We've Overdone It :(

After the really positive post-op chat with the surgeon on Monday we began to gradually increase the distance of Dizzy's walks. On Friday, instead of doing 2 or 3 walks, I decided to take him out once in the afternoon & to head back to his usual walk that he hasn't been on since before the op. It involves a 2 minute uphill stretch and then a short stroll around flat footpaths. 

My plan was to turn back as soon I noticed any difficultly or tiredness, but he coped amazingly well and we where out for about 20 minutes. It absolutely exhaust him though & he slept the rest of the day. It was lovely to see him so happy to be out & back in his favourite place!

On Saturday evening, feeling brave, I took him out again for just the one walk but for half an hour with no uphill walking at all. About 15 minutes in, I notice him start to slow down and as we headed back to the car, I could see him struggling. Although obviously not in any pain, he was stiff and favouring his poorly leg a little more than usual.

Today has been strict rest & no walks - only going outside for toilet breaks. He's not even a little bit impressed, he just doesn't want to keep still, but he's really quite lame still. I think it's probably going to be another full day of rest tomorrow, and then short walks on Tuesday. It is SO hard to know what's too much or too little. I'm terrified of getting it wrong and having to go through physiotherapy with him. Fingers crossed for a more positive week this week!

If looks could kill!

Two months on!

Today was Dizzy's two month post-op appointment with the surgeon. I can't believe how quickly it's come around & this morning I was extremely nervous. I've been so worried that he's not as far along the recovery as he should be, that they where going to tell me there was a problem or that we'd done something wrong!

When we arrived we where greeted by the very friendly nurse staff, who where thrilled to see Dizzy again (the feeling was definitely mutual - I've never seen a dog SO excited to be walking into a vets!). Dizzy was popped straight on the scales and we where thrilled to see he had lost almost 2 kgs in weight since the operation. It seems all our worrying about treats has paid off!**

The surgeon then had a short chat with us, to find out if we had any concerns or if there had been any setbacks, before taking us outside to watch Dizzy do laps of the car park. Straight away he noticed that his first steps out of the building are a sort of three legged hop/skip motion before he settles in to a normal pace using all four legs. That is not unusual for this stage of recovery so nothing to really worry about, but we would expect that to disappear in the coming weeks.

The next two months will be a slow process of rebuilding the muscle in that poorly leg & doing everything we can to make sure we don't need to start physiotherapy in June! There is still to be no off lead running and all time outside, including toilet breaks, are on lead only as it is natural for him to carry his poorly leg during fast movement, meaning he will continue to be lame on that leg. The best way to increase muscle mass is regular on lead walks up gentle inclines or in long grass (to encourage him to pick his feet up higher, therefore using the leg more). Paddling in shallow water has the same effect as long grass, so is great too (although no swimming at all - not problem for our water hating pooch!). 

The surgeon explained to us that some dogs recover well & very quickly from this type of surgery and some dogs slower, with more setbacks and issues. Our boy is slap bang in the middle of that line, which is fab news. The next two months are just as crucial as the last two though. We go back for another assessment in June at which point the surgeon hopes to be able to discharge us from his care. The alternative outcome is a referral for physiotherapy if the leg isn't as it should be. 

For the past weeks since the operation, we have been very gradually increasing exercise until we got up to two 20 minute on lead walks a day. We'll now start going further afield, with an extending lead & hopefully his skinny chicken leg will start bulking up!!



**NB. I highly recommend Pets at Home brand Wainwrights. The low fat version for overweight or under active dogs is perfect for post-op dogs to manage their weight while exercise is minimal.

"No, no, no, no....Don't Jump!!"

I've been completely useless at updating this blog for the last few weeks - I don't know where the time has gone! We're now on week 5 of the post-op recovery and Dizzy's follow up appointment with the surgeon is only just over a fortnight away. 

He's doing really well, so well in fact that it is near impossible to stop him doing the things he shouldn't be doing. The poor boy is in major sulk mode most of the time & I'm left feeling awful for being so cruel - tough love definitely isn't my forte! 

After my last post "Feeling Confused", Matt stopped into the vets to have a chat and find out where we should be at, at this stage of the recovery. As we thought, any jumping (including on or off the sofa or bed), walking up or down stairs and off lead walking are all still strictly off limits & remain so at least until his post op apointment. 

In the house, moving around should be limited and supervised as much as possible. Walking across the room to see us, or from his crate to his water bowl are fine, even on laminte/lino flooring - but any more than that is a no-no. If he wants to get on the sofa, he must be lifted and then we have to keep a very close eye (and ideally a hand!) on him at all times to stop any  jumping. 

