Week 6

We just had Daisy's 6-week rehab appointment and as luck would have it, her surgeon walked past as we were trying to coax her with food to keep walking on the treadmill. He came in when he realized it was us, and asked about Daisy's progress. We had the same rehab therapist as we did the first week, and we all agreed, that she should be progressing better than she is. At week 6, although the bone isn't completely healed yet, there shouldn't be the limping that she is presenting with. The puzzling part is that her range of motion is great; it's her weight bearing that is lagging.

In the tank having a breather between tready sessions.

So her surgeon did a bit of manipulation and prodding and poking around the wound and the plate and agreed that she seems a little sore at the distal end of the plate. This could be from a low grade infection (some dogs get this) which can be fixed with antibiotics. So we got a prescription of antibiotics and they took some x-rays to make sure everything was in order, and we need to report back at the end of this week. If she stops hurting and starts using her leg, we will know it's an infection. If the antibiotics make no difference, it may just be that she needs more time to heal. Either way, plate removal is looking more and more like an option.

But even though she is still limping around, she is back to herself again! Trying to instigate trouble and steal food off the counter.

We let them wrestle if there is no running or chasing involved...

can't steal all their fun!

Meanwhile, Charlotte had a haircut as we thought it was time to free her from her woolly coat! She had a #7 blade haircut and looks absolutely adorable. She didn't like it to begin with and was acting all introverted and sad. And to make matters worse, Daisy had no idea who she was when we got back into the car and it took her a while of butt sniffing to realize it was her sister!

Pinky's new haircut!

Rehab Session #2

Jet, Charlotte and I took Daisy to her second rehab session this past Monday. I felt bad for Charlotte having to stay at home all the time, so we took her too. I tried to take the weenie to a dog expo on Saturday on a little excursion, but although Daisy was crated with a kong as a distraction, she screamed like she was being murdered! Charlotte and I sat outside for 10 minutes to see if the noise would stop, but it didn't and when I let Charlotte go, she just ran to the door as if to say "let me in to my sister"! So I did. They were reunited. And they were quiet. And I went to the pet expo alone!

So during Daisy's second appointment, we discovered a few things. Although her range of motion had improved by 5 degrees, she was still not weight bearing as she should be at the 4 week mark. This is a concern to us both, so we are going to be extra vigilant over this next week and take her in to see the vet next week after her next rehab consultation.

We had a different rehabilitation consultant this week and she suggested that maybe Daisy is not weight bearing because she has an underlying infection caused by the plate. She said that the plate could be removed if necessary, by a very simple, fast, painless and relatively non-invasive procedure. She also pointed out, that Daisy actually had 2 surgeries: the TPLO and the patella surgery at the same time. So we should maybe give her a bit of extra leeway with regard to the speed of her recovery. As parents though, we are concerned.

As I write, the girls are curled up asleep together which is bliss for me. When they are both awake, all they want to do is play! I feel like an ogre when I have to enforce the rules and make them stop. I'm sure they call me Shrek when I am out of earshot. Jet, on the other hand, is the Alpha with the calm, assertive energy, so not only do they chill out, he only has to say one word and they do what he says!!

Physical Therapy & Emails to the Vet!

Since the last post on the Princesses, Daisy has had her stitches out and has made it through her first physical therapy session. She is doing great. Her parents are a little strung out though...

Our veterinary surgeon is so fabulous that he lets us email him with questions as we need to, so I make full use of this service and email him our concerns, prescription requests, surgical questions and anything else we are worried about!

So when Daisy finished her first prescription for her pain medication, we didn't refill it immediately because we just assumed that they had given us enough to keep her comfortable until the pain had subsided. But as the days passed, we both noticed that she was uncomfortable, but as we had her physical therapy treatment within the next few days we waited to see if we were right in our assessment, or whether we were just being hypochondriac, paranoid parents!

Her rehab consultant was great and gave us more pain meds and sedatives as after her therapy, she said that she may be sore and definitely tired. She took measurements to check the muscle tone and range of motion in both her back legs, she explained thoroughly to us what she was doing and why rehabilitation after surgery was so important. We went into the consultation only half sold on the idea, and thinking that we could do it ourselves, but after her appointment, we realized how important it was and how much more they can do for her than we could do.

We really didn't know what to expect, so when she dressed Daisy in a doggy life jacket I knew we were in for a treat. Well, treat for us, not so treat-like for Daisy! She put her in a perspex tank that she filled with warm water to just past her belly, then turned on the underwater treadmill! It was amazing to watch, but Daisy went into "OMG I'm having a bath" mode and froze until she realized that she had to move her legs so she didn't hit her butt on the back of the tank. The life jacket has a handle which came in very handy when repositioning her on the treadmill as we reached in from above!

Once Daisy got used to it, she seemed to tolerate it and ended up doing two 5 minute sessions in the tank which completely exhausted her. But the great thing about exercising her leg in water, is that it provides more concentrated exercise, less pain and faster results. It also allows Daisy to build up her muscles and leg function so that when she gets the 8-week-all-clear she can return to normal activity without any stiffness or complication from inactivity. Fabulous!

The day after? Daisy did not use her leg at all and Jet was really worried that she wasn't recovering as she should be. But after an email to the vet, he explained that they are just like us - they get sore after a good workout too and if we were still worried at her next appointment to let him know when we arrived and he would take a look at our princess. How nice is that? I think that we have unrealistic expectations of how tough Daisy is and when you combine that with how serious this surgery actually was, we shouldn't be worried yet that she is still limping. It's only been 4 weeks today.

I forgot to take photos of her in the tank, but we have another appointment this Monday, so I will take one then. Sorry about that. You'll all have to make do with these goofy photos of the girls instead.