Solara - After Surgery

[TalonsMa]

Here's a couple pics of Solara taken after she had surgery on her knee (which is why I haven't been here lately!)
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[Schwinn]

That's EXACTLY how Daisy's leg looked! It made me cringe everytime I saw it! And I was worried they didn't "glue" the incision back together evenly. But now her hair is all grown back, and you can't even find the scar.

I just felt bad for her. She wakes up from what must have been an EXTREMELY restful sleep and..."Boy, that was a good nap! I haven't slept li--GAUGH!! Where'd my leg hair go? What happened to my leg? Who the--what the--I. AM NEVER. SLEEPING. AGAIN!!" She seems to have that confused look on her face now.

[TalonsMa]

It's true! I felt SO bad for her. I went to visit her at the vet after her surgery, and she wouldn't even let me pat her, she'd pull away and cry. I felt like the worst mommy in the world.
They put stitches in hers, and so we go on Saturday to get them removed. What was wrong with your pups leg??

[Schwinn]

I forget the technical term, but it had something to do with the ligament. What they did was drill through the thigh bone and femur, and use a wire to tighten up her leg. She still limps, but that's because she's too busy running around to let it heal properly. It's been, I think 8 months. She doesn't seem to notice (I think that's part of the problem!), and when she gets excited, she uses both back legs. (my favourite is when I come home, she comes flying down the hall, LEANS into me so I can give her a good rubbing, runs back down the hall to the back family room, looks at my wife, then comes running BACK to the front door. It's like she's running down to say, "JAMIE'S HOME!!" Cracks me up everytime). Sometimes when she lies down on her other leg, I think she rolls over on it, and it falls asleep. When that happens, she walks around on her front legs, with her back legs about 1 inch in the air. Very creepy. She's now known as either Tripod or Circus Dog, depending on the number of legs she's walking on.

We started her on glucosamine, and are now giving her shark cartiledge biscuits, and they seem to be helping.

[TalonsMa]

That's exactly what Solara had her surgery for!!! She tore one of her crucial ligiments. Cruciate surgery. How old was she when it happened?? Do you know how it happened?? We'll be starting her on Glucosamine ASAP as well.
She hopped around on 3 legs for about a week, and now she's putting alot of weight on her sore. She's doing pretty good. What kind of dog is Daisy??

[Schwinn]

We aren't exactly sure what happened. I think we noticed she was starting to limp when she was around 2 1/2. They kept an eye on her for a while, but it kept getting worse and worse. She's about as hyper as a 65 lb Jack Russel when she gets going, and she doesn't think about her leg hurting. Apparently, it can happen a number of ways. She likes to jump, and (I feel really guilty for thinking this), it may have even happened while we were rough housing. The vet said it is one of those things that can "just happen" in active dogs, kind of the way we can get injuries from being active. Unfortunatly, the dog doesn't know enough to rest it, so it gets worse. We started buying dog food with glucosamine in it. As for giving it to her separatly, I started giving her the stuff I use for working out (it's pure glucosamine, no other stuff in it). The vet said that was an excellent idea as the stuff made for dogs is expensive, and I bought well over 100 pills for about $20. We just say, "Open", and Daisy lets us put the pill in her mouth.

Don't worry. Solara will be fine. Just remember, it's up to you to make sure she(?) doesn't get too active on her leg. I had my wife to remind both of us! (I think that's why she's given us both the nickname of "Dumbass". With love, of course! )

[TalonsMa]

Solara is doing well....we keep her as calm as can be expected considering she's only 6 months old! The vet said the fact that she's so young will be a bonus as it'll her heal faster. I sure hope so. She seems to be doing well, but we'll see what our vet says on Saturday.
Solara is a maniac when she plays! Especially with other dogs. My hubby had taken her for a walk with our neighbors and their dog, and she fell pretty hard. No crying or nothing though, got right back up again to play. She limped for a day & that was it. A couple weeks later we took her for another walk, and she fell again and limped for another day, she had a vet appointment so my DH asked about her knee, and that's when the evt found the damage We both felt soooo bad. She had her appt Monday, another consultation the Wednesday and the surgery Friday. The vet said the damage was bad. But she has a really good chance of healing totally. I sure hope so.

[Bugsy]

Ouch, poor Solara.

I remember after Bugsy had his TPO surgery... it was a very difficult time. You're torn between making them happy and keeping them healthy. Bugsy came home with a strict schedule of meds and physio. I'm sure you must have one too... Then there were the harshest words ever spoken aloud "no running, no jumping & keep him in a crate for at least 4 weeks"

(((HUG))) 4 Solara

[Schwinn]

Originally Posted by TalonsMa

What kind of dog is Daisy??

Sorry, forgot to answer that part! She's a Rotti-pitbull cross. I can't find the pictures of her, so I'll have to post them later.

[TalonsMa]

Solara had her stitches out on Saturday, they noticed (as did we) that her knee is still quite swollen. We are to keep an eye on it for another 2 weeks, if it's still as swollen we are to take her in again. Other than that everything went great, and she weighs 43lbs now

[Schwinn]

Found 'em!

And Daisy was nasty swollen for a couple of weeks, and then was fine. You're probably like me, just worrying too much! I think my wife was tired of hearing me whine for the dog!

[chico2]

Schwinn,I think that's the first time we get to see Daisy,she looks wonderful and poor beautiful Solara,I am sure she'll be ok in a while...poor nekked leg!!

