I would love to say that after 2 or 3 weeks the busy Bea will be healed and without restrictions, but that would be folly. 6 months is closer to the mark. As is said about many things, this is a marathon not a sprint. Neither of which Bea will be doing anytime soon. The incision is surprisingly long. This is not microsurgery I have to remind myself, but orthopedic surgery and good access was needed to knee. There are internal stitches and the skin is held together with glue. Great stuff, no itchy pulling stitches to mess with!
It didn't stop Bea from paying a bit more attention to the wound than I would have liked. She found herself wearing a big old soft collar to keep her away from the wound. It's like the hard ones, but made of a soft paper fabric and just long enough to make licking difficult. Keeping a dog in a crate with one of those hard plastic jobs would just be too cruel. It will be Bea's night time wear for a little while and she looks quite fetching. I promise to get a picture or two to share.
She is a tri-ped at the moment, not wanting to put that hind down, which is completely normal. We are taking numerous small, short walks outside, both for exercise and for potty breaks. Those of you with dogs that go out to do their personal business on their own know there is an adjustment period to leash walking. Bea has the mistaken idea that she can just sail out the door, down the side porch steps and head off on her own. Not this month, not next month. So out we go, she sniffs, she sits, she looks at me and wags her tail. Sigh....we'll get through it.
She's on a modest 1 pill a day of pain medication and a soft chew treat which contains Glucosamine, MSM, Creatine and other ingredients for joint health. If it wasn't liver flavored and labeled for animal use only, I might be tempted to give it a try!
I do want to thank everyone both on the blog and off that have sent well wishes, thoughts and prayers for Bea. They were greatly appreciated and a source of comfort, You are all big of heart and spirit.
4 comments:
Thanks for the Bea report!
Oh - those evil collars. Different dogs react different ways to them. Our former Brittany couldn't deal with them at all. She got caught on everything and would just lie still trembling whenever the collar was on her. Fortunately, she never needed any major surgery.
It's good that Bea doesn't want to put her leg down. That way she's less likely to re-injure it during this healing phase.
6 months sounds like a long time to keep a dog under close supervision....although, from my orthopedic experience, I take longer than 6 months to heal from things sometimes. So it makes sense, but it seems like it will be hard to do.
Growing up, our lab got hit by a car and her rear leg was shattered. Luckily we lived near a teaching veterinary hospital. They pieced her leg back together with pins and wires (there were 13 breaks in that bone), and she healed up and was totally normal within a matter of months. So even though I take a long time to heal, I somehow have this idea that dogs heal super fast. Bone is different from ligament though - that's for sure!
Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope Bea continues to recover well and that you guys work out a way for it not to be unbearable for either of you!!!
Good luck!!
Sue
Well, I'm behind on making my blog rounds so I'm behind on commenting and sending get well wishes to Bea!
Reading this reminded me of when Rascal had surgery to remove a tumor. He had one of those soft e-collars too and he hated it.
You're right about it being a slow recovery process. I'm so glad she's doing well.
Give it time Bea! Knee surgery is not something for the faint of heart.
Leash business is better for my Suzie if the human averts their eyes....
Keep going - or as I sometimes do just look at today and survive today. It has enough worries of it's own. How are the other dogs adjusting??
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