Her first surgery was February 5th..

I've mentioned this throughout the blog but never had a chance to post the pictures.

This blog is about Koda's second surgery. I wish i had kept one for her first, but it hadn't occured to me at the time. I read several other blogs as I progressed through her first surgery and they were such a help to me, that i decided to create one for her second in hopes of helping others.

Now that Princess Gimpy is fully recovered from two knee surgeries and doing great, I need to post some pics so i can show you what went wrong with her first surgery.

The pictures below are fairly graphic. They were taken about 7-10 days after her surgery and it sent me out to the emergency vet in tears. I LOOKED SO BAD.. the emergency vet scared the crap out of me saying she'd probably need to redo her surgery and this was a case of a poor job done by the vet.. when i was able to take her into my regular vet (not the surgeon) she said it wasn't bad, it was fluid building up and if we drained it, it would just build up again, so she stapled the wound shut and sent me home.

One week after the swelling started, it was MUCH better.. it happens.. but it really scared me half to death.

These before and after pictures were taken exactly one week apart.. the before pics were taken the night i brought her to the emergency vet.

Week 16 Day 4 - Camping

We're back from our camping trip and had a blast. Two of the four dogs left limping and to my surprise, Miss bionic knees wasn't one of them! Her brother was but that's because of some raw pads, not joint issues. Some rest should do him some good.

They swam so much, I can't imagine anything better for Koda and I was thrilled to swim WITH them! That's a first for me!

And now they look something exactly like this...
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 16 Day 2 - This should be interesting..

16 weeks.. the funny thing about 16 weeks is some vets consider it the finish line.. mine was 13 weeks.. either way.. we're finished.. so.. yay!

This weekend is our first camping trip! 3 girls (some of my friends from work) 4 dogs and 3 tents.. real camping.. this is going to be so amazing.. all the swimming and running her biotic knees can handle!

I'm a bit nervous.. Koda has some fear issues with other dogs.. but i'm not going to think about that right now.. if i start to get nervous, so we'll she.. we'll think positive and we'll deal with it when we have to.

Pics to come!

Week 15 Day 4 - Testing out her new wheels

Took the pups out to the school for Koda's first ever run since she came to me last October. Her two new knees got to run for about half an hour.. i'll now check to make sure there's no limping or regression for a couple of days before doing that again... man did she love it, though..

Week 15 Day 1 - Vet Visit

I have to type this fast, i have two faces looking at me to go outside..

Took koda to the vet who was very happy with what she saw.. walking great, no pain, no sign of any concern.

She does have some limited movement so i'm going to have to stretch out that ligament myself everyday by manipulating her leg and knee to get things a little more mobile. She is a bit careful when sitting, which is how you can tell she does have some mobility issues, but walking and running is more a straight up and down thing, so that's not going to help much.. it has to be stretched to really fix it.

So that's our project.. me stretching out her legs and knees for the next few weeks.. that being said, she has the go ahead to resume normal activity and start an obedience class.

YAY!!!

Week 14 Day 6 - Life's a beach

Last night I took both dogs, by myself, to the beach. Why would i do that? Tucker, being 7, was pretty easy to handle.. Koda, the complete opposite. I had forgotten what a pain in the butt puppies are! Okay, she's 2, but still.. pulling.. not listening.. GET ME TO THE WATER NOW!!!

Ugh

Anyway.. once we got there, everyone had their harness and floaty rope attached, it actually went great. The water was warm, the training dummy was ready and both dogs were raring to go.

I went in to my knees and threw that dummy for an hour. Seriously.. tucker is a relentless retriever but superb at bringing it back and releasing it which makes the game enjoyable for me.. koda is a MUCH faster swimmer than tuck.. but tucker always got a head start.. i don't think Koda won a single race =)

So.. her first water adventure after 2 knee surgeries? Perfection. No a single limp.. this morning i looked for stiffness when she woke up.. pfft.. she sprinted to her food dish.

I have often wished she could talk so i could really know if she has any pain, the severety and what it is in comparisson to before surgery.. i /think/ i remember her previous owner saying she'd limp after short walks at after water exercise. She doesn't limp at all now.. so i hope that's her talking to me =)

Week 14 Day 2

Hmm.. i think i mentioned Koda having a vet appt this week, but it's next week at 15 weeks post-op.

She's had an excellent few days.. she's been left free in the house since Tuesday and aside from one "incident" with the shampoo bottle and a plastic bag, she's done great! Although now all doors must be closed before i leave..

She has also moved to sleeping on her bed in my bedroom at night.. and done perfectly. Tuck sleeps on my bed, but it's so high, i don't think her jumping up and down on that every day is a good idea.. i'm not sure. For now, she's great on her bed.

Video of Miss thang coming soon... i was going to take her to the beach this weekend, but they closed it because of bacteria.. ew.. so soon =)

Week 13 Day 5

I'm not sure if my eyes were decieving me or not, but i could swear koda's bull-legged walk had all but disappeared.

It wasn't that long ago i watched her and though.. well.. maybe she'll always walk like that.. and then yesterday when she was walking across the deck, i didn't see one.. not at all.

There's still some swelling in her legs.. it can takes months for that to go down.. months and months and months.. so it can make her gawky walk more pronounced, but yesterday she looked REALLY good!

I need to video her walking. That's going to be interesting to explain.. "excuse me, why are you filming your dog's butt?"

