Birthday Boy!!

So today my big boy turns 7! I can't believe he is an old man now. Seems like yesterday he was chewing things up and being a pest! Wow he has changed over the years! We are planning a little party for Casey tonight when his Dad (my husband) gets home. My 2 and 5 year old are making him birthday cards...so sweet!

As for Casey's leg, he is healing wonderfully! I am so happy with his progress. He has his 6 weeks check up on Wednesday with his orthopedic surgeon. I am sure he will be happy too with what he sees.

Casey is up to 16 minute walks now and he is loving it! We go 3 times a day. When he walks outside he has no visible limp. Inside he does a bit as he seems to baby the leg a bit. No idea why. This will be one of the things I mention on Wednesday.

He is feeling more playful now too and we are doing what we can to play safely with him. He is a funny boy!

I will post pictures later and post again on Wednesday after his apt!

5Weeks Post-op

Yippee! Casey is recovering very well. Nothing really to report which is great! He is up to 12 minute walks 3 times a day. He has gotten excellent walking on the leash now. He was good before, but a bit of a puller. Now he does great. His leg seems to be healing well. He has a bit more freedom of the bottom floor when I am home so that is helping to increase the muscle too. The more walking the better!

Weather seems to be improving too so Casey is happy spending time outside enjoying being a dog again!

He is feeling better and asking to play with us more and more. We are trying to play in a way that is safe and having him lay to play with us. He seems content with that.

Recently we switched his food to Canidae and he loves it. Lately he is refusing to eat it or will eat it an hour later, but wants his wet food back. So I went and got him some today! He ate it up. I am just giving him enough to mix it up. That is what he likes I guess. I got the Canidae in the can.

We go back to the orthopedic at 6 weeks just for a check in. I have some questions so I will ask them then.

I am very happy with Casey's progress and hope to continue to increase the increments of our walks to build his atrophy of the muscle back up. He is really missing his couch, and has sneaked up a few times. He seems fine, but I am trying to keep them covered at all times. Tough with two little kids!

The hair is coming in well now too! Yeah! Almost can't see where the epidural was, and the leg top coat seems to be coming in too. I will try to take more pictures!

4 Weeks Post-op!

I can hardly believe it has been a month since I dropped Casey off and balled my eyes out in the office and in the car! So glad that is behind us!

Well he is doing great. We are slowly trying to increase his walks. We are back up to 10 mins. I think we will stick here for a bit and then try a little more. Casey does such nice controlled walking in our yard, but once on the street he pulls more and is excited to be free of the boring back yard. I tend to do more walking in the yard for easiness with the two kids, but also for the comfort of no other dogs being able to attack him or even come near him to cause a possible "oops" moment.

Casey continues to not be on any medications. Just his Cosequin DS for his joints! I am so happy he is handling this all so well. We are not scheduled to see the orthopedic again until 6 weeks. This apt is just a check in apt meaning that there is not any real reason for it. The ortho said we could even cancel if we wanted if it was a big deal getting Casey there and back. Well it is a big deal as both my husband and I must go so he will stay in the sit or down position the whole ride so as not to walk on his leg in the moving minivan. I am leaning towards keeping that apt though just for progress report sake!

We have x-rays at 9 weeks to confirm bone healing. I look forward to that day. Seems so far still.

As for Casey's appetite, he is doing well there. Loving his new dog food. I switched him to Canidae. He also is getting a yummy stuffed Kong here and there and the buster cube. All these things are trivial to keep him busy as it is tough to keep an active dog confined for so long. He is a great patient though.

I will update again soon. Thanks for reading:)

4/16/07

Well we were successful in switching Casey's food to Canidae. He really seems to like it! I am relieved. He is doing well. We are walking up to 10 minutes 2-3 times a day. He is having a bit more energy these days. I think with all our rain lately it hasn't been easy to just be outside to even lay down. He also may be feeling better and thinking he is better! Today he seemed a bit more sore so we did not do as much walking. He did not have any "oops" moments so I can't figure out what would have started this other than that healing has its normal ups and downs. He was a bit more limpy today and tonight he is 3 legging a bit. I will keep an eye on him. I think he and my husband will be sleeping in the living room tonight needless to say to avoid the stairs. I think a bit of rest will put him back to normal. I will post again on his developments.

