Another ACL..

[JennR]

Hi everyone,

I usually post in the rescue forum, but I'll be moving here for awhile!

I am getting a Golden on Monday to foster who just had ACL surgery. I'll have him for at least 8 weeks through his recovery.

I need to post a picture, he is really one of the coolest goldens I've seen - he may have a little of something else, he has white legs. There are some with some white, aren't there? I don't know... not the real important issue I suppose!

Anyway, I've been reading through all the forums, and I guess I'm in for a long haul. My family is placing bets I won't be able to give him up at the end.

I went and met him yesterday just briefly - I was able to get them to keep him over the weekend - I was a little concerned about bringing an injured dog home over a weekend. It's much quieter here during the week, I think it will be easier.

His name (for now) is Peabody. I think there's a Gentle Ben in there, or something softer - he was so sweet - I put my arm in the cage and he just leaned into it, and looked at me. Ugh - I melted. He has the pathetic break your heart look going big time right now.

Wish me luck - I'll be reading, and re-reading this weekend I'm sure!

Jenn

[CaynCher]

I wish the best for you & your Golden. No experience with ACL but have read about owner's with this problem on another website. Again good luck!

:dogbark :reddogx

[Molly McLaughlin]

YooHoo--Daisy, Duke you've got a new friend... doggiex1 doggiex1

Seriously, these folks give great advice and support. :woofpup

[Jo Ellen]

Hey JennR :003

It's not as bad as it may seem. You probably know I'm going through this right now with Daisy. She's getting close to a month now. I have a feeling recovery is a bit longer than 8 weeks. Myself, I just can't imagine going back to a fully normal routine in just another month. She's doing really well though. Dogs heal so quickly and they're such troopers ... they take it pretty much in stride.

What kind of ACL surgery was done, do you know? How recent is his surgery? And how old is Peabody?

[WendyGirlfriend]

Good luck to you. I can't wait to see a picture of him! I can only imagine that melt-your-heart-I-will-do-anything-for-you look! I like his name too. You could call him "Sweet Pea." ;)

[JennR]

He had the surgery last Wednesday or maybe even Tuesday - I saw him on Thursday for the first time.

I was going to go get him this morning, but my daughter is sick, so I'll have to wait until I get my husband home this afternoon to go get him.

He is mixed with something else, but he just looks like a golden. He just has white legs instead of all gold.

So, he's one week post-op, which I know is critical. They said for the next week he really needs to take it easy, let him walk around, etc.., but real quiet. If he comes home with the cast I saw him in, he doesn't have much of a choice. :rolleyes: We'll get into all the PT in another week. Does that sound right?

The surgeon told me it was an ACL, and that they used some sort of plastic insert that attaches to both the bone and the ligament. I haven't done a lot of research on it yet, been more concerned with getting my hands on a couple of crates, chew toys, bones, etc... They said they'd walk me through it week by week, and they are guessing a 6-7 week recovery.

I wasn't big on the name, but they told me he's named after Mr. Peabody, which I hadn't even thought of. I like that image though. We own an optical shop, so I'm going to have my husband bring home some Harry Potter style frames to take his picture in.

Wish me luck! I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it's going.

I'll be re-reading all your posts, Jo Ellen, glad you took the time to write so much - it will be helpful!

Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

Ha ha -- I was a fairly demanding patient wasn't I :rolleyes: I laugh at myself now :laugh2

It seems like vets do this differently from place to place.

Daisy never had a cast, her incision was not covered. And we started the PT range of motion right away, the day after I brought her home which was, by then, Day 3 of the surgery.

It sounds like the vet put in an artificial ligament, but not sure what you mean by attaching it to the ligament. In Daisy's procedure, the vet removed the torn ligament completely and attached a new artificial nylon ligament to the bone.

Peabody really does need to take it easy for the next several weeks. Leashed potty breaks for the first couple of months and quiet down time for the first month.

I'm getting more comfortable with letting Daisy do her thing around the house. I still don't let her go up the stairs. I help her get up on the couch only when I can be certain that I'll be there to help her down when she wants off.

