We return home from shopping. As we open the front door the 'diva', who has been sound asleep in her pen, leaps with joy. In fact she's so overjoyed at being reunited after all of an hours absence that she tries to do a backwards somersault. Sophie has never been one to hide her emotions. Two seconds is all it takes to put her full weight on her good knee and damage the ligament. So much for keeping her in an enclosed space. One of those ' What are the chances of that ? ' days.
A trip to the vets follows. An appointment for a further x-ray hastily scheduled at 4:30 this afternoon to see what the damage is. We're praying it's just a bad strain but she is in pain, crying and can't use her back legs to stand so I fear it is a ligament issue. The inability to stand generates a new wave of ' things that need to be considered '.
The specialist surgeon still can't schedule an operation until a week today. Our local vet is trying to see what he can come up with as an alternative.
Bob, the ever worrying big brother, knows that something is wrong. He has slept close to Sophie's cage all night.
I fear this second development on Sophie's knee makes this option impossible : http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_2/features/Dog-Surgery-Alternatives_16198-1.html
36 comments:
Oh dear, this is not good news at all. The wait for the surgery is most unfortunate too. Poor Sophie. Sending calming hugs to her and the rest of the household. Gail.
Oh, gosh, good luck at 4:30. It's just the worst feeling when a pet's in pain.
Sophie may be in pain but she's being extremely 'feisty' and demanding to know what her brother's doing.
Thank you. We're rather nonplussed by the total lack of power in her rear quarters. There again dog owners tend to assume the worst.
Oh no, so sorry to read this.
It never rains but what it pours.
Oh no. She damaged the good knee, in front? I'm confused about your reference to back legs because I thought it was a front that was troubling. Oh dear oh dear.
Good luck! Poor Sophie!
Poor Sophie - what an awful thing to happen. Fingers tightly crossed that a little rest and medication will put things right. Hugs from us, we'll be thinking of you, as you await the vet's report.
Oh my...poor Sophie. Diva's never do things by halves...unfortunately!
Sending her plenty of hugs and best wishes to you all.
It's the back legs. Now both of them and in a way that makes it impossible for her to stand . She finds sitting the most comfortable position. Stooping is impossible. 4.30 can't come quickly enough. Her vocal chords remain in fine fettle.
Long-ago, when an old Lab. we had went "off" his back legs and couldn't walk, we were advised to support him with a towel under his body, when taking him out into the garden for his toilet. He'd walk on his front two legs, and we'd support his back ones. It worked very well.
We've tried this. Sophie won't take the hint. At the moment she's storing up trouble.
Oh no, the poor mite. You must be so concerned. Fingers crossed that it is just a bad strain. Could there be any chance that in jumping up, she has made the bad knee worse?
To add, rather than straining the good one?
The good knee seems to have gone completely. The vet says it's making unusual clicking noises. We'll know more after this afternoons x-ray in the hospital in Toulouse. At the moment she's sitting in her pen , outside, watching the tractors going by and letting us know she wants to chase them.
Damn. We will all be waiting for the outcome and hoping for the best.
Such a shame. I hope just a strain on the good leg. Mum's dog had a ligament repair done on his back leg 6 months ago so I can sympathise. It is not easy. The good news is the two weeks immediately after the op were fine because the pain meds made him very sleepy and he didn't want to move around too much. The even better news is that 6 months on and he is a different dog. Before the op he was getting old before our eyes and now he is back to his usual happy and energetic self.
We are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers, Sophie. Hugs to Bob and to your peeps♥
Oh, no! Sending prayers for ALL of you.
As Teena said, "Hoping for the best."
Pam in NH
I'll add my own prayers and hope for the very best. Can she be lightly sedated to be a bit calmer?
We had a jumper who injured his knee. Only one, thank goodness. He'd jump for joy when anyone came in