4/13/07

Things are going quite smoothly. Casey is up to 10 minute walks now and seems to be handling it well. He does appear to be more limpy at night, but he is still using the leg.

2 days ago I took Casey down our street to walk for his 10 minutes out for the first time. He was so happy to have different smells oppose to his boring back yard! Then it happened...he peed lifting his good leg and stood on the TPLO leg! I nearly fell over. I was so happy, but scared too. I guess Dr. Woolfson was right when he said Casey's knee was stable. I guess Casey agreed. He did this same thing 2 more times on our walk! A big milestone for us!

Otherwise he is eating well. Seems to like the Canidae! He is sleeping upstairs and doing excellent on his 1 time up at night and 1 time down in the morning. My husband is sleeping much better too! We are doing great and looking forward to the warmer Spring!

3 Week Post-op Apt. 4/11/07

I can hardly believe it has been 3 weeks. I must say the time is passing quickly and we all seem to have adjusted nicely to the new "rules" in our home. With Gates and a crate, and leash rules, it was all a lot to take in, but all the family members have been compliant.

This morning we saw Dr. Woolfson for Casey's 3 week post op apt. Dr. Woolfson was happy to see a happy Casey! He was pleased with his walking and said Casey had full range of motion in the knee! Yahoo! He had him sit to give him a treat and Casey sat the proper way and not the CCL leg out way! he was very pleased to see this and made sure to comment to me about how great that was. he said over the next 3 weeks to increase his walks up to 20 minutes. We are at 5 now so we will slowly increase.

Casey has some muscle atrophy, but that is quite normal and he will regain it over time. Dr. Woolfson also manipulated his knee and said it was very stable! We are so thrilled! Nice to hear that all our hard work is paying off.

We also go the okay to switch Casey's dog food. We decided to switch it as with the recent recalls (our old food was not recalled) I learned that his food was not as healthy as I wanted it. So today we began the Canidae. We will do a 50/50 mix for a while, then change of slowly.

The last of our good news is that Dr. Woolfson said Casey can return to sleep in our bedroom upstairs. As long as he climbs the stairs slowly and calmly with us beside him and holding his collar. My husband will finally get to sleep back in bed from 5 weeks on the couch! We bought another tri fold baby gate with a door in the middle to section off part of the bedroom where Casey will sleep on his ortho bed and thus he will NOT be able to get on our bed like he really wants too! Too high and too dangerous right now.

I also began today giving Casey Cosequin DS for his joints and mild arthritis in his hips. I hope this works. Many people on the orthodogs web site I belong to say great things about these supplements. I know there are so many out there that are junk since they are not FDA regulated, but this kind we got is a recommendation by the orthopedic surgeon to us.

Smooth Sailing :)

Since the tummy troubles Casey had, things here have been "smooth sailing"! Casey is back on his regular food and diet and he is walking 5 minutes 3-4 times a day. He is off ALL medicines now and seems to be reacting wonderfully. He is a bit more playful now, but still quite sleepy in the middle of the day. He seems to be peppy at night and want some "me" time! Of course he gets his time! My oldest daughter (age 5) keeps asking when she and Casey can play tug again. She doesn't have a complete concept of time so I say when he is better. I look forward to that day when Casey and my girls are running freely in the yard again!