The problem is, he's now so speedy that it's not always easy to catch him! One minute he can be sat in his crate & less than 30 seconds later he's at my side. Before I've managed to get "Dizzy no!" out of my mouth, he's on the sofa & looking very confused at all the fuss. It's only happened a small handful of times but it's still a few times too many! It's also extremely easy to forget that he needs to be secured in his crate before we can leave the room & once last week, myself & Matt where stood talking in the kitchen & suddenly, there was Dizzy stood proudly in the doorway, wagging his tail! We'd both completely forgotten to shut the crate door before we left the room! Needless to say, that hasn't happened again and we both felt terrible about it!

It's also got to that time of year, where the birds are out in force collecting nesting materials from all the gardens in our area. Dizzy does not like this one bit! Any bird sat on "his" garden fence or worse, if they dare to set foot in his "kingdom" (as we call it) would normally send him skidding across the room to the garden door, "aroo roooing" at the top of his voice. I have to be very careful to catch him before he sets off launching himself off the sofa on his mission to rid the garden from those pesky birds. We have discovered a pillow fort constructed from sofa cushions, while not impenetrable, tells Dizzy quite clearly to stay where he is, meaning I can move around the room (keeping an eye on him) safe in the knowledge that he's not going to jump. Although I do get a whole lot of sighing  grumbling & sad, sad eyes:

By now, on average, the vet excepts a dog to be able to handle around three on lead walks a day of about 20 minutes each, although that does vary depending on the individual dog. That's pretty much where we are with Dizzy - he has two walks of around 15/20 minutes each a day plus multiple short trips to the garden for toilet breaks (I cannot WAIT until I don't have to accompany him on those anymore!). 

Out on walks, you'd be hard pushed to notice anything had happened to him, aside from the fact that his left leg is a lot skinnier than his right, which is normal & to be expected. He's desperate to run and will constantly attempt a funny hop-skip routine, due to the short lead, & then look around at me forlornly. Over the night few days, I'll start bumping up the walks to three instead of two, but he's coping really well & we're very happy with how he's getting on!

Another post will follow soon...promise!   

Feeling Confused!

The biggest thing myself and my partner Matt have been struggling with during this whole process (and the reason why we're keeping this blog) is an almost complete lack of useful information. Unless we're looking in all the wrong places, we really can't find any proper "owner experience" and in reality, we are absolutely clueless about what to expect next, what stage Dizzy should be at now and what we should be doing on a day to day basis. 

We've spent most of the last three weeks feeling like we've been doing everything wrong, panicking every time Dizzy moves and generally just worrying non stop. When I dropped Dizzy off at the vets the morning of the op, I spoke to the Nurse who booked him in and asked if I could have a chat with someone about the recovery process, as it was going to be Matt (my partner) picking him up and I wouldn't be there. The very friendly nurse told me not to worry, he'd be discharged with a letter explaining everything we needed to know and that it was basically a case of keeping him still and gradual exercise. 

When Matt picked Dizzy up that evening, he was presented with a bullet pointed list, that to be blunt, has been almost completely useless since getting past the first 24/48 hours. It details the initial recovery post anaesthetic and tells us to gradually build up exercise on lead for the next 8 weeks - all fine and as expected. 

But, Matt was also given a brief run through of things by the Veterinary Nurse like; no jumping on or off the sofa, bed etc or walking up or down the stairs, no walking on laminate flooring, lino or tiles (basically carpet only) and that when unsupervised he should be confined to a room with nothing to jump on or a crate. We've opted for crating him as, although we don't usually shut him in, if there's a crate set up for one of our foster dogs, he's first in there for snooze & it's hard to get him to come out! So for our peace of mind & his comfort, we decided to borrow a friends large crate (I think it's either a Large or an Extra Large in Pets at Home sizes and they seem to range from around £80-£110 online depending on size) and a smaller one (a Medium in Pets At Home, approx. £50-£60) in the bedroom for overnight. 

Now, the entire downstairs of our house is carpet free - we have laminate flooring in the living room and lino in the kitchen & hallway. This is has made things very difficult and we have no idea at all whether the "carpet only" rule is for the entire 8 week initial recovery, only the first few days/weeks or what! It's obvious from watching Dizzy, that it is more difficult to walk on laminate/lino - common sense says of course it is, it's slippery and putting extra strain on his weak post-op leg. The issue we're having is making sure he's moving as much as (we think) he should be at this point of his recovery, but at the same time limiting off-carpet time! It's not easy! 

We do have a rug in the living room, although it's not very big & I've put a door mat in front of the crate so that when he steps out he's straight onto the mat and then on to the rug. It still involves watching him like a hawk and being ready to pounce if he tried to make a run for it and start leaping around the room (which he is attempting daily). We have also been spending portions of the day upstairs so that he can roam freely on the carpeted bedroom floor, with me nearby keeping a close eye on him. The problem is, as soon as he gets in there all he wants to do is sleep! I've managed to coax him into movement by doing some basic command training, which I talked about in yesterdays post. I am reluctant to entice him into play with toys, as his play generally involved flinging the toy around and tearing after at high speed, whipping around sharply from side to side. I'm pretty sure that's not safe for his poorly leg! 