I can't wait to see a picture of Peabody :) A week after surgery, he should be getting himself around fairly well. Do be careful with his good leg. If you see that he's about to get up, help him so he doesn't have to put quite so much weight on the good knee. Still holding my breath on that one with Daisy.

:003

[JennR]

He is really doing quite well! I live in a ranch, which is why they asked if I'd be willing to do this. No stairs!

I didn't really know what you were asking about his surgery - yes, they put in an artificial something or other, but it sounded like it naturally bonds to bone and what is left?

He is on strict crate rest for one more week. I think they took it really easy with him because he is a foster dog coming out of a rather traumatic situation. He's allowed to come out on his leash for potty breaks.

He's still in a large soft cast - maybe because of his age? He's only around one. He was also, shall we say, active, before his surgery. (He chewed out of a crate at the vet's office). He has been fine here though.

Let's keep our fingers crossed it stays that way!!

He is absolutely charming though - total cuddlebug. We let him hang out with us while we watched TV last night. He just laid down as close as possible to get pet.

Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

JennR, Peabody should do really well being just around 1. They really do bounce back very quickly, even more quickly the younger they are.

I'm learning that PT is the really critical factor here. My vet hasn't given me much direction in that area. I'm going to call a coupld of PT therapists tomorrow and see if I can figure out what I need to be doing that will benefit. It's really important to build the bad leg back up so that they return as quickly as possible to using both legs equally. Daisy walks fairly well on the leg they fixed, but she doesn't use it at all getting up.

I wish there were water therapy options here but there aren't. That would be the best. The lake water is still too cold to take her swimming.

A ranch house is good, yes. I have an upstairs and and downstairs. Daisy stays downstairs of course, and I'm sleeping on the couch :)

[JennR]

Aww...nice Mom! :)

He is doing awesome. The first day he was sort of squatting to go potty - now he's balancing on the bad leg to go!

He's not chewing on the bandaging, so I'm being somewhat lax about the e-collar - it looks awful when he is trying to sleep. I can hear him if he's making any noise, so I just put it back on if he's licking.

He's been very quiet since he got here - happy though. He'll just sit while my husband sort of rubs him between the eyes with this look of complete contentment. He never knew life could be this good apparently.

I'm doing everything I can to get some weight on him - he doesn't go for much - he doesn't like peanut butter (I thought it was law that dogs like peanut butter???), not a big bone eater, he did eat a hot dog last night though. I didn't have any wet food to mix in his dry, so I cut up a hot dog, which he meticulously picked out and left the dry food.

This morning I watered down the wet food, and put a whole cup of dry in, and mixed it up like mush. He ate almost all of that, which made me feel better.

I know what you mean about swim therapy. I don't know what we have around here, other than the lake, but like you said, it's too cold still.

We'll see. Got some cute pictures of him with my daughter (she currently has a cast as well, so it's funny). I need to resize them so I can post them. That will be one for tomorrow.
Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

How is Mr. Peabody doing, Jenn? It's been ... a couple of weeks now? I hope he's still being calm for you. Maybe he's just a take it easy kind of dog. Daisy is that way :)

I was able to be lax with Daisy's e-collar too. The only time I had it on her was when I couldn't watch her, like at night or when I was at work. She never bothered her incision site at all.

Would love to see some pictures :)

:003

[JennR]

School started back up this week - I haven't had much time to check in!
Peabody is doing well. He's not one - I had bad information. He's more like 3-5 years old. That is still young enough to do well, though.

He is having some anxiety issues we have to deal with. He's doing well in the crate though, which helps. At least I'm not concerned my couch will get eaten. :eek: It's very strange, I don't think I'd call it separation anxiety - but it's something strong enough we are beginning behavior modification medication as well as behavioral training.

We went for his first post-op check today for his knee, and the surgeon feels like he's using the leg too much, so we re-casted him. (The first cast was slipping, and so the surgeon thought we could try to go without). This will keep him a little more uncomfortable, keep the knee stiff to allow everything to heal tightly. He wasn't walking a lot, but apparently was putting too much weight on it. It is getting better, but not as rapidly as he'd really like to see. So we'll try a little harder - somehow.