Another emergency vet visit

Day 11 and Casey still has diarrhea and is still vomiting. I can't go on doing nothing to help him. We as humans have the runs and vomit and we take at least an antacid. There must be something I can do to ease him. I call our regular vet again. They are closed as it is Sunday. The message says to go to the 24 hour vet hospital which is 30-40 mins away. I decided that another trip to see strangers was not what I wanted for him. I called the orthopedic surgeon on his pager, Dr. Woolfson, and he called me immediately back. He said he agreed it was probably the Duramaxx, but he needed him to be seen and did not want another stranger to see his patient! I was relieved although I probably ruined this poor man's weekend day off! We decided to meet at a half way point for us both as Dr. Woolfson lives further south than I. We met at a clinic he works out of a few days of the week.
So Casey got a physical exam and Dr. Woolfson was relieved. It is know that these nsaids can cause severe ulcers and if bad enough will need surgery. He didn't see any sign of that. He was happy I brought him in and treated his symptoms to get him better so as not to continue to get weaker. Not a good thing for a dog whom just had knee surgery to get weak. He gave him a direct shot of medicine into his "good" leg. It was equivalent to Pepcid-AC. Then gave him a dose of Gastraphate orally. This is a pink thick bubble gummy looking med. Casey took it, but didn't love it. This coats the tummy and intestines. Then he gave me 3 cans of dog food for intestinal problems and more "Pepcid-AC (aka Famotidine) in pill form for 5 days. All the while this surgeon is covering all the bases, I am sitting wondering "why did the vet yesterday not do any of this?" Now this man has to interrupt his day to do it. Don't get me wrong, Dr. Woolfson was more than happy to accommodate us and he said so many times that this was his job and his life. I could see it in his eyes that he really cared and Casey was not just another patient. That was another moment when I realized we had made a great choice in letting this surgeon treat our pup. Then Dr. Woolfson called later in the day to check in on Casey AND again the next day too!

Well that was the last time Casey had vomited and the diarrhea ended that day too! It just took someone to take the time to treat him! I am so angry with the vet we saw the day before and I will complain. Just a bit of a set back as he was too weak to do any walking other than his potty breaks.

Our first set back

We were at 8 days post op and things were going well. Then we hit a bump in the road. Casey had diarrhea late night on day 8 and then the next morning on day 9 he vomited and continued with the diarrhea. I was not sure what to think at first. Casey has had a history of an unsettled tummy and been known to vomit here and there. We decided to keep an eye on him. When day 10 came and the vomiting and diarrhea did not let up and that no food was getting in or what did get in would not stay in, we decided to call our regular vet. they suggested we come in for a look. we brought a stool sample and now his runny stool had red blood in it. I was in tears. So worried and scared. Normally I would not be so worked up, but he was only a week and a half out of a major surgery and he seemed so fragile oppose to the days prior. Lethargy was setting in too and he was miserable. I couldn't continue to see him like this. My husband and I loaded up the kids and Casey to visit the vet. Our vet we typically see was not on as it was a Saturday. We saw another vet whom we had never met and did not know Casey. What can you do? The vet we normally see is also the owner of this vet clinic where Casey has been a patient since he was 8 weeks old. We really trust this vet and he has been helpful over the last 6 years with any issues that arose.
So this vet sees Casey and I am so cautious. The floor is linoleum and I don't feel as though she is being cautious enough around the TPLO leg! She taps his hind like you do to an animal after you pet them, but not on the surgical leg...come on! She decides to take blood after a physical exam. She decides to take blood where Casey is shaved from his IV from surgery. Not a good thing to try to take blood from veins that were used! She should have know this before trying 3 times and sticking the poor guy! He has been through enough. As she is taking the blood she lifts the front paw! I am having a heart attack and saying please let him lay down. You can not take a leg from him to take blood when he only has two other good ones to balance on! Am I being an over protective Mom? She she says to sling him with my arm. I did so, but was pissed the whole time. Truth is Casey is 100lbs and if he was to fall and I am squatting to hold him, we were both to go down. The whole visit didn't sit well with me. The vet seemed to think it was a result of his nsaid Duramaxx. He was no longer able to tolerate it. I guess they are quite harsh on the intestines and tummy. She ran the blood work and stool sample and said she would call with the results. We were sent home.
Hours later my husband calls as we had not heard and she had not run the test yet. She calls a half hour later and says that all came back negative for any infections and that his liver came back good too. That was important to hear as the liver can have damage from these powerful nsaids. I was so relieved to not have an infection! So they just said to keep with the bland diet of boiled chicken and rice.

