenz in for a hydrotherapy appointment and see where that went. John confirmed that was a sensible suggestion and sent through Kenz's med records. It was after glancing through them that I discovered the full extent of how bad things really were. Kenz's surgery leg back in February was again graded a high 2 medial luxating patella. The same grading as it was pre-op. John confirmed how complicated Kenz's case was with both the neuro issues and the ortho issues and felt that was why things had gone backwards at this stage.
I was worried about how Kenz would cope with the treadmill. She is "ok" with the pool but I felt the pressure of the treadmill was to much.
First up Kenz had a consult and examination with Pin. Kenz weighed in at 13.1 kg this morning which is about the norm although a little lighter then she has been which is probably due to the significant muscle wastage. I went through her history, what we had tried, where we have been, what has worked so far, what hasn't worked. The comment made was Kenz was certainly going to be a challenging case to resolve. He did comment that there was no surprise she couldn't get up the stairs with a back end as bad as that.
After the examination it was then out to the treadmill area. Once Kenz had been equipped with life jacket she was let into the treadmill. Lots of the time was just spent making her comfortable in there. She was walked up and back and given treats. She coped ok but wasn't so sure on the whole idea of walking and tried to swim. She had 3 times of the treadmill moving. Because she kept trying to come to close to the front and wouldn't walk square he used a pool noodle contraption to try and keep her square. That freaked Kenz out a little bit. Normally the final session is up to a minute but Kenz couldn't manage that so he stopped it before then.
I was able to have a look at her gait while on the treadmill and it really did look a serious mess. Pity my video camera is out of action otherwise I might have tried for some video. It would be good to be able to look back at how bad she really is.
After the treadmill Pin went through what else I needed to do with her by way of passive range of motion exercises, weight shifting exercises and heat bagging her left hind leg.
The verdict is she will need twice weekly treadmill sessions and is to be crated/rested till her next session other than allowing 3 x 1 min slow walks.
She is still on high doses of carprofen and tramadol but I am hoping to cut those back again soon.
She is booked in for another session next Monday so we will see how she does.
Below are a couple of photos taken over the weekend while she was out for a break.
I was worried about how Kenz would cope with the treadmill. She is "ok" with the pool but I felt the pressure of the treadmill was to much.
First up Kenz had a consult and examination with Pin. Kenz weighed in at 13.1 kg this morning which is about the norm although a little lighter then she has been which is probably due to the significant muscle wastage. I went through her history, what we had tried, where we have been, what has worked so far, what hasn't worked. The comment made was Kenz was certainly going to be a challenging case to resolve. He did comment that there was no surprise she couldn't get up the stairs with a back end as bad as that.
After the examination it was then out to the treadmill area. Once Kenz had been equipped with life jacket she was let into the treadmill. Lots of the time was just spent making her comfortable in there. She was walked up and back and given treats. She coped ok but wasn't so sure on the whole idea of walking and tried to swim. She had 3 times of the treadmill moving. Because she kept trying to come to close to the front and wouldn't walk square he used a pool noodle contraption to try and keep her square. That freaked Kenz out a little bit. Normally the final session is up to a minute but Kenz couldn't manage that so he stopped it before then.
I was able to have a look at her gait while on the treadmill and it really did look a serious mess. Pity my video camera is out of action otherwise I might have tried for some video. It would be good to be able to look back at how bad she really is.
After the treadmill Pin went through what else I needed to do with her by way of passive range of motion exercises, weight shifting exercises and heat bagging her left hind leg.
The verdict is she will need twice weekly treadmill sessions and is to be crated/rested till her next session other than allowing 3 x 1 min slow walks.
She is still on high doses of carprofen and tramadol but I am hoping to cut those back again soon.
She is booked in for another session next Monday so we will see how she does.
Below are a couple of photos taken over the weekend while she was out for a break.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Contributing to Research (BC Collapse)
Kenz was back to the specialist centre today to have blood drawn for inclusion in the research into BC Collapse. She absolutely hates that place with a passion but hopefully she has done her "bit" for the breed and one day there will be a genetic test to prevent others from having to go through the stress of having a dog collapse with relatively little exercise.
Her episodes are super frequent and very severe despite being super careful. Things are really falling apart for her. Last night she was front end lame and sore and stiff and today she hasn't done stairs at all during the day. Not even earlier. She is back on full pain meds and battling bigtime.
Not sure where to go anymore and just wish my little girl would manage a day with no pain.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Kenz's Story - A Rose-Hip Vital Canine Success
Kenz first started taking the Rose-Hip Vital Canine supplement in December 2012. She suffers from a nightmare of on-going lameness related conditions which none of the specialists really seemed to have a full handle on including a initial diagnosis of chronic biceps tendonitis in her right shoulder as well as grade 2 bilateral medial luxating patellas. Its so hard to see your young performance dog unable to even do simple every day tasks without exhibiting some level of pain.
Kenz was struggling to do the stairs at home and could barely even manage a walk to the park. Another BC breeder friend, Karen posted something about the Rose-Hip Vital Canine product and it appeared on my facebook news feed. At that time Kenz was on Glyde and I had previously had her on Joint Guard for many years. It was more a standard thing I just did rather than necessarily seeing any results as a consequence.
Kenz is also an extremely fussy eater so I contacted the RHVC crowd and Justin kindly offered to send a container over to see if Kenz would eat it. I wasn't so sure she would but after reducing the amount and then gradually increasing the dosage coupled with mixing it with things like tinned tuna, sardines, raw mince or yoghurt she was soon polishing off a significant amount of the supplement in her meal each night.
I was still not sure if the product would work for Kenz but while I was initially very skeptical I soon saw some very promising results. I was also greatly impressed by the level of research literature that was provide with the product.
After a month on the RHVC Kenz was able to run and play happily at the beach with her Border Collie mates on a few occasions and was none the worse for it even after staying an hour or so. Its had been a long time since she had managed anything more then a quick trip to the beach before wanting home again.
2 months on and Kenz was finally back to obedience training and having a blast once again doing what she loves most in life.
After 4 months taking the RHVC not only did Kenz manage to compete in the performance ring again (something I had basically given up the idea of ever happening) but she managed to place in Rally Advanced A, on both days, at the 2013 SA State Obedience and Rally Championships.
There is nothing better then being able to witness your dog out living life to the full and being able to give you everything they are capable of giving you without any hint of an issue.
Kenz had been on and off the "usual" run of the mill pain relief options (carprofen and tramadol) but in my experience the RHVC seemed to provide almost as much of a positive impact for her without having a dog who just wanted to spend all day sleeping her life away in a crate as she did while on the standard medications.
I can highly recommend the RHVC and after seeing the results with Kenz I also switched my older girl Ness over to the product and she to has had some great results. Like any product it may not work to the same extent with every individual but its definitely been beneficial to both my two.
Here is a video I put together of Kenz's experience while on the RHVC.
Kenz was struggling to do the stairs at home and could barely even manage a walk to the park. Another BC breeder friend, Karen posted something about the Rose-Hip Vital Canine product and it appeared on my facebook news feed. At that time Kenz was on Glyde and I had previously had her on Joint Guard for many years. It was more a standard thing I just did rather than necessarily seeing any results as a consequence.
Kenz is also an extremely fussy eater so I contacted the RHVC crowd and Justin kindly offered to send a container over to see if Kenz would eat it. I wasn't so sure she would but after reducing the amount and then gradually increasing the dosage coupled with mixing it with things like tinned tuna, sardines, raw mince or yoghurt she was soon polishing off a significant amount of the supplement in her meal each night.
