Limping 7 month old

[Maggie's Mom]

We have decided that Maggie needs to have surgery. She limps all the time and has trouble jumping. Even on Metacam and Glucosamine she seems to be in pain. Thankfully the breeder has offered to pay the vet bills up to the $1600. we paid for Maggie. It will help pay for at least part of 1 leg. The thought of her in a crate for 2 months makes me want to cry. She is still a baby. Any suggestions on keeping her from going crazy for such a long time.

[cooper&fergus]

I'm sorry to hear about Maggie's knee. I know how you feel but in the long run I do think getting the surgery done is the best option. And you get better results if it's done earlier rather than later. The confinement is definitely the worst part but you do get used to it pretty quick. My suggestions would be to keep the pen / crate near you all the time. We had it set up in the family room most of the time and moved it to the bedroom at night. Try some rawhide bone - they kept Cooper occupied for hours. We would often bring him onto the couch or the bed with us for cuddles. We kept his leash on so he wouldn't jump anywhere. We waited about 1-2 weeks before doing that too much. If you have to work during the day I would recommend finding someone to look after Maggie. Either my parents or my husbands parents would watch the dogs during the day. They had a pen set up at their house. We pretty much didn't leave him alone until he was about 4 weeks after the op and even then only for an hour or so at a time.

They do get used to it pretty quick. Sometime I think its harder for us mums than the dogs.

I personally think that the worst part is the first few days when they're quite sore and sorry for themselves. After that they're pretty happy..just champing at the bit to be free. Just obey the vets instructions to the letter and you'll get the results down the track.

[Cathy Moon]

We have decided that Maggie needs to have surgery. She limps all the time and has trouble jumping. Even on Metacam and Glucosamine she seems to be in pain. Thankfully the breeder has offered to pay the vet bills up to the $1600. we paid for Maggie. It will help pay for at least part of 1 leg. The thought of her in a crate for 2 months makes me want to cry. She is still a baby. Any suggestions on keeping her from going crazy for such a long time.

If you aren't able to stay home with Maggie for more than a few days after her surgery, it's ok to just stop in at lunch time every day to take her out. Our vet told us to continue to go to work every day after our cavalier, India, had knee surgery. I stayed home from work for just a few days, then my husband and I took turns coming home at lunchtime (just like we always do!) to take her out to potty.

Also, we kept her in a large, comfortable crate in the morning, then at lunchtime we put her in an x-pen with a cushion to lay on. I think she appreciated the change of scenery.

There are several threads regarding patella surgery aftercare. Just use the Search function near the top of this display.

[Cathy T]

Yes, there are severa (actually becoming many) of us who have gone through this. My biggest concern was that Shelby was 1 year old when she had the surgery and I was so concerned we were going to damage her psychologically by confining her. I needn't have worried. 2 months seems like a long time...until you are about 2 weeks into it and it becomes part of your routine.

[Maggie's Mom]

Well yesterday was the day!! Maggie had her surgery and she is home tonight. She looks so pathetic I could cry. She is walking well on three legs. Surgeon was very happy with how everything went No swelling or bleeding. Now to just keep her calm and happy until she can heal.

[cooper&fergus]

I was just wondering about little Maggie and her knees this morning and when the op was going to be. At least nowthat it's done you can start the road to recovery. The first few days are the hardest cause they're pretty sore and sorry for themselves. Pretty soon they get back to their normal selves. Make sure you keep her very quiet and follow the vets instructions to the letter.

Do you have to do both knees or just the one? You will get used to the confinement pretty quick, I promise. And it will be over before you know it. Cooper had his first knee done on December 6th. He's now 1 revision op and the other knee op later and only has about 2.5 weeks left before he is completely free. He's going for walks and spending more and more supervised time out of the pen. Can't believe it's almost over!

Good luck and keep us updated. When is your first checkup?

[Cathy T]

Oh I know how you feel! In fact...I did cry when I saw Shelby..she just looked so pitiful. Know that it will all be worth it in the end. We really fell into a routine quickly (good thing...since we had to have the same knee done at the end of the 8 weeks ) Shelby was very comfortable in her x-pen in the middle of the family room. She had a little bed in there and some toys. And sometimes Jake would go in and visit with her. Whenever possible we had her on our laps. But we kept a leash on her so she couldn't jump off the couch. I promise you that the time will go by and eventually you will forget how hard it was (I've almost forgotten 1 1/2 years later )

I was just reading what Cooper & Fergus was saying , didn't realize I had almost repeated the same things verbatim....we must be on the same wavelength. Hang in there Cooper...the end is in sight!!

[Karlin]

What's nice is that so many people who were really apprehensive themselves about these surgeries can now offer such insightful advice -- do you guys remember when you first posted for support yourselves about those knee surgeries? Now you are old pros.

Hope Maggie bounces back super fast!

[Maggie's Mom]

Surgery was done on Wednesday and she is so much better today (Friday). She can hobble on 3 legs to go potty. Wants to be on a lap every minute she is awake. I am self employed so I brought her to work today in the crate. She was really great. She is also very quite whenever she wears the ECollar so I am trying to leave it on. Don't know if she would actually bite stitches but the collar keeps her so quiet. We call it the "cone of silence"

She wags her tail whenever she sees anyone, so I consider that a good sign. The Vet was so pleased with the results. They said there was minimal bleeding and no swelling at all. Maggie will go back in 10 days for suture removal. The vet is 2 minutes from my house so I can go back any time I am nervous. They have told me to keep her quiet until then but if she wants she can touch down the leg.

It is going to be a long 6 weeks but hopefully she will only need the one surgery. I am a little concerned that so many people say that they needede to have the same knee operated on more than once. The surgeon did a 3 part repair, deapening groove, fixing cartlidge and ligament. Said there was a very good success rate. 98%. Orthopedist said that she may not need the other leg done. At least not for a long while.

Why are so many redone? Does it have to do with the dogs overdoing activity too soon after surgery?

[cooper&fergus]

For us ours was definitely not redone because of overactivity. We were obsessive abut the confinement. I think they only did 2 of the 3 part repair initially. Vet said he did what was usually enough for a dog of Cooper's size but in retrospect said his knees were awful - grade 3 in both and really should have had 3 part repair initially. At least for us it was only after 2.5 weeks, not 8 like Shelby. He basically popped a suture and we think he did it just from trying to scratch himself. Basically we feel the intial op was not strong enough. Anyway now evrything seems as good as new. Just really keep her quiet and you should be fine. Try not to give in to her evry second she wants to be on your lap or she'll never get used to being in the crate and sometimes you just need to put them in there, but it's so hard to resist their big eyes when they want cuddles!

Good luck. The time goes by pretty quick. In fact right now Cooper is sitting on my lap watching tv while I type this and he really is a different dog already in terms of his mobility. And at least you only have he one knee to do.