Week One Post-op

Week one really required a lot of 24 hour care for Casey. We kept a close eye out for any adverse med reactions, iced four times a day for 10 minutes, and kept a close eye on his incision to ensure Casey would not lick it. He was and still is an excellent patient and was so cooperative for all medicines and all icings. We used a beach towel to sling Casey to do the 4 stairs going into our back yard for potty breaks. The incision was done with internal sutures and was healing amazingly! I couldn't get over how nicely it healed and quickly. I think I can attribute that too to an excellent dog that did not lick the incision!

The incision became swollen and bruised by day 2 or 3. Normal according to our surgeon. Then day 4-6 it went away and left a clean incision line and a normal colored shaved "chicken" leg behind!

At the close of week one we saw the Orthepedic surgeon for our first follow up. Dr. Woolfson said Casey was doing great. He was not only toe touching, but using the leg with a limp! He said we did not have to do ROM (range of motion) exercises! Yeah! He gave us the okay to do 5-10 minute walks too. That will help with boredom! We were on top of the world and so pleased thus far with his progression and recovery.

Casey's Home

Got Casey home and he was definitely not himself. All to be expected. Very whiny which he is with sedation after x-rays, so I knew after a major surgery he would be a wreck as well. He seemed out of it from all the drugs and coming off everything that happened this day. Casey came home with a Fentanyl patch on his side, Tramadol, and a fancy new hair cut! We were told to encourage eating by giving him some yummy food so we tried boiled chicken with rice. I also put in some of his kibble. He gobbled it up. Poor boy was starved. Casey didn't drink much the first 24 hours either, but he did have an IV during surgery which pumped in plenty of fluids. A few hours later we iced his incision for 10 minutes and he tolerated that very well.

Generally he looked very well. A bit glassy eyed and an out of it state, but he did just have a major surgery and come home the same day! We had the option to leave Casey there for the night and into the next day with a vet on 24 hours whom sits in the room with the dog, but opted not to do this as Casey has a history with anxiety and we and his orthopedic felt he would be more comfortable at home.

Our first night was made up of two shifts. I took the first shift and my husband took the second shift. Casey now had to sleep in the living room. He had several options of places to rest. His brand new orthopedic bed! His new fun loving place...his crate with a comfy bed in that, and per ok with the orthopedic, our chaise lounge. Most dogs are not permitted to do any furniture, but this chaise is his absolute favorite and quite low to the floor. He steps onto it and it isn't much higher than his orthopedic bed! Later this chaise posed to be a help too as it is impossible to get a dog to elevate their leg, but Casey did so by laying on the chaise with his head down and leg up. Helped some with swelling!

One thing I did not expect on this day was Casey peeing where ever he was and then just peeing on the carpet. I took him out several times and he wouldn't do anything while out. I know the meds and IV do make them have to go a lot. I think the epidural was still wearing off for him. This is unusual for most dogs once home. Again I think we had to deal with this since he came home earlier than most dogs do. Lots of laundry was getting done. Thankfully I had covered his beds with waterproof pads in case his incision drained...never thinking of a peeing pup!

So I was on the first shift. Sleeping bag and pillow on the floor laying next to Casey where ever he was. He cried almost ALL night! Broke my heart. It seemed to help if I rubbed his front leg with my hand or was some how touching him to let him know I was there. He seemed to have trouble sleeping a bit as he just couldn't get comfy or settled. Later I learned that it was probably the Fentanyl patch doing this. A slight side effect...uneasiness. He seemed to move almost every 30 minutes. So then I did too. Later my husband took the next shift and he seemed to settled in better the second half of the night with him. Casey was exhausted as were we, but we got through it together! First day and night was now over.

Surgery Day

I took Casey in for his surgery the morning of March 21, 2007. Told my girls to say their goodbye's for just in case. I knew I was leaving him in great hands, but I was a wreck. Tears flowing and the staff at Putnam Vet clinic so caring and supportive. They came out to rub my arm and assured me he would be fine. Dr. Woolfson (Casey's surgeon) also reassured me and came out to talk with me.