I was still not sure if the product would work for Kenz but while I was initially very skeptical I soon saw some very promising results. I was also greatly impressed by the level of research literature that was provide with the product.
After a month on the RHVC Kenz was able to run and play happily at the beach with her Border Collie mates on a few occasions and was none the worse for it even after staying an hour or so. Its had been a long time since she had managed anything more then a quick trip to the beach before wanting home again.
2 months on and Kenz was finally back to obedience training and having a blast once again doing what she loves most in life.
After 4 months taking the RHVC not only did Kenz manage to compete in the performance ring again (something I had basically given up the idea of ever happening) but she managed to place in Rally Advanced A, on both days, at the 2013 SA State Obedience and Rally Championships.
There is nothing better then being able to witness your dog out living life to the full and being able to give you everything they are capable of giving you without any hint of an issue.
Kenz had been on and off the "usual" run of the mill pain relief options (carprofen and tramadol) but in my experience the RHVC seemed to provide almost as much of a positive impact for her without having a dog who just wanted to spend all day sleeping her life away in a crate as she did while on the standard medications.
I can highly recommend the RHVC and after seeing the results with Kenz I also switched my older girl Ness over to the product and she to has had some great results. Like any product it may not work to the same extent with every individual but its definitely been beneficial to both my two.
Here is a video I put together of Kenz's experience while on the RHVC.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Pet and Animal Expo DWD Demonstrations
After a lot of agonizing I agreed to allow Kenz to partake in two days of dances with dogs demonstrations at the Adelaide Pet and Animal Expo.
She was required to give 2 demos on Friday and then again on the Saturday and all I can say is she is still my little star and still gives me all of herself when it is needed. Kenz was certainly looking "sound" enough. Better then she was when we went out walking with Dan and her kelpies on Wednesday.
Any way back to Kenz's routines -
Despite huge audiences at all the demos she was absolutely FERAL. She barked almost non-stop during her routines. During the course of her four routines she did flatten a little but only to the extent where she was able to respond to commands.
Each demo she was full of enthusiasm though. The audience certainly would not have realized she isn't really firing on all cylinders. She was super stressy outside the ring so to see her switch on and work as she would normally was huge.
I was fortunate enough that Dan offered to tag along on the Friday and video both routines.
Here is the video of Kenz's second routine on the Friday -
She was required to give 2 demos on Friday and then again on the Saturday and all I can say is she is still my little star and still gives me all of herself when it is needed. Kenz was certainly looking "sound" enough. Better then she was when we went out walking with Dan and her kelpies on Wednesday.
Any way back to Kenz's routines -
Despite huge audiences at all the demos she was absolutely FERAL. She barked almost non-stop during her routines. During the course of her four routines she did flatten a little but only to the extent where she was able to respond to commands.
Each demo she was full of enthusiasm though. The audience certainly would not have realized she isn't really firing on all cylinders. She was super stressy outside the ring so to see her switch on and work as she would normally was huge.
I was fortunate enough that Dan offered to tag along on the Friday and video both routines.
Here is the video of Kenz's second routine on the Friday -
Monday, April 15, 2013
FitPAWS Fun
Last Thursday night my baby girl was playing in the back room and came up badly lame, non-weight bearing and it was persistent lameness. A couple of days of keeping her quiet and dosed up on meds and tonight I am sitting here marveling at a dog who actually bought herself up to bed tonight with no pain meds this evening. She has not done that in ages.
This is a video of this afternoons FitPAWS rehab work. So you tell me is she having me on. I still cannot get a walk around the block with her without her shutting down and looking lame. Confused very much so.
This is a video of this afternoons FitPAWS rehab work. So you tell me is she having me on. I still cannot get a walk around the block with her without her shutting down and looking lame. Confused very much so.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Back to see Ian
Earlier in the week, after following up on an email from John, Ian requested I make another appointment for Kenz to discuss where things were at.
I was somewhat apprehensive but it appears needlessly. Ian's main reason for having me bring Kenz in rather than having a conversation on the phone was just an added assurance in his own mind that Kenz was otherwise neurologically normal and that nothing had been missed on her first examination.
All that being fine there is very little doubt in his mind that she does unfortunately suffer from the BC form of EIC. He has agreed its worth me submitting bloods for the research so I am kept informed as to the latest findings and he has offered to arrange those for me.
He made an interesting comment re her patella issue and feels that its very likely connected to the BC collapse but will go away and do some more research for me. He made a comment about dogs with EIC having issues with building adequate muscle. Kenz is far from the athletic dog she use to be. There is still such significant muscle loss and so its a bit of a catch 22 because while Ian said he is no ortho specialist her MPL in her RH is fairly significant now.
So as far as where that leaves Kenz. Ian's view was that if Kenz was his he would be doing all he could to avoid any collapse episodes but did appreciate that there is a quality of life issue which comes with that.
There isn't anything much else we can do for her. Life truly does suck and makes each day we spend together even more special.
Will have another chat hopefully with the guy in the US and see if he has any other suggestions on exercises to try and help maintain as much muscle as I can on her for the meantime.
I was somewhat apprehensive but it appears needlessly. Ian's main reason for having me bring Kenz in rather than having a conversation on the phone was just an added assurance in his own mind that Kenz was otherwise neurologically normal and that nothing had been missed on her first examination.
All that being fine there is very little doubt in his mind that she does unfortunately suffer from the BC form of EIC. He has agreed its worth me submitting bloods for the research so I am kept informed as to the latest findings and he has offered to arrange those for me.
He made an interesting comment re her patella issue and feels that its very likely connected to the BC collapse but will go away and do some more research for me. He made a comment about dogs with EIC having issues with building adequate muscle. Kenz is far from the athletic dog she use to be. There is still such significant muscle loss and so its a bit of a catch 22 because while Ian said he is no ortho specialist her MPL in her RH is fairly significant now.
So as far as where that leaves Kenz. Ian's view was that if Kenz was his he would be doing all he could to avoid any collapse episodes but did appreciate that there is a quality of life issue which comes with that.
There isn't anything much else we can do for her. Life truly does suck and makes each day we spend together even more special.
Will have another chat hopefully with the guy in the US and see if he has any other suggestions on exercises to try and help maintain as much muscle as I can on her for the meantime.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Kenz's first legs in Rally Advanced
This past weekend was the 2013 SA State Rally and Obedience Champs. Sandi and Deb were over from the West with Scoota and Brookie. It was a lovely weekend and I enjoyed their company. Nothing like two fantastic friends to make a trial seem a nice place to be.
Its an absolute privilege to watch the boys in the ring again and even when they aren't at their absolute best they are still such a joy to watch and something very very special. It was great to catch up.
Now to Kenz's performance. Kenz was entered in Rally Advanced A both days.
A very long and hot day of mostly sitting around in her crate on Saturday resulted in Kenz's first Rally Advanced pass at her first attempt at the State Champs. Not only did she just pass but she walked away with a second place in Rally Advanced A. We ended up with a score of 91.
Kenz's Saturday Round
Way to go my baby little girl. It wasn't an easy round for her and she was really up against it but we got through and with a fairly respectable performance. Keith Millington was the judge and she was acting more then a little spooky towards him and even he commented at the presentation that she wasn't comfortable with him.
Sunday was another extremely warm day. Kenz worked a much better round under Kathy Millington but I messed up costing us 10 for an incorrectly performed station. Great dog shame about the handler who couldn't count. She still managed to finish up third in Advanced A on Sunday.