He's eating really well now though, and that was a difficult hurdle to clear.

Poor guy. He's an absolute punkin'. I don't think he's been an inside dog, either - you can tell he's trying to figure out what the rules are (and he's picking great ones to find out the word "NO" - like putting paws on the kitchen table - getting too close to dinner cooking on the stove, etc...). He just smiles and wags his tail so hard his whole back end practically comes off the ground.

I need to read your Daisy update - hope all is well!

Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

How is Mr. Peabody doing? He's going on 4 weeks now right? If I remember correctly, Daisy was doing much better but I was still a nervous wreck.

Daisy and I have a new way of being together outside. I used to let her be outside off leash with me when I was working in the yard. Now I tie her to the grape arbor so she can see me but she can't run around or get crazy. She's so good about it, just watching me. I think I like it better this way because I can concentrate more on what I'm doing and less on where she happens to be at the moment.

Wow, you thought Peabody was 1 and it turns out he's fully mature, 3-5! I think this kind of surgery is easier when they're fully mature. Do you?

Do you know yet what your plans are for Peabody? I really like that name, by the way. It's a comical name, and it seems to fit the picture of him that you posted.

Hope you both are doing well :003

[JennR]

We're doing fairly well, he is such a sweetheart!

His soft cast was slipping again, so it came of late last week (it was just really to make him more uncomfortable and stop using the leg!). We go back again some day this week for a re-check. I have to have 2 people help me, it takes me sitting in the car, 2 people to get HIM in the car, and one of them to drive me, so it depends on what day I can get help!

I put a full-body shot in the rescue page - I was just sure he wasn't full grown because of how big his feet & head are. He looks a bit like a muppet!

I've been letting him out of his crate more, but is being a very complacent patient for the most part. His medication is helping him some, too...we're dealing with physical & emotional issues at this point (what's the saying - the honeymoon's over??).

When we go outside, he is quite content to lay and watch birds - he'd give anything to chase a squirrel, but we have to be really careful for a good while still.

Our trip to the vet will be interesting - we'll hopefully have enough improvement we can start some short walks, it would do him a world of good. And I agree - I am at the point where he is feeling much better about it than I am!

We're all falling pretty hard for this guy....

Give Daisy a hug from Mr. P :dogbark

Jenn

[JennR]

Can you hear Peabody singing

:029 :029 "I'm free...to do what I want....any 'ol time......FREEDOM!!" banana banana

Well, free from the crate anyway. That was 5 long weeks!

He's allowed to walk around the house - makes him feel more like a dog I am sure.

Hopefully he won't be too crazy now - one more month of "house arrest", and we can get out.

He's not missing anything, that's for sure - although it looks nice, we are having the worst pollen season. It was something close to 6,000 today. That is CRAZY!! Well, that is the ATL for you.

Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

That's wonderful news !!!! :029 cheerleade :029

You're over the first big hurdle, the rest is simple stuff :) It does help so much when they can do something as simple as walk from the livingroom to the kitchen, follow you from one room to another.

I feel your joy Peabody !! jump2

Remember Peabody .... WALK, don't RUN !! :D

[JennR]

How about more like this....

NO PEABODY, DON'T CLIMB ON THE TABLE!! :eek:

No, don't eat the magazines. No, don't eat the library book. AH...don't chase the puppy!!! Quit running in circles! (At least figure 8's won't be a problem - got those down pat!)

Peabody, NO....that movie is rented..give me that...hey...give me that...come back here...

Hey, wait - don't chase the cat.....

Ugh...where'd you go? PEABODY....NO! Put down those shoes.... :021

Here, chew your Kong.....oh gross....could you slobber a little more, please? Yes, right there, in the middle of the family room....

Wait - where is he..... where are you...where'd he go????? Awww, look at that, all curled up asleep..... IN HIS CRATE. :laugh2


No, it's not all that bad, but I have said every single one of these things in the last 24 hours. Silly dog enjoying his freedom. He's had a LONG wait for it!

Jenn

[Jo Ellen]

rofl3 rofl3 rofl3

He just wants to make sure you get your exercise while he's on house arrest !!

I like Peabody, he's a hoot !! :D