Bailey's incision is looking really great - I'm actually amazed at how well it's healed (except of course, that one little spot... sigh). I also found one staple hidden at the bottom of her incision that the vet missed while removing them. Hopefully my sister (a Family Practice PA) will be able to swing by and help get that removed, since I really don't want to have to go through the ordeal of taking Bailey back to the vet (more on that later) for something that minor.
Here is the latest picture (with the staple highlighted):
Now that everything looks so good on the outside, my main concern is how things are healing inside her knee. It's so hard to know if she's progressing as expected there. I've been working on our range of motion exercises, but it's been difficult since she immediately tenses up her muscles (can't blame her). I've been looking for pointers online on how to deal with this, but haven't found anything very helpful yet.
When I took her to the vet a few days ago for her first checkup and staple removal, we did have an "oops" moment. I made the mistake of taking her right up to my car (where the door was open), thinking I'd lift her in from there. Well she had other ideas... she tried to jump in. I grabbed her collar and stopped her just in time, but it threw her off balance and she landed on her surgery leg. Much yelping and whining ensued, along with trembling - I knew that had to hurt. I was very worried she had done some damage to the vet's handiwork in her knee, but she seemed to check out ok there. I do think it set us back a little though, since she seemed to be more sore for a few days. Next time I think I will lift her AWAY from the car and carry her there, to avoid this issue in the future.
She's still restricted to a small section of my bedroom (carpeted, which is very important for good footing) and only goes out for bathroom breaks. I've been watching her closely outside for clues on her healing progress. She varies from 3-legged, to toe-touching, to actually putting some weight on that leg and walking (well, limping) on it. At this point, I can only hope she's on track and try to be patient over the next few months.
Patience, patience. Someday there might be another tennis ball in her future. Until then, they are hidden.
Bailey is now 9 days into her CCL post-op recovery and she's doing well. As part of the healing process though, her incision has started bothering her... it's getting itchy. I thought about trying some kind of hydro-cortisone cream, but was worried she'd ingest it through licking and I didn't want to interfere with the healing of the incision either. I also considered just leaving on her BiteNot collar to prevent her from trying to scratch it, but I didn't want to leave it on her 24/7. And while I prefer not to give her drugs if I don't have to, I eventually decided it would be a good idea to at least try giving her Benadryl (based on the recommendations from my trusty Yahoo Orthodogs group).
I researched this for awhile, to make sure there weren't any possible serious side effects (I couldn't find any) and to make sure I gave her the correct dosage for her size. The generally accepted dosage (found on various veterinarian sites) was 1-2 mg per pound, twice daily. Bailey is around 62 pounds, so I decided to start with 2 pills twice a day to see how she did, knowing that I could up the dosage if needed. Thankfully, it seems to be doing the trick. I'm sure she's much happier without being so itchy and I'm relieved to have found an easy solution.
As an added benefit (at least in how it pertains to keeping her quiet during her recovery), it also has a calming and sedative effect. She's sleeping through the night and her restlessness has tapered down quite a bit. If giving her the Benadryl can help us get through the next 8-10 weeks without her reinjuring herself, it will be worth it.
Well, I've officially humiliated my dog.
In an effort to keep Bailey from licking, biting, scratching and generally messing around with the surgery incision site, I'm putting her in a protective collar during the day when I'm away from home and can't keep an eye on her. Now, I've been trying to convince her that this collar (called Bite Not) that I got for her is actually much more attractive and comfortable than the traditional e-collar that the vet sent her home with, but I don't think she's buying it. What do you think?
This is her look of shock and horror that I'm putting her through this nonsense:
This is her look of resignation and sorrow:
And this is the look of humiliation, while she is cursing me under her breath:
The Bite Not collar is actually pretty darned awesome from my point of view and definitely a worthwhile investment for me. When she was wearing the original e-collar from the vet, she wouldn't lie down, kept bumping into things, and was generally pretty stressed out while it was on. With this collar, she has her peripheral vision, she can easily nap in it (which I've witnessed), and she tolerates it surprisingly well.
For more details on the Bite Not collar and where you can buy it: http://www.bitenot.com/
P.S. They also have them for cats! What I can't picture is how you'd actually get your cat to hold still long enough to allow you to put it on...
Well, darn it anyway. We couldn't even get through one week without having a moment of panic, resulting in rushing back to the vet's office. Sigh.
Before I go on, I'll let you know all is well. I'm still not quite sure what happened (I didn't see the exact moment), but here is my best guess.
Bailey was getting a little restless and bored (who can blame her?), so I decided it would be a good idea to reintroduce the Kong - a favorite among dog owners who need to keep their canines occupied and content. I stuck a treat in it and plopped it down in front of her (she was standing at the time). She had this look of "cool!", so I thought "great, problem solved!" and started to walk away. Two seconds later I hear a loud yelp and then she started crying and hobbling around frantically. It was definitely a my-heart-is-in-my-throat moment, as the first thing that entered my mind was that she did something to the internal repair done on her knee.
Once I got her somewhat quieted down and standing still, I tried to figure out what happened. Then I saw something shiny on the floor... a few of her staples. Oh crap. I looked at her incision and saw that it had started bleeding. Oh double crap. Lots of swearing occurred. I grabbed the phone, dialed the vet and explained the situation. They asked me to bring her in right away and me, being somewhat panicked, got her there in record time (yes, they gave me a look of surprise when I walked in).
They put us in an examining room right away and the vet was in right afterward (these guys are awesome). Dr. Keith immediately crouched down by Bailey to greet and try to calm her - and then reached over and put his hand on my arm... "you ok?". Poor guy must have known he had a panicky dog owner on his hands. He examined her and said he could not feel any damage done internally to her knee repair, which was a huge relief. He checked out her wound and thought it would be ok to leave it as is. So all is well and I can breathe normally again.
So what happened to cause this? My guess is that Bailey saw her Kong and momentarily forgot her leg was hurt and tried to lie down normally instead of being cautious. It maybe caused too much pressure on the incision and caused some of the staples to pop and the incision to break open some. She's been much slower and more careful since then, although it could be from soreness more than just being cautious.
This is her "sorry, Mom..." look:
My awesome vets: Crossroads Veterinary Clinic
