Dog Woes

Best Buddies

The day after my dog was limping so badly at the SprinterFest, we went to my vet and discovered she has a bone chip in her elbow.  At least there's a reason for it.  But that means surgery.  And an expensive surgery at that.  My vet (who I love) recommended arthroscopic surgery and a specialist in orthopedic surguery.  She would not want to do the elbow because it takes a lot of specialized experience and she doesn't have the equipment to do it the way she thinks it should be done.  So this week we were off to the specialist an hour away for the consultation.  A couple hours later, he came to the same conclusion as my vet but with the added diagnosis of some sensitivity in her other elbow.  He did a very thorough exam.


He thinks the injury was probably trauma induced at some unknown point.  She enthusiastically races, leaps, rolls, twists in her fetching games so any one of those could have done the chip without me noticing the injury.  She's a collie.  She's all in with everything she does.  He said we have probably caught it early so he thinks there's a very good chance she has a good prognosis for a normal dog life in the future.  Not doing the surgery is like leaving sand in the joint and will grind away the cartilage for an early arthritis and painful life.  So, really, there's no choice but to pay for it. And the sooner we get it done, the sooner she recovers.  Because I love my dog and want her to have the best life she can.

So we are scheduled for arthroscopic surgery next Tuesday that sounds just like the surgery I had on my ankle some 18 years ago.  Then there is the long recovery of 8-12 weeks.  The physical therapy includes leash walks of increasing length but no jumping.  There will be no agility training in her future with all the jumps in it, but the vet said my thoughts of training her to pull a cart would be a good thing.  When it is all over.  In August.  It's going to be long summer.

I was going to take the van and camp in their parking lot to get her in early and wait for the release.  But this clinic keeps the dog overnight and won't release her until the next day.  They also will take her the night before at no extra charge.  So I will drop her off the evening before and pick her up on midday Wednesday.  I didn't get that much care when I had my own arthroscopic surgery.  As soon as I woke from the anesthesia, they sent me packing.

Her recovery will be in the middle of my planned jaunt to Colorado for the family reunion.  But I think it will fit in-between the 8 week check and the 12 week check.  We may get the check and take off that same day or the next.  Solar will have to wait.

Ow ow

New puzzle toy.  Figured out in a very few minutes.  We need genius puzzles for the recovery period.