Kenz's Sunday Round
Sunday Kenz also got to meet one of Sandi's toller pups from Cider's litter - Marley. After Kenz had spent most of Saturday trying to flirt with Brookie she quickly decided Marley was the bees knees.
A great weekend and super flat batteries even if the dogs don't.
Its an absolute privilege to watch the boys in the ring again and even when they aren't at their absolute best they are still such a joy to watch and something very very special. It was great to catch up.
Now to Kenz's performance. Kenz was entered in Rally Advanced A both days.
A very long and hot day of mostly sitting around in her crate on Saturday resulted in Kenz's first Rally Advanced pass at her first attempt at the State Champs. Not only did she just pass but she walked away with a second place in Rally Advanced A. We ended up with a score of 91.
Kenz's Saturday Round
Way to go my baby little girl. It wasn't an easy round for her and she was really up against it but we got through and with a fairly respectable performance. Keith Millington was the judge and she was acting more then a little spooky towards him and even he commented at the presentation that she wasn't comfortable with him.
Sunday was another extremely warm day. Kenz worked a much better round under Kathy Millington but I messed up costing us 10 for an incorrectly performed station. Great dog shame about the handler who couldn't count. She still managed to finish up third in Advanced A on Sunday.
Kenz's Sunday Round
Sunday Kenz also got to meet one of Sandi's toller pups from Cider's litter - Marley. After Kenz had spent most of Saturday trying to flirt with Brookie she quickly decided Marley was the bees knees.
A great weekend and super flat batteries even if the dogs don't.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Kenz's Fifth Birthday
Happy Birthday my gorgeous little girl. Hard to believe
its been 5 years. I promised you last year it would be a better 12
months for you and unfortunately that wasn't to be.
We can still continue to live in hope and maybe the next 12 might be an improvement over the last 12. I hope you enjoyed your birthday McBites for lunch :). Love my special little mad midget.
We can still continue to live in hope and maybe the next 12 might be an improvement over the last 12. I hope you enjoyed your birthday McBites for lunch :). Love my special little mad midget.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Day 3 of 30
Yep today is day 3 of April and also day 3 of the 30 days I am giving Kenz before potentially calling it a day. I am trying to have patience but my poor little girl is also a mess. Tonight it the evening before my baby girl turns 5. For the last 2 and a bit years its been one nightmare after another.
I am so out of steam its not funny anymore.
This afternoon she had another serious collapse episodes at the park. They are getting much more frequent, occurring at lower temperatures and looking much more severe. She can't even get up during a collapse anymore and just lays head flat on the ground. It took her a good 10 minutes to recover before she was able to physically manage a very wobbly walk home again.
Her RH patella is also bothering her more frequently in the last few days. She is struggling on a walk around the block almost constantly. If its not the LH its the RH. The pain meds aren't really doing much other than to maybe take the slight edge off.
She is so OTT when we do anything its a vicious circle. She doesn't understand her own physical limitations and it continues to spiral out of control.
This weekend are heading out to the State Obedience champs but it is a strictly social affair. Kenz will enjoy a chance to flirt with Brookie and I will get to bribe my favourite toller Moo. Looking forward to it but I know its going to be super tough.
I did have another email from John yesterday - I think he is out of ideas other than to have confirmed there was no iliopsoas strain. Good and bad news I guess.
I am so out of steam its not funny anymore.
This afternoon she had another serious collapse episodes at the park. They are getting much more frequent, occurring at lower temperatures and looking much more severe. She can't even get up during a collapse anymore and just lays head flat on the ground. It took her a good 10 minutes to recover before she was able to physically manage a very wobbly walk home again.
Her RH patella is also bothering her more frequently in the last few days. She is struggling on a walk around the block almost constantly. If its not the LH its the RH. The pain meds aren't really doing much other than to maybe take the slight edge off.
She is so OTT when we do anything its a vicious circle. She doesn't understand her own physical limitations and it continues to spiral out of control.
This weekend are heading out to the State Obedience champs but it is a strictly social affair. Kenz will enjoy a chance to flirt with Brookie and I will get to bribe my favourite toller Moo. Looking forward to it but I know its going to be super tough.
I did have another email from John yesterday - I think he is out of ideas other than to have confirmed there was no iliopsoas strain. Good and bad news I guess.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Rehab Day 2
Well so far the new combination of tramadol and carprofen twice daily seems to be helping more then anything else. Bedtime saw Kenz have no issue racing upstairs last night. Similarly another first in many many months - Kenz happily jumped on my bed first thing in the morning.
We tried another session of her reverse 2o2o and she is nailing that and we just keep adding height with each session :). Its easy enough to see when its obviously hurting and she has done enough and trying to remember to keep things short and not do much is always my biggest short coming with training.
Unfortunately both walks today have been a little bit of a disaster. She really struggled. Poor little girl something obviously hurts so very very much. I wish I could be 100% certain its her patella coming out but its not quite that straight forward.
Starting to wonder if I should cut the walks completely but not sure since she is otherwise so feral with so much energy to burn. Hmmm more thinking to do I suspect.
We tried another session of her reverse 2o2o and she is nailing that and we just keep adding height with each session :). Its easy enough to see when its obviously hurting and she has done enough and trying to remember to keep things short and not do much is always my biggest short coming with training.
Unfortunately both walks today have been a little bit of a disaster. She really struggled. Poor little girl something obviously hurts so very very much. I wish I could be 100% certain its her patella coming out but its not quite that straight forward.
Starting to wonder if I should cut the walks completely but not sure since she is otherwise so feral with so much energy to burn. Hmmm more thinking to do I suspect.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A rehab plan and a conversation via FaceTime
Yesterday I decided to message one of the canine rehab people in the states who also happens to work out of a specialist centre and has posted some canine rehab videos to youtube which I have come across in my quest to find information to help Kenz. A guy by the name of Robby Porter with SuperPan the BC.
He very kindly offered a real time video chat to go through some of what I had mentioned and suggest a few things which may be of assistance to Kenz's recovery.
He discussed what the general view is on patella luxations and that grade 2 normally does require surgery. He was a little surprised that no x-rays had been taken. We went over Kenz's lameness/soreness history and he mentioned the possibility of an iliopsoas strain which would be consistent with some of the symptoms Kenz is experiencing and not out of the expected with her history of issues in the last 2 years. He also mentioned it wasn't especially easy to diagnose and lots of specialists miss it.
The comment on the meds was that as they are helping there is clearly more then just mechanical lameness in place. He also said that while she was on the meds was a perfect time to start the rehab exercises.
We had a chat about assessing exercise and the core factors to consider during planning rehab of speed/duration/frequency. The comment was to look at how she is the following day and make an assessment as to whether I can add more or whether I need to reduce it.
The comment was if at any stage in recovery a dog is not improving weekly then there is something wrong and it needs to be considered further. He also commented that she should have been fully back to normal at 6 months post-op.
On the area of rehab apparently swimming is not especially good in rehabbing stifle issues and walking through shallow water is really only useful if its below the stifle.
The suggested exercise were: treadmill tricks which can be used to elongate the quads/a reverse 2o/2o, squats with and without props to increase the range of motion required and the Sylvia Trckman hide trick.
Kenz started this afternoon with the reverse 2o/2o trick of which the video is posted below.