Yeah.. like my neighbours don't already think i'm insane?

She still looks a bit weird when she poops though.. not as ginger as she used to be, but it can take some shuffling around to find the perfect squat.. i'm wondering if that's getting used to a new bone placement? Something?

I'm not sure..

I've been putting off leaving her out of her crate during the day.. i'm so nervous! I know tuck likes to sleep whhile i'm gone, but will they play when i'm not there? What if she hurts herself because i'm not there to tell her to calm her furry butt down? She can get into a butt tuck in .3 seconds when playing with my other dog .. if i'mnot there to stop her...

Gah.. plus i don't know if she has seperation anxiety issues.. destruction problems.. i really don't know. I've started to leave her in the house whil i go run errands and so far so good.. so i left her in the crate this morning that we both know she can get open with her nose.. i figure i'll leave the decision up to her. We'll see how many wiggly butts greet me at the door when i get home from work. =)

Week 13 - Day 1

YAY! WEEK THIRTEEN!!

This is the week that signals the official end to Koda's recovery! The date we've been looking forward to for quite some time!

My gir's all ready to go!

Her last vet appt is next week because the vet is at a conference this week, but man, what a relief!

It's been such a long, arduous time these past six months..

She came to me broken.. discarded by her previous owner who was going to put her down.. she was only 15 months old!

I don't think i knew what i was getting into.. i'm sure i didn't

the anxiety of surgery, the long trips back and forth to the vet (4 trips, 10 hours each) the leash restrictions to potty, the crate restrictions, the meds the panic when she did something she shouldn't, yelling at my other dog when he tried to engage her in play..

and then we did it all over again.. but we're done! And the happy, bouncy Lab who snuggles in for the evening with me, was worth every second!

I'm going to take a video this weekend and post it - a girl with two brand new knees =)

Week 12 Day 5

That's almost a cuddle!

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 12 Day 2 - morning bitey face on the couch.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 12 Day 1 - holy crap, week 12!

Well look at this! Twelve weeks in! Only one more week until she's official! I need to call and make a vet appt for her, but if the stretched out position she was sleeping in yesterday was any indication, she has full mobility back.. Or a good portion of it, anyway.

I'll probably continue to be careful with her beyond the 13 weeks.. But I don't know if I'll ever watch her run w/o worrying.

12 weeks is good!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 11 Day 4

Double Trouble

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 11 Day 2

My girl being bad.. SOON koda! I let her scamp around for the video, but she's not allowed to butt tuck yet.. poor tucker.. more interested in the chipmunk he saw earlier to participate.

Week 11 Day 1

Wow! Week 11! The end is near and what a difference! Daily walks..crate restrictions lifted while I'm at home.. The only thing missing is running and swimming..we start that next week..slowly..

Woo!

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Happy Birthday, Koda!

2 years old!

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Week 10 - Day 1

*sigh*

Ten weeks.. finally... things really do get easier from here. Now Koda can be out of her crate while i get ready in the morning and she gets more crate freedom at night too. I allow surpervised games of bitey face, and allow the to progress to more exuberent matches as the days pass..

We're up to about 30-45 minute walks now and there hasn't been a limp in sight.. it's been a slow steady pace for us. Ten weeks.. double digits.. 3 more weeks to the end.. man, what a relief!

I think it's worth noting here.. i'll have to put it somewhere more obvious in this blog eventually, that our regime has been what was recommended by my vet for Koda's recovery.

I've done a lot of research and the one thing i know, is there are as many recovery processes out there as there are vets.

A lot of people have their dogs out on walks after 2 weeks.. i was told to wait for 6.. but there are some who don't step foot out of the crate until 12 weeks and then spent the next four working their way up to running.

So.. that being said.. DO WHAT YOUR VET TELLS YOU TO DO.. because in the end, he knows what's best for his surgical patients...

Oh.. and speaking of walks.. i've been walking both dogs at once because doing it tandem was driving me crazy.. koda is /almost/ 2 years old and given that she's been crated since October, it's like walking a hurricane.. so it's been a challenge.

A friend of mine suggested the easy walk dog harness and we gave it a shot last night.. zomg! so much better!

http://www.buygentleleader.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/behavior/easywalk/productdescription

Youtube has some helpful tips on how to properly fit it.. which does take some time.. i'm pretty sure i still need to make adjustments.. but once that's done, it really easy a great tool, much better than coming home with sore arm muscles from the bulldozer on leash.

I think next week I'm going to take her to the beach.. no free retrieving, but i'd like to get those legs in water to use the resistance and see how she does.. I think if she can handle a half an hour in the water w/o incident, then we'll be on the right track...

I wonder if i could do that with two dogs... probably not.

Week 9 Day 6

Some girls from work are planning a weekend camping trip and the original date was August 15 weekend. By that time Koda will be just over 13 weeks post-op and it's just too soon to throw that kind of activity at her, for 2 full days, so we've moved it to September 5th. She'll be just over 16 weeks post-op and i'll feel much better about it.

One of my friends has a Great Dane (Thor the sweetheart) and the other has a husky mix, Mac the ridiculously well-behaved.

I can't wait to find out what sharing a tent with my two dogs is going to be like =)

I'm so excited! I finally get to plan outings with my dogs!

Week 9 Day 5 - Pretty Girl

Week 9 Day 4 - bitey face

Tucker eating her entire head

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network