Later that afternoon Dr. Woolfson calls to let me know that Casey did well through the surgery and that once his anesthesia wears off I can take him home as Casey still has some anxiety and he felt he may be more comfortable at home. I was also told he broke down a gate and walked out of the recovery room! Crazy boy! I was so relieved he was fine. Dr. Woolfson said the surgery was according to plan all except for once he was in he saw that Casey had very large bones for his size and instead of the typical plate with 6 screws, Casey got a larger one which required 8 screws. Nothing that would change any recovery or use of his leg! So he gave me some general instructions and told me what to expect and gave me a pep talk too so as to keep my two children safe around "recovering Casey". He then said he would call me when Casey was ready to go home!

Preparations

This week was filled with us trying to re-crate train Casey and get rubber backed rugs, gates, and all other necessities for a super recovery once our boy came home. I thought the crate training would be a challenge as when he was a puppy he had confinement issues and severe anxiety. So we got a crate. Biggest we could find as Casey is 100 lbs. and set it up in our living room. We put his bed in it and to much of our surprise he loved it! Who knew? We were so excited thinking one hurdle down! Got more rubber backed rugs to lead to our back door for potty breaks, and got many baby gates for our living room (where the carpeting is) and for the stairs on the deck and for the second floor. Our house is a patchwork quilt look a like!Now we wait until the surgery date anxiously and nervously.

The Consult

On March 14, 2007 my husband and I meet Dr. Woolfson. He is an orthopedic surgeon with an excellent background in education and practice. He is trained by Slocum (the makers of the TPLO implant) and also does the traditional repair as well. Leading up to this meeting I did a lot of research on the different repairs for CCL and I had a few questions on each. I brought those questions with me to our meeting. My vet whom referred us to Dr. Woolfson provided us his materials on which surgery is right for us pamphlets. They were very helpful. Dr. woolfson examined Casey and went through both surgeries in detail and used a model to explain. My husband and I were unanimous in which surgery was right for Casey and us...TPLO. We then proceeded to leave Casey to be sedated for x-rays and blood work and we scheduled the surgery for the following week.

The Begining

Welcome to my blog about Casey!

So it all began around January 2006. Casey was limping here and there with his back right leg. We know he did not have an accident, but he does love to play frisbee! That is his passion along with his "buddy" balls! We went to his vet and they said maybe he hurt himself playing or jumping to make a catch and prescribed some rest and some Aspirin for 7 days. So this is what we did and it seemed to go away. then it arose again a month or so later and again we told the vet and did the same thing. Then winter set in full force here in Massachusetts and Casey had a lot less activity between cold temperatures, snow and it being dark at 4pm! He rested well this winter and we didn't see any more noticeable limping until the late Fall of 2006.

Casey again began limping and it was more consistent now. We took him to the vet and he put him on Rimadyl. We tried that and we didn't notice it to help any. The vet then added Tramadol with the Rimadyl and that helped some. Limping was still going on though. We finally did x-rays, but vet did them of the hips. He did see mild to moderate arthritis in the hips, but nothing to explain the limping in the leg and only one side. He put him on Duramaxx and Casey seemed better a bit. We also did strict rest for 3 weeks and of course when rested Casey was fine. Then another problem arose...Casey got bored without his "play" and decided to chew up tissues and other things when we were not home. The poor boy needs exercise. Well we stuck it out for 3 weeks and once we resumed normal activity he came up lame again. Then about a week later Casey was 3 legging and completely not using his right rear leg! I was scared to death.

Well back to the vet the next morning and hours before we were due to see him for our apt I did a web search for limping in the rear leg. Got a ton of information on torn CCL's! It finally hit me that this WAS an injury and it was the KNEE not the hips! Yippe! I was excited as this was something we could fix and I was confident that this was our issue! I brought what I learned to the vet. He was in complete agreement with me and did the drawer test to confirm. Also kept him for x-rays to also confirm this.

I go back a few hours later to pick up Casey and the vet said Casey has a complete tear of his CCL. This requires surgery and he referred us to an orthepedic surgeon. I called this surgeon immediately upon getting home as I felt my boy was in pain and suffering. I got an apt the following Wednesday so just over a week away. Seemed like an eternity to wait. I had so much research to do and so many questions!