Tonight I am eternally grateful for the generosity of his help and at least I feel as I can take some control over the situation. He has also volunteered he is happy for another conversation in a couple of weeks time if I wish.
He very kindly offered a real time video chat to go through some of what I had mentioned and suggest a few things which may be of assistance to Kenz's recovery.
He discussed what the general view is on patella luxations and that grade 2 normally does require surgery. He was a little surprised that no x-rays had been taken. We went over Kenz's lameness/soreness history and he mentioned the possibility of an iliopsoas strain which would be consistent with some of the symptoms Kenz is experiencing and not out of the expected with her history of issues in the last 2 years. He also mentioned it wasn't especially easy to diagnose and lots of specialists miss it.
The comment on the meds was that as they are helping there is clearly more then just mechanical lameness in place. He also said that while she was on the meds was a perfect time to start the rehab exercises.
We had a chat about assessing exercise and the core factors to consider during planning rehab of speed/duration/frequency. The comment was to look at how she is the following day and make an assessment as to whether I can add more or whether I need to reduce it.
The comment was if at any stage in recovery a dog is not improving weekly then there is something wrong and it needs to be considered further. He also commented that she should have been fully back to normal at 6 months post-op.
On the area of rehab apparently swimming is not especially good in rehabbing stifle issues and walking through shallow water is really only useful if its below the stifle.
The suggested exercise were: treadmill tricks which can be used to elongate the quads/a reverse 2o/2o, squats with and without props to increase the range of motion required and the Sylvia Trckman hide trick.
Kenz started this afternoon with the reverse 2o/2o trick of which the video is posted below.
Tonight I am eternally grateful for the generosity of his help and at least I feel as I can take some control over the situation. He has also volunteered he is happy for another conversation in a couple of weeks time if I wish.
Another evening from hell......
After more emails with John - Kenz started on a combination of carprofen and tramadol twice daily on Tuesday evening.
Tuesday evening we had a definite what I think was patella slipping type episode. I had my hand on her LH knee while I was putting a cool coat on her and I actually think I felt it move. A little strange as I don't think she was actually "doing anything" at the time however I felt something move which didn't appear normal.
My more worrying concern is what happened yesterday.
Kenz had a really nasty collapse type episode at the park yesterday evening which doesn't even fit her normal BC collapse episodes. It wasn't warm. She had been running around fine prior to it happening maybe 5 minutes or so. All seemed fine she hadn't slowed up/started having a purple tongue or showing any signs that she wasn't coping.
I had been keeping an eye on Ness only to turn around and see Kenz with a fairly significant head tilt and then she went wobbly and crashed.
My first assumption was it was just the "usual" for her and went to grab Ness and leash her so I could carry Kenz home. Normally Kenz tries to get up and take a few rather wobbly steps towards me and will then lay down panting again mostly with her head up. She was flat on her side and didn't even lift her head.
I carried her home went through the usual post-collapse regime which means I cooled her off, forced her to drink fluids and then she basically lay completely on her side on the slate for a good 40 min. Her usual length of recovery is significantly shorter more like 20 minutes. Normally she would be fully recovered with no residual lameness or soreness.
Interestingly she did manage to walk up the stairs last night so the combination of tramadol and carprofen is working better so far then the 20mg of carprofen alone or the tramadol. Previously even on the carprofen alone I had resorted to carrying her up in the evening.
Kenz had been asleep for about an hour and then my brother came home and she obviously woke up and desperately wanted to go and greet him. She wasn't able to walk down the stairs and when I let the girls out for a toilet break before bringing them back up she was significantly more sore and stiff since then when the shoulder was treated. Not only definite front end soreness/lameness but her back end seemed seriously problematic.
She certainly was a little worse for wear considering she actually hasn't done a huge amount yesterday.
Any way this morning she was super lethargic and wasn't super keen when I took them out this morning mostly she is sleeping a lot and had a seriously bad upset tummy. She still seems to have a reasonable appetite though.
Based on all of this and the fact we are in for a 4 day long weekend I sent an email off to John who responded that he had forwarded it to Ian. So now I am desperately awaiting Ian's response and a little unsure as to whether I should continue the pain meds. I did give her her usual meds tonight and she had no issues with the stairs and raced straight up.
A little more happened today of importance but I will save that for a second blog post.
Tuesday evening we had a definite what I think was patella slipping type episode. I had my hand on her LH knee while I was putting a cool coat on her and I actually think I felt it move. A little strange as I don't think she was actually "doing anything" at the time however I felt something move which didn't appear normal.
My more worrying concern is what happened yesterday.
Kenz had a really nasty collapse type episode at the park yesterday evening which doesn't even fit her normal BC collapse episodes. It wasn't warm. She had been running around fine prior to it happening maybe 5 minutes or so. All seemed fine she hadn't slowed up/started having a purple tongue or showing any signs that she wasn't coping.
I had been keeping an eye on Ness only to turn around and see Kenz with a fairly significant head tilt and then she went wobbly and crashed.
My first assumption was it was just the "usual" for her and went to grab Ness and leash her so I could carry Kenz home. Normally Kenz tries to get up and take a few rather wobbly steps towards me and will then lay down panting again mostly with her head up. She was flat on her side and didn't even lift her head.
I carried her home went through the usual post-collapse regime which means I cooled her off, forced her to drink fluids and then she basically lay completely on her side on the slate for a good 40 min. Her usual length of recovery is significantly shorter more like 20 minutes. Normally she would be fully recovered with no residual lameness or soreness.
Interestingly she did manage to walk up the stairs last night so the combination of tramadol and carprofen is working better so far then the 20mg of carprofen alone or the tramadol. Previously even on the carprofen alone I had resorted to carrying her up in the evening.
Kenz had been asleep for about an hour and then my brother came home and she obviously woke up and desperately wanted to go and greet him. She wasn't able to walk down the stairs and when I let the girls out for a toilet break before bringing them back up she was significantly more sore and stiff since then when the shoulder was treated. Not only definite front end soreness/lameness but her back end seemed seriously problematic.
She certainly was a little worse for wear considering she actually hasn't done a huge amount yesterday.
Any way this morning she was super lethargic and wasn't super keen when I took them out this morning mostly she is sleeping a lot and had a seriously bad upset tummy. She still seems to have a reasonable appetite though.
Based on all of this and the fact we are in for a 4 day long weekend I sent an email off to John who responded that he had forwarded it to Ian. So now I am desperately awaiting Ian's response and a little unsure as to whether I should continue the pain meds. I did give her her usual meds tonight and she had no issues with the stairs and raced straight up.
A little more happened today of importance but I will save that for a second blog post.
Friday, March 22, 2013
After a horror week, a day of positives
Kenz started back on full dose carprofen on Monday after John got back to me regarding the outcome of having her on tramadol.
The agreement was to put her back on the maximum dosage till she was comfortable and then try and reduce the dosage incrementally again. Since originally she had 4 days at max dose that was what I decided to go with again this time around.
I won't say the week has been hassle free and easy. Its been tough going up until today. The usual club training round on Tuesday night saw Kenz battling with BCC. She managed to get through the exercises but was progressively losing focus and when I took her out the ring I saw her tongue was horrid shade of purple which is one of the precursors to a collapse episode.
The rest of the week has also been a bit of a struggle. Her apparent reduced threshold to collapse has meant a number of times we have all but managed 5 minutes at the park and even that seems like 5 minutes to long on occasion. She has also still been having huge lameness issues when I have so much as attempted a leash walk.