This all means that in the house, I have no idea how active he should be, how much walking around the room (especially the carpet free rooms) he should be doing and I'm fairly sure he's not moving as much as he should be. 

When it comes to walks, I think we're doing much better - although I still am not clear on how long he should be walking for at this stage. We know that all walking, including toilet breaks, must be strictly on lead and we are currently doing a slow stroll around the block to a grassy area and back, which is about 15 minutes in total. This doesn't include toilet breaks, which are frequent and about five minutes each. He's walking well and enjoying himself, with no discomfort at all and we'll continue to build on this - although I'm not sure how long is too long at this point! 

Generally, I'm just very confused! We're doing our best to do what's right for Dizzy and if we have any real problems or see any backwards steps in progress, we'll get on the phone to the vet. They've always been very helpful and happy to take our questions, but I do wish there'd been more information volunteered at the beginning. Only one month now until his post-op check-up, it can't get here soon enough!

Three Weeks On: Catch Up Update & Weight Management!

It's been just over a week since I last posted, things have been a little busy & I'll be honest; it was getting tough to think of things to write about! Once the initial weeks where over, everything evened out and every day was pretty much the same. 

When I last wrote, the stitches had just come out and Dizzy, although full of energy, was walking with a bit of a hop/jump system to get around quickly without having to use his leg too much. He's now much steadier and when walking on lead, at a slow pace it's pretty hard to tell that he's had anything done. He still chooses to hold his leg off the floor if he wants to make a quick turn and still does a funny hopping motion if he wants to try and get around quickly, but for the most part he's taking his time and walking pretty well on all four legs. Here is this morning, on his daily walk:

We've been very conscious of Dizzy's weight for quite some time before the operation. When we adopted him, he was skinny & odd looking so I am completely guilty of over feeding him & giving him far too many treats without even realising I was doing it - I think I was making up for the fact that he obviously hadn't been spoiled before. Then, when his leg started playing up, his exercise was limited to what he could physically handle, but his eating habits didn't change. His health has never been in danger and he has certainly never been seriously over weight, but he certainly was chubbier than he should have been. 

We switched his food over to Pets at Home brand 'Wainwrights" - the low fat variety for overweight and under active dogs (he was a bit of both) and made sure he had as much exercise as he could handle. I can't recommend the "Wainwrights" brand highly enough - his weight came down steadily, his coat is healthy and even his eyes are brighter and less weepy than they where before. Dizzy is a fussy eater, so finding a food that he enjoyed was a bit tough but over a year on he's still enjoying every meal! He's on a mixture of the wet "trays" and the kibble (majority kibble with a small amount of wet to taste). He loves the food and his weight is under control.

We're keeping him on the low fat "Wainwrights" for the duration of his recovery and plan to wean him onto the normal version once he's up to a normal amount of daily exercise, but it is SO hard to be strict when it comes to treats! The vet warned us to be careful and to remember that what is a small treat to us, is considerably more fattening to a dog. We where also told to bear in mind that as long as he thinks it's a treat, that's the main thing. Raw carrots might be a healthy, boring snack to us but a dog, it's an awesome tasty treat! He loves them & it keeps him busy for a while so whenever I'm cooking veg, he always gets a carrot.

We've also tried him on some "Wainwrights" treats - they do a whole variety in Pets at Home; low fat, joint friendly, great for senior dogs etc. We opted for the "Vegetable Sticks" which are meat, dairy & gluten free - extremely low in fat. They come in a pack of three and in reality, he probably shouldn't have any more than one a week at most. Not a problem - he wasn't too impressed with them! Dizzy normally devours treats as soon as they are passed to him, but one vegetable stick stayed barely touched for about four days! It did eventually get eaten so I'm sure he'll get accustomed to the change in treats soon! 

"What is this stuff you're giving me woman?!"

I've also been trying to burn some of his energy by doing some basic command training with him & it certainly seems to be wearing him out! We're not doing anything strenuous  just working on things like "giving paw", "down", "leave it" and guessing which hand a treat is hidden in (he's slowly learning to tap the hand he thinks is holding the treat with his paw). Basically, just nothing that requires Dizzy to move around too much, but that take quite a bit of concentration from him. For that I've been using "Wagg Low Fat Training Treats", they're great bite size nuggets that are less than 4% fat. Still to be given sparingly & this isn't something we'll do every day but it's great fun for him every now and then and is a bit of a substitute to playing fetch and tearing around the garden.

There should be another post coming later today, or tomorrow as I've still got loads to talk about. I know this is getting a bit long, so I'll leave it there for now! 