[Schwinn]

Originally Posted by chico2

Schwinn,I think that's the first time we get to see Daisy,she looks wonderful and poor beautiful Solara,I am sure she'll be ok in a while...poor nekked leg!!

Thank you! She's either looking pretty, or silly! That's why we love her! Not bad for a "pound puppy", eh?

Solara will be up and running around before you know it. The worst part is waiting for the hair to grow back, not because it takes a while, but because you feel bad for her. Trust me, you notice it more than she does!

[TalonsMa]

Oh wow, Daisy is so darn cute!! Solara is already running around! It's so hard to keep her quiet, but the vet said it'll be good for her to excersise her leg
And her hair has grown back quite a bit, it's funny how many ppl ask us "why we're shaved our dog, in the midle of winter?" I men, if we were going to shave her, why would we shave only 1 leg? LOL

[Schwinn]

Originally Posted by TalonsMa

Oh wow, Daisy is so darn cute!! Solara is already running around! It's so hard to keep her quiet, but the vet said it'll be good for her to excersise her leg
And her hair has grown back quite a bit, it's funny how many ppl ask us "why we're shaved our dog, in the midle of winter?" I men, if we were going to shave her, why would we shave only 1 leg? LOL

Thanks, and I would just tell the brainiacs, "Because it's winter!! It's to cold to shave both legs!!" Or just mention Christmas is coming, and you forgot to get a turkey, so you're preparing...people will leave you alone after that...

[TalonsMa]

Originally Posted by Schwinn

Thanks, and I would just tell the brainiacs, "Because it's winter!! It's to cold to shave both legs!!" Or just mention Christmas is coming, and you forgot to get a turkey, so you're preparing...people will leave you alone after that...

LOL....that is a great response! We'll have to try that

[wAggie]

omg, what these babies have gone through!!! i think about Choco getting older and having all sorts of complications. when he was younger (still does if encouraged nuff - like by the neighbouring cats ) he jumped around like a maniac, I'd imagine significantly more than a JRT... YEAH!

he used to fly off our picnic table like superman... at like 3 months!!!


anyways, sowwy for getting carried away.

I can totally imagine what ur and have been going through.

Choco, HOney and I send TONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS of *HUGS* to both families. :love: :love:

[TalonsMa]

Thanks WAggie That's sweet!!!

[mastifflover]

Big hugs for Solara I hope she is healing well. It is really tough trying to keep them calm once they start to feel better. Your such a good mommy to her.
Schwinn your Daisy is beautiful

[Schwinn]

Originally Posted by mastifflover

Schwinn your Daisy is beautiful

Thanks! Just don't tell her, she might think she has to start acting like a lady!

[Sadie's Mom]

Awww poor Solara! Sending good thoughts her way.

[TalonsMa]

Originally Posted by mastifflover

Big hugs for Solara I hope she is healing well. It is really tough trying to keep them calm once they start to feel better. Your such a good mommy to her.

Thank you

[CyberKitten]

Best wishes to Solara! I am sure she will do just fine!! And wow, Daisy is a beautiful dog too!! And as an overprotective daddy/mommy, I think there is nothing wrong with worrying! It is the moms and dads who do not worry that scare me!!!

[Rottimom]

Schwinn Daisy looks a bit like my Herc. Here he is at 4 mo. old with his broken leg. Hugs to both puppies. They will get better. I thinks its definitely harder on the loving Mommies and Daddies than it is on the brave pups. They are survivors.

[Rottimom]

LMAO sorry about the messy edit job. Had to erase myself. Shy

[Schwinn]

Daisy definitly has the markings of the Rotti (though I'm still not convinced she isn't a doberman cross, just because of her body type). Thanks for the kind words, all! She's my little goofball.

I know I still feel bad for Daisy when she limps still from time to time. Usually it is after she has had a good run, or chasing snowballs (or her idiot dad falls on her while wrestling ), but I realize that her tail is wagging so she's happy, and that's the important thing. We've also been warned not to coddle her too much when she limps, as the vet thinks every once in a while she's playing us. (For a while, my wife noticed that Daisy was walking fine, and then as soon as I got home she started limping! She's also learned how to look me in the eyes if I'm walking out the door without her...she usually winds up in the truck with me)

[TalonsMa]

Thanks for all of your goos wishes!! She is doing okay...we're still keeping a close eye on her leg as she has a build up up fluid sweeling. We're praying it goes down ASAP or we have to take her in to get it drained, which we don't want to put her through.

[CyberKitten]

Glad to hear Solara is doing better.

Re: the comment "she's playing us". Unbelievably, my four month old Siamese kitten knows how to play me too. She loves a certain "mousie" (a mousie on a fishing pole type toy) and she wants to run back and forth on the bed chasing it. (She'll chase that thing anywhere, truth be known but she likes it on the bed) I will be at the computer and she comes in in that merrow tone that says "let's play, I'm bored." but there is a special merrow tone for that mousie.

Today, she thought I was particularly dense (probably thinking "God, those humans are stupid!) and voiced her merrrow. I did not move so she came back WITH the mouse and pole dragging, as if to say, "OK, do you get it now?"

And she gets away with it. I leave what I am doing, play mousie - she grabs it every so oftren as if she just won the lottery and puts it somewhere but wants to start all over.

The funny thing is I think I get more out of mousie than she does, lol