Today however was maybe a sign of better things. I took her back to the dog pool for a swim knowing its the only exercise she can have that I can relax over.
Well didn't she have an absolute blast. Comfortably managed 40 min with a lot of swimming in that time. Soooo nice to see my baby girl enjoying herself. I was a little hesitant when I saw her not putting 100% weight on her LH on the way back to the car and thought what is going to be around the corner.
However its now bedtime and I needn't have worried. She has since managed 2 feral walks to the oval and a training session in the yard, not to mention racing up and down the stairs on a whim. She even managed to come up the stairs at bedtime albeit with a lot of encouragement.
The other huge positive for the day is I also managed to cut off half a carprofen tablet from each dose without her looking any worse for it. Small steps forward. Down from 60mgs a day to 40mgs a day.
Now I just have to cross my fingers that the cooler weather sees a reduction in the frequency of the BCC episodes and also hope I can continue to reduce the NSAID dosage and she continues to remain as comfortable as she is currently.
The agreement was to put her back on the maximum dosage till she was comfortable and then try and reduce the dosage incrementally again. Since originally she had 4 days at max dose that was what I decided to go with again this time around.
I won't say the week has been hassle free and easy. Its been tough going up until today. The usual club training round on Tuesday night saw Kenz battling with BCC. She managed to get through the exercises but was progressively losing focus and when I took her out the ring I saw her tongue was horrid shade of purple which is one of the precursors to a collapse episode.
The rest of the week has also been a bit of a struggle. Her apparent reduced threshold to collapse has meant a number of times we have all but managed 5 minutes at the park and even that seems like 5 minutes to long on occasion. She has also still been having huge lameness issues when I have so much as attempted a leash walk.
Today however was maybe a sign of better things. I took her back to the dog pool for a swim knowing its the only exercise she can have that I can relax over.
Well didn't she have an absolute blast. Comfortably managed 40 min with a lot of swimming in that time. Soooo nice to see my baby girl enjoying herself. I was a little hesitant when I saw her not putting 100% weight on her LH on the way back to the car and thought what is going to be around the corner.
However its now bedtime and I needn't have worried. She has since managed 2 feral walks to the oval and a training session in the yard, not to mention racing up and down the stairs on a whim. She even managed to come up the stairs at bedtime albeit with a lot of encouragement.
The other huge positive for the day is I also managed to cut off half a carprofen tablet from each dose without her looking any worse for it. Small steps forward. Down from 60mgs a day to 40mgs a day.
Now I just have to cross my fingers that the cooler weather sees a reduction in the frequency of the BCC episodes and also hope I can continue to reduce the NSAID dosage and she continues to remain as comfortable as she is currently.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The 4 day tramadol trial
Well I am not going to say the situation is great its just not. She is almost certainly worse on the tramadol then she was on the anti-inflams :(. One night she has needed carrying upstairs because she hasn't been able to walk, the most she can manage is a quick 15 min walk around the block and even that is a struggle and we have to stop.
She is spending a lot of time in her crate dead to the world and that really sucks.
We had some quite significant RH lameness so I can only presume the patella situation is deteriorating :(. Its a bit of a catch 22 if she won't exercise she will continue to lose muscle and the patella situation will continue to worsen.
Another day on just tramadol and then we shall see what John wants to try next :(.
She is spending a lot of time in her crate dead to the world and that really sucks.
We had some quite significant RH lameness so I can only presume the patella situation is deteriorating :(. Its a bit of a catch 22 if she won't exercise she will continue to lose muscle and the patella situation will continue to worsen.
Another day on just tramadol and then we shall see what John wants to try next :(.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The experiment - phase 2
Given my lack of success with reducing Kenz's dosage of NSAIDs and her remaining comfortable John has now recommended trying the tramadol to see if that has a similar effect. Apparently that is a better alternative for longer term pain relief then the NSAIDs. So I guess we go through a few days of that and seeing how she gets on.
So over this - my poor baby girl would rather be back running around and happy and instead its just a bit of a mess.
So over this - my poor baby girl would rather be back running around and happy and instead its just a bit of a mess.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
So the saga continues..........
So its been a week since my last post on the anti-inflam experiment. Kenz has remained on anti-inflams and John was back in touch later in the week to suggest trying to reduce the dosage. He still thinks the patella is part of the problem because if it was purely discomfort then she would be 100% while on the pain meds. At the moment Kenz is back to just one dose of 30mg carprofen once a day and I am suppose to keep reducing it as long as she is no worse. I am also suppose to be trying to work out when she is lame if its because of the patella so its vet 101 for me.
I have tried to get Kenz to the beach as much as possible over this last week. Swimming and walking through shallow water are all good activities to try and improve the status of the luxation. Its been to hot for much else.
Unfortunately she has had a very rough time with 3 EIC episodes within 24 hours earlier in the week. Seriously frightening. On at least one of the occasions she was completely unable to stand :(.
A lot of soul searching and wondering whether its worth keeping her around or whether the kinder thing is to have her put to sleep.
At least the anti-inflams seem to be helping and she is continuing to manage more exercise then she had otherwise been managing.
We are messing around with the Rally stations and having a small amount of fun with some limited training. Have to be super careful with her though. Mega short sessions, lots of access to water and forcing her to drink to try and avoid her running in to issues.
The not so good news is that after happily coming upstairs last night when she hadn't had her evening dose, tonight she stopped at the bottom and wouldn't come up for anything in the world.
I do no differently so I can only presume its pain related. So frustrating. I guess this means she is back on the max dose until I can speak to John about where to go with things now :(.
I have tried to get Kenz to the beach as much as possible over this last week. Swimming and walking through shallow water are all good activities to try and improve the status of the luxation. Its been to hot for much else.
Unfortunately she has had a very rough time with 3 EIC episodes within 24 hours earlier in the week. Seriously frightening. On at least one of the occasions she was completely unable to stand :(.
A lot of soul searching and wondering whether its worth keeping her around or whether the kinder thing is to have her put to sleep.
At least the anti-inflams seem to be helping and she is continuing to manage more exercise then she had otherwise been managing.
We are messing around with the Rally stations and having a small amount of fun with some limited training. Have to be super careful with her though. Mega short sessions, lots of access to water and forcing her to drink to try and avoid her running in to issues.
The not so good news is that after happily coming upstairs last night when she hadn't had her evening dose, tonight she stopped at the bottom and wouldn't come up for anything in the world.
I do no differently so I can only presume its pain related. So frustrating. I guess this means she is back on the max dose until I can speak to John about where to go with things now :(.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
The 4 day anti-inflam experiment
After some discussion John and I agreed it was worth putting Kenz on pain relief and seeing how she did.
She was to try 30mg carprofen twice a day for 4 days and to see how she got on.
Well after nearly 4 days on anti-inflams the observations I have for Kenz seem to mirror those from last time when she ended up on anti-inflams at the end of last year.
The improvements generally:
What is still a problem for her:
She had an absolute blast this morning at the beach and managed a more then respectable 50 min trip before I took her home again. At no stage was she standing on the shore waiting to go home.
When I ran all this past Matthew he still felt the plan should be to go in and remove that suture as its obviously causing discomfort. I am waiting to see what John has to say before I make any further decisions about what I do.
In the meantime here is a short clip of Kenz doing some training in the yard yesterday afternoon.
She was to try 30mg carprofen twice a day for 4 days and to see how she got on.
Well after nearly 4 days on anti-inflams the observations I have for Kenz seem to mirror those from last time when she ended up on anti-inflams at the end of last year.
