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Marching on Three Feet.

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Back to Life

Damn. This week is going to suck, I mean last week was all about having Friday off and a three day weekend and four day week and that was just so great. This week? The knowledge that there isn't anther day off for another month.

If I was to be polled on the subject, I would say I prefer having a Friday off to a Monday. How much stuff do you have to do every Friday? Nada! You don't have to do jack on Friday! Weekly tasks on Friday? Show up! You have to show up, its not like the dreary unjoy of all those Monday tasks - Monday, is all about things you have to get done Monday. I've also noticed that a week without a Monday always feels longer than a week without a Friday.

Speaking of  last week, my marching orders after Doggers' surgery was to keep her in her box and off her feet. Fine,  two weeks on crate rest? In our Sleep! She and I both know the drill there and while we don't love it, we <i>get</i> it. This time, keeping in mind her other bad knee, I thought it would be a good idea to not stress that knee more than necessary by keeping the weight off it - So every time I took her out to do her business, I held up her back end with a towel. It seemed like a good idea.

Dogger had her first official post op appointment Thursday evening. The good news? No more crate-arrest and the E-collar is now not a 24-7 part of her wardrobe. The bad news? Two weeks post op Dogger does not put any weight on her new knee. In real life?  She's supposed to, I kept a towel under her hips  and carried her back end everywhere she went for two weeks so that I could protect her old bad knee from over work and instead I just bunged up her new knee from under work! Bad idea.

My marching orders for the next two weeks is to have no more good ideas and to make her walk on all four feet. Damn it. So far its been  three days and she isn't and she can't. She yipps often and steadfastly refuses to use that leg and I don't know what to do. The doc said to "walk her slowly" and to find hills for her to "walk up". He says the new knee is ready for action and needs to be used. Dogger won't use the knee! Dogger won't straighten out her leg! I can walk her slowly all day but it doesn't make her put weight on that leg.  I looked online for rehab protocols for her surgery and I couldn't find any. I'm kind of freaking out.

Okay. Things I am <i>not</i> freaking out about. The Garden  is tilled and is ready to go. I even got my soak-er hoses arranged! it took a while and another trip to the store for an extension hose, but, finally, at long last the hoses, the timer, the dirt, compost and fertilizer are all together and are waiting for me to get both kinds of rubber mulch down and the vegetables and their cages arranged. It's not done yet, but it will be. Finally.

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megjac 5 pts

I joined the group and they are great! Thank you so much for handing along that tip, Dogger and I really appreciate it. Dogger's newest 'trick" is the inability to lie down on her own! yay!

vomviersen 5 pts

Have you tried joining the Yahoo! Group Orthodogs? Discussion covers all types of orthopedic conditions and surgeries, and I'll bet you can get some good advice there.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodogs/

My own dear Heidi who blew out both cruciates one year apart is gone 5 years now, so I don't have a lot of helpful information because I simply don't remember a lot of what we did, sorry! I do remember that in addition to the leash walks, we did range of motion exercises 2-3x per day (flexing the recuperating knee while she laid on her side) for the first few weeks of recovery. This was quite some time ago, I know the current recommended therapies include swimming or water treadmill, which weren't that common back then.

Good luck to you and Dogger!

vomviersen :: Kathi Wilson
http://brilliant-disguise.net/looktwice/