NB: We seem to be getting quite a few views, which is fab - if you are reading and have any tips, shared experience or anything you want to talk about please feel free to leave comments! Any tips on low fat treats would also be appreciated!

Day 10 To Today (Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd February) - Stitches Out & We're Getting Dizzy!

Friday was finally the day I'd been waiting for since the op - stitches out! Yay! I HATE putting a Buster Collar on Dizzy and he hates it just as much. For the past ten days, I've been sleeping on the sofa so Dizzy can spend the night in an extra large crate that won't fit in our bedroom, to make sure he was as comfy as possible and able to manoeuvre himself around with the 'cone' on. Every night when he saw the cone in my hand, he'd lower his nose to the floor and try to stop me putting it over his head :( But now - no stitches mean no cone, which means I get to go back to my bed, and Dizzy can sleep in a smaller crate in the bedroom. Phew!

The stitches came out without issue & the vet was impressed that the wound was so neat and clean - Dizzy's not been given any opportunity to lick it or chew the stitches and there's been minimal blood/discharge. Dizz was as good as gold, letting the vet have a good feel of the leg and move it around a bit. She said all feels normal and as it should - the scar was giving off a slight heat but she wasn't worried as the wound itself is so clean and there's no inflammation. She did say that April (the date of Dizzy's post-op appointment with the surgeon) seemed a bit far away to her, so she would recommend bringing him back in to them (my local vet) around mid March for a follow up check, or sooner if we have any worries. Essentially, as long as he continues to improve and move forward, everything is all good - it's only if he starts to go backwards that we should worry.

Dizzy was a bit stiff for the rest of the day, due to the amount of activity in the morning - he walked well to and from the car and the vets (but was lifted in and out of the car) and did lots of wiggling at the other dogs in the waiting room! But we know that if he's stiff, it's because he's done too much and we just need to let him rest. 

This weekend, he's been so full of beans it's getting really hard to keep him still! He's constantly trying to spin around, chasing his tail - it's making me dizzy! And once, yesterday, he managed to jump onto the sofa before I could catch him. He didn't use his poorly leg for the jump, but I need to be much more careful and make sure that doesn't happen again. 

He's walking well on his leg, but will do a three legged hop if he wants to move quickly and that stupid leg is slowing him down! We're very lucky though, that he's such a laid back dog and although he loves to be active and go for long walks, he loves sleeping just as much!

This is the leg this morning - there's practically no scar already and pretty soon you probably won't even know he's had anything done:

Days 9 & 10 (Wednesday 19th & Thursday 20th February) - Getting Better & Dizzy's Gotcha Day!

It's been a few days since I last updated & I'm amazed at how well Dizzy is doing. It's been a bit of a busy week, with quite a lot of progress! 

Back on 'Day 9' (last Wednesday), Dizzy was on his 4th day without pain relief and walking well - he's still limping but is much steadier than before and putting a bit more weight on his bad leg. He's now also standing on his bad leg and cocking his good one to pee, although he is having to drop his good leg down mid pee, it's still progress! 

Here's a little video of him going for a stroll on Wednesday:

Day 10 (Thursday) was Dizzy's second "Gotcha Day" (the two year anniversary of us bringing him home for the first time - as Dizzy's a rescue dog we don't know his Birthday, so we celebrate "Gotcha Days" instead). He's a pretty spoiled dog all year round, but we always try to do something special on his Gotcha Day. Normally, this would involve at least one new toy, an extra large rawhide bone/chew & we'd take him for a special long walk on or around the day (somewhere other than his usual daily walking spots). This year, special walks are off limits and we're not supposed to be giving him treats to avoid weight gain while he recovers...

But we couldn't let the day go by without doing anything! So he had a cheeky-one-off-tasty-treat:

And a new food bowl & matt, which I love - there's no doubting this dogs position in our house!:

We did have a bit of an unusual incident when Dizzy was eating his bone on Thursday - he has never been in any way food aggressive in the two yeas we've had him, in fact he's a soft as anything! You can take food or treats off him without a problem and many a foster dog in the past has wandered over and helped themselves to his dinner - to which Dizzy has responded by backing off and watching them from afar with a sad look on his face. 

But on Thursday, while he was wedged between me and Matt on the sofa, I was gently stroking his head while he ate and suddenly, he let out this throaty, snarling sound - something I have never heard before. I stopped stroking him and Matt went to scratch him just under his ear, to see Dizzy's reaction - he turned his head towards Matt's hand and again snarled a nasty snarl. 

This is so out of character for Dizzy and we have no idea what caused it - we are wondering if either he hasn't had a treat in a while now so he was going to protect this one at all costs or maybe (and this is probably more likely in my opinion) he felt vulnerable because of his poorly leg and was warning us that now was not the time to mess around. Whatever the reason, it has worried me quite a lot and is something we'll be keeping a close eye on!