The improvements generally:
- Within 24 hours the stair issue in the evening had resolved;
- Increased willingness to use the stairs of her own free will across the remainder of the day with no apparent hesitation;
- Generally seems much happier and more enthusiastic;
- Coping with more free running exercise eg managing more time at the beach/oval and not increasingly sore either during exercise or post-rest;
- Less struggle pushing off with her LH while training; and
- Not quite as lame or sore or struggling on every leash walk.
What is still a problem for her:
- There is still issues with reluctance to place full weight on the LH – more noticeably when she is standing and more an issue when she is being leash walked compared to free running. While she is tolerating more exercise I am still having issues with leash walks greater then 10-15 min. Whatever is bothering her is not a problem that seems to resolve within a few steps so not sure that would fit with it being the residual luxation; and
- When working on obedience there is some definite shifting weight off that LH when asked to sit. She usually sits very balanced but isn't these days.
She had an absolute blast this morning at the beach and managed a more then respectable 50 min trip before I took her home again. At no stage was she standing on the shore waiting to go home.
When I ran all this past Matthew he still felt the plan should be to go in and remove that suture as its obviously causing discomfort. I am waiting to see what John has to say before I make any further decisions about what I do.
In the meantime here is a short clip of Kenz doing some training in the yard yesterday afternoon.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Another lovely obedience round and a plan
While Matthew is still super keen to suggest that Kenz has her internal suture removed I have, in consultation with John, opted for plan b for the moment which is to put her back on some pain relief and see how she gets on and whether there is any improvement. John and Penny both don't think its the internal suture bothering her so it could be a unnecessary operation with little to be gained. Apparently its a relatively straight forward process though and takes about 20 minutes but Kenz will need to be rested for a fortnight after.
Today has been a remarkably good day for Kenz. She seemed reasonably keen on both our walks (well so long as we end up at the school oval) and has come up and down the stair case quite a few times voluntarily.
I took her out training tonight and she did a fairly nice job of things. Its a little rough around the edges but on the whole she is working enthusiastically, with plenty of drive and focus and loving every minute of being back in training and getting to tug. I was hoping for a video from tonight so I could have a closer look at how she was moving but it wasn't to be.
Her retrieves are looking very nice. Her presents and finishes are spot on. Her heelwork was a little bouncy and needs a lot of work to build duration as she tends to try and pinch the toy when she decides its time for a reward.
The only exercise I really need to work through is working out why the first time on a DOR she struggles to drop. If I set her up again for a second one she nails it - albeit she doesn't drop quickly but she does go down.
I did some short stays alongside Ness when we had finished up in the ring.
I am so proud of where she is come. Not bad for my nervy timid BC. She even went straight up to spooky Keith for a pat.
Today has been a remarkably good day for Kenz. She seemed reasonably keen on both our walks (well so long as we end up at the school oval) and has come up and down the stair case quite a few times voluntarily.
I took her out training tonight and she did a fairly nice job of things. Its a little rough around the edges but on the whole she is working enthusiastically, with plenty of drive and focus and loving every minute of being back in training and getting to tug. I was hoping for a video from tonight so I could have a closer look at how she was moving but it wasn't to be.
Her retrieves are looking very nice. Her presents and finishes are spot on. Her heelwork was a little bouncy and needs a lot of work to build duration as she tends to try and pinch the toy when she decides its time for a reward.
The only exercise I really need to work through is working out why the first time on a DOR she struggles to drop. If I set her up again for a second one she nails it - albeit she doesn't drop quickly but she does go down.
I did some short stays alongside Ness when we had finished up in the ring.
I am so proud of where she is come. Not bad for my nervy timid BC. She even went straight up to spooky Keith for a pat.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Back to obedience training
In what has seemed like an eternity Kenz finally got back out to do an Open round at club and she didn't skip a beat. OMG distractions WHAT distractions. So proud of my baby girl.
There was no hint of dropping her bundle with the strange dogs or strange people around. She was 100% eyes for me and 100% full of herself. Not even with classes being in full swing while she was working.
She was tugging/working/taking treats/having a wow of a time. Almost as though it was just like the local park
I was a little rattled off the start peg. I guess its been a while since I have done any called heelwork. Her heelwork was a little crowded but reasonably nice. No missed positions and they were all great. Attention was good.
Her SFE was solid. Her DOR – hmmm we have lost the lead up sit and the first time she didn't drop but the good news is she was solid as a rock on her sit so huge progress. Her ROF was as picture perfect as it was last night.
Her ROH was good (not 100% on the present it was slightly squiffy but no issues). Her COP was good but I wasn't convinced she was doing to do it as she was a little bit inattentive. However once I got the down she even managed a signals only sit (not deliberate but she went to go on my hand signal anyway so I didn't bother with a verbal).
We did a few short stays after we had finished but I didn't put her in a group stay.
No hint of any soreness/lameness issues.
Proud of my baby dog. Lets hope I can get her back in the ring and 2013 is her year to shine.
There was no hint of dropping her bundle with the strange dogs or strange people around. She was 100% eyes for me and 100% full of herself. Not even with classes being in full swing while she was working.
She was tugging/working/taking treats/having a wow of a time. Almost as though it was just like the local park
I was a little rattled off the start peg. I guess its been a while since I have done any called heelwork. Her heelwork was a little crowded but reasonably nice. No missed positions and they were all great. Attention was good.
Her SFE was solid. Her DOR – hmmm we have lost the lead up sit and the first time she didn't drop but the good news is she was solid as a rock on her sit so huge progress. Her ROF was as picture perfect as it was last night.
Her ROH was good (not 100% on the present it was slightly squiffy but no issues). Her COP was good but I wasn't convinced she was doing to do it as she was a little bit inattentive. However once I got the down she even managed a signals only sit (not deliberate but she went to go on my hand signal anyway so I didn't bother with a verbal).
We did a few short stays after we had finished but I didn't put her in a group stay.
No hint of any soreness/lameness issues.
Proud of my baby dog. Lets hope I can get her back in the ring and 2013 is her year to shine.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Another email from John
Well John confirmed today that he had reviewed Kenz's records and he did in fact place a non-dissolvable antirotational suture so at least that clarifies what on earth the abnormality that can be felt in her knee. He doesn't think this is what is causing the problem though and isn't keen to suggest removal unless we go ahead with a further LH surgery.
He did reiterate that there is nothing that will make the luxation worse but I may notice it more often when I am doing more.
His comment on x-rays was he could understand why Penny would request them but they wouldn't in his opinion change anything.
Kenz has her ups and downs. Yesterday she barely managed 10 min at the beach before she had had enough. Tonight she was lame and then shut down by the time we got as far as the corner. She is still not happy over the stairs.
Do I know what the solution is nope. Life sucks and I just wish I wasn't on this cycle of getting no where. When she isn't hurting she seems her usual full of life, million miles an hour, always wanting to do stuff just like before.
He did reiterate that there is nothing that will make the luxation worse but I may notice it more often when I am doing more.
His comment on x-rays was he could understand why Penny would request them but they wouldn't in his opinion change anything.
Kenz has her ups and downs. Yesterday she barely managed 10 min at the beach before she had had enough. Tonight she was lame and then shut down by the time we got as far as the corner. She is still not happy over the stairs.
Do I know what the solution is nope. Life sucks and I just wish I wasn't on this cycle of getting no where. When she isn't hurting she seems her usual full of life, million miles an hour, always wanting to do stuff just like before.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Where things are at.....
Had a conversation with Penny now I have time to reflect on what has been uncovered this week. Penny did suggest if Kenz was hers she would go ahead with x-rays but appreciated my hesitation in doing so. If I had a spare $450 that would be my best option but reality is I don't.
The advice she did have to offer was if I wasn't going to consider doing anything further - surgery wise, then that might not necessarily be so urgent. If there is a potential cruciate issue it will only progress further and while you could go in and do surgery to repair it at this stage, it doesn't greatly improve the outcome over waiting until it goes completely.
We talked about the need to increase the thigh muscle mass on the RH so as to prevent the RH patella from becoming an issue.
She seemed supportive of my suggestion re a progressive return to normal exercise at this stage and see how things went.
I am not sure I am really any the wiser for the moment. I feel like I am going around in circles a bit but its all part of the complicated decision making process.
Kenz barely managed 15 min at the beach this morning, wasn't keen on swimming and stood on the beach watching me retrieve her toy. She seems a bit of a walking mess today. Soooo frustrated.
The advice she did have to offer was if I wasn't going to consider doing anything further - surgery wise, then that might not necessarily be so urgent. If there is a potential cruciate issue it will only progress further and while you could go in and do surgery to repair it at this stage, it doesn't greatly improve the outcome over waiting until it goes completely.
We talked about the need to increase the thigh muscle mass on the RH so as to prevent the RH patella from becoming an issue.
She seemed supportive of my suggestion re a progressive return to normal exercise at this stage and see how things went.
I am not sure I am really any the wiser for the moment. I feel like I am going around in circles a bit but its all part of the complicated decision making process.
Kenz barely managed 15 min at the beach this morning, wasn't keen on swimming and stood on the beach watching me retrieve her toy. She seems a bit of a walking mess today. Soooo frustrated.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Appointment with Penny
Kenz ended up having an appointment with Penny (the other ortho specialist in the state) first thing yesterday morning. Matthew felt it was warranted under the circumstances before committing to any further surgery.
Penny had a good examination of both legs.
She felt that the RH MPL was going to be able to be managed conservatively at this point in time. It was only in certain instances where she could actually get it to subluxate at all and she seemed to think they were only fairly specialised circumstances.
As for the LH MPL repair she could hardly get that one to subluxate at all either. She mentioned the possibility that she might have damaged another small tendon near the repair site but all the usual palpatable tendons to check for subluxation seemed to be fine. She did suggest that normally when she does a MPL repair she would always do more then soft tissue alone.
She put up a few suggestions on the abnormally felt lump in the surgery leg. Her thought was it could possibly be a bony growth or a crimp leftover from the surgical repair. She didn't however feel that was the cause of the lameness.
Penny did feel that the degree of lameness Kenz was still currently experiencing doesn't completely fit with the MPL situation. She offered a few other suggestions for explanation of the LH lameness including degeneration of the cruciate or even meniscus damage.
Her suggestion as to a next course of action was that it would be best to x-ray and try and determine what the abnormality is.
I spoke with Matthew yesterday afternoon who seemed to agree that was an appropriate next move and that I really couldn't do nothing.
I also had an email from John to confirm the cost of the revision surgery on the LH should it be necessary as well as an explanation as to why the RH MPL was missed.
24 hours later and I am still not sure what I am doing and still very much struggling to get my head around it all. If I had a spare $500 I would go ahead with the x-rays but I just don't at this stage :(.
Penny had a good examination of both legs.
She felt that the RH MPL was going to be able to be managed conservatively at this point in time. It was only in certain instances where she could actually get it to subluxate at all and she seemed to think they were only fairly specialised circumstances.
As for the LH MPL repair she could hardly get that one to subluxate at all either. She mentioned the possibility that she might have damaged another small tendon near the repair site but all the usual palpatable tendons to check for subluxation seemed to be fine. She did suggest that normally when she does a MPL repair she would always do more then soft tissue alone.
She put up a few suggestions on the abnormally felt lump in the surgery leg. Her thought was it could possibly be a bony growth or a crimp leftover from the surgical repair. She didn't however feel that was the cause of the lameness.
Penny did feel that the degree of lameness Kenz was still currently experiencing doesn't completely fit with the MPL situation. She offered a few other suggestions for explanation of the LH lameness including degeneration of the cruciate or even meniscus damage.
Her suggestion as to a next course of action was that it would be best to x-ray and try and determine what the abnormality is.
I spoke with Matthew yesterday afternoon who seemed to agree that was an appropriate next move and that I really couldn't do nothing.
I also had an email from John to confirm the cost of the revision surgery on the LH should it be necessary as well as an explanation as to why the RH MPL was missed.
24 hours later and I am still not sure what I am doing and still very much struggling to get my head around it all. If I had a spare $500 I would go ahead with the x-rays but I just don't at this stage :(.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
What a Nightmare.....
One can only describe this morning as a bit of a nightmare. Kenz went back to John for an assessment on where things were at with her LH patella.
Kenz weighed in a nice and respectable 13.5kg and is in fine shape. As per usual I took her outside and had her walk up and back and her gait was nice and even and well balanced. Back inside for an examination.
John started to examine her as normal and all was fine - her shoulder checked out ok, no sore spots in her spine that he could find but he gets to examining the RH and then disaster struck. He said she had a Grade 2 MPL luxation on her RH!!!! Hmm ok so that left me somewhat puzzled and confused. He then got onto her LH and he felt it wasn't as bad as the RH but when it luxated it wasn't in any particular hurry to go back in. Certainly not the outcome you would have expected post-surgery. He again mentioned the option of a revision surgery.
John also commented on the fact she had fairly sizeable muscle wastage on her LH when compared with her RH. He did feel whatever it is Matthew had felt in the knee but said he didn't think it could be suture material at this stage and wondered if it was scar tissue.
I came home and jumped on the phone and called Matthew who felt that it was worth taking Kenz back to Penny for a second opinion before committing to any further surgery.
I am feeling completely overwhelmed right now and keep breaking out in tears :(.
Poor girl all I wanted was the performance dog of my dreams and what I have is the performance dog of my nightmares.
Kenz weighed in a nice and respectable 13.5kg and is in fine shape. As per usual I took her outside and had her walk up and back and her gait was nice and even and well balanced. Back inside for an examination.
John started to examine her as normal and all was fine - her shoulder checked out ok, no sore spots in her spine that he could find but he gets to examining the RH and then disaster struck. He said she had a Grade 2 MPL luxation on her RH!!!! Hmm ok so that left me somewhat puzzled and confused. He then got onto her LH and he felt it wasn't as bad as the RH but when it luxated it wasn't in any particular hurry to go back in. Certainly not the outcome you would have expected post-surgery. He again mentioned the option of a revision surgery.
John also commented on the fact she had fairly sizeable muscle wastage on her LH when compared with her RH. He did feel whatever it is Matthew had felt in the knee but said he didn't think it could be suture material at this stage and wondered if it was scar tissue.
I came home and jumped on the phone and called Matthew who felt that it was worth taking Kenz back to Penny for a second opinion before committing to any further surgery.
I am feeling completely overwhelmed right now and keep breaking out in tears :(.
Poor girl all I wanted was the performance dog of my dreams and what I have is the performance dog of my nightmares.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Second Acupuncture Session
Kenz had her second acupuncture treatment today. Poor girl - more needles then she had last week.
Matthew asked how she had got on over the last week and was a little surprised when I said she was doing better with the stairs but picking up the LH leg more then she had previously. Not quite the expected outcome.
On the positive - her hip extension had improved (her right was much better then her left) and she wasn't quite so sore or reactive when he put the needles into her spine this week compared with last week.
The patella apparently seems fairly stable (although he didn't push it) so its a bit of a loss as to why the 3 legged behavior. Matthew did say you could feel a huge knot over the joint which may be causing issues and may need removing (depending what on earth it is).
I was also told that I shouldn't be happy until she can go back to both AGILITY (yee har) and obedience and he wouldn't accept a dog her age with physical limitations.
So the plan for the moment is to see how she gets on over the next few days and to call him early next week to work out where we go from here.
If she is still having the same level of issues she had this past week then it will be back to see John and work out what is going on with that left hind. If things have improved then she will go back to Matthew and have another acupuncture treatment.
Matthew asked how she had got on over the last week and was a little surprised when I said she was doing better with the stairs but picking up the LH leg more then she had previously. Not quite the expected outcome.
On the positive - her hip extension had improved (her right was much better then her left) and she wasn't quite so sore or reactive when he put the needles into her spine this week compared with last week.
The patella apparently seems fairly stable (although he didn't push it) so its a bit of a loss as to why the 3 legged behavior. Matthew did say you could feel a huge knot over the joint which may be causing issues and may need removing (depending what on earth it is).
I was also told that I shouldn't be happy until she can go back to both AGILITY (yee har) and obedience and he wouldn't accept a dog her age with physical limitations.
So the plan for the moment is to see how she gets on over the next few days and to call him early next week to work out where we go from here.
If she is still having the same level of issues she had this past week then it will be back to see John and work out what is going on with that left hind. If things have improved then she will go back to Matthew and have another acupuncture treatment.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
First Acupuncture Session
Last night was the first night in a while where she has happily raced up the stairs at bedtime. This morning she found a red kiddie ball at the park and was happily herding it to her hearts content.
It was then home for a bath and off for a trip to Matthew for Kenz's first acupuncture session.
Matthew is still fairly adamant that its not the knee causing the issues but the fact her back is roached fairly badly. Coupled with my observations that things improved when she was on anti-inflams back in October last year he feels this further supports that conclusion.
Poor girl had lots of needles stuck in her and looked a little like a pin cushion. We were a little to complacent because she was laying there quite patiently until he got to sticking the ones in her spine and she reacted badly and managed to move all the rest so he had to start again with her standing up.
She was a good girl after this though and lay down without causing any further issues once he had all the needles in place.
As far as what Kenz is allowed to do this week Matthew placed no real restrictions as he feels by the sounds of it she is moderating herself to some extent. If she wants a walk she can have one, obviously no forced high level activity or training but she is allowed to have moderate exercise within reason.
She is back to him next Wednesday for more needles and to see how she is getting on.
Fingers crossed we see some improvement.
It was then home for a bath and off for a trip to Matthew for Kenz's first acupuncture session.
Matthew is still fairly adamant that its not the knee causing the issues but the fact her back is roached fairly badly. Coupled with my observations that things improved when she was on anti-inflams back in October last year he feels this further supports that conclusion.
Poor girl had lots of needles stuck in her and looked a little like a pin cushion. We were a little to complacent because she was laying there quite patiently until he got to sticking the ones in her spine and she reacted badly and managed to move all the rest so he had to start again with her standing up.
She was a good girl after this though and lay down without causing any further issues once he had all the needles in place.
As far as what Kenz is allowed to do this week Matthew placed no real restrictions as he feels by the sounds of it she is moderating herself to some extent. If she wants a walk she can have one, obviously no forced high level activity or training but she is allowed to have moderate exercise within reason.
She is back to him next Wednesday for more needles and to see how she is getting on.
Fingers crossed we see some improvement.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Three Options
So Matthew said to see how she got on over this last week and let him know how she was getting on. She had a fairly horrible looking weekend. She was a bit of a mess and that included some definite front right lameness. She is still having issues with stairs and is still randomly sitting down and having issues with mostly the left hind leg.
The situation at the moment is that he is fairly certain she may well have a lower lumbar spinal condition.
The verdict was one of three options: 1. x-rays, 2. MRI or 3. treatment trial of acupuncture. Option 3 will require a minimum of three appointments over the course of three weeks.
I don't think I have many options other than to opt for trialling acupuncture with her and seeing if that improves things. Poor little girl this has certainly turned into a prolonged saga. I am still hopeful she can get back to obedience but I guess we will have to see.
In between her lameness episodes over the weekend she did have a nice time up the river going swimming twice a day and then playing on the oval to dry off.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Matthew's latest verdict
Kenz went back to see Matthew yesterday as I wanted to get his view on where things were heading. She has had a few very serious lameness episodes over the last fortnight including as recent as Monday evening.
Well the good news is that Kenz's right shoulder now feels 100%. Glad to see some part of her isn't broken.
We are still none the wiser over the RH 3 legging business.
Matthew felt that his best guess as to why the LH issues still was that she may be showing discomfort to the internal sutures used. John however said he used 100% dissolvable sutures and at 7-8 months post-op they should be fully dissolved now so he didn't think that was likely. Matthew did say that her LH patella is still luxating somewhat but that he didn't think going in and doing further surgery to stabilise it will fix anything more now.
Her back is also starting to show signs of roaching and there is likely things going on in her lower throacic spine but he didn't think an MRI was going to change the end diagnosis or how we continue to manage her so didn't think it was necessarily warranted.
She is also super tight through her hip extensors.
So we are back to really playing wait and see. He wants to see if she can remain issue free for a week or so based on what he did yesterday and if she has any more 3 legged episodes then I am to stretch her out and see if that resolves things at the time.
At the moment we are to continue on as we have been and if things look to be resolving then maybe looking at acupuncture to help keep things settled over the longer term.
The verdict is that I will have to look after her left knee for the remainder of her life and therefore agility is totally off the future plans :(. Still hoping she can get back to obedience or at least some training as that is what she really loves to do.
In the meantime we will stick to walks at the beach, swimming and free running at the park and just continue to monitor things and hope for a bit of luck.
Well the good news is that Kenz's right shoulder now feels 100%. Glad to see some part of her isn't broken.
We are still none the wiser over the RH 3 legging business.
Matthew felt that his best guess as to why the LH issues still was that she may be showing discomfort to the internal sutures used. John however said he used 100% dissolvable sutures and at 7-8 months post-op they should be fully dissolved now so he didn't think that was likely. Matthew did say that her LH patella is still luxating somewhat but that he didn't think going in and doing further surgery to stabilise it will fix anything more now.
Her back is also starting to show signs of roaching and there is likely things going on in her lower throacic spine but he didn't think an MRI was going to change the end diagnosis or how we continue to manage her so didn't think it was necessarily warranted.
She is also super tight through her hip extensors.
So we are back to really playing wait and see. He wants to see if she can remain issue free for a week or so based on what he did yesterday and if she has any more 3 legged episodes then I am to stretch her out and see if that resolves things at the time.
At the moment we are to continue on as we have been and if things look to be resolving then maybe looking at acupuncture to help keep things settled over the longer term.
The verdict is that I will have to look after her left knee for the remainder of her life and therefore agility is totally off the future plans :(. Still hoping she can get back to obedience or at least some training as that is what she really loves to do.
In the meantime we will stick to walks at the beach, swimming and free running at the park and just continue to monitor things and hope for a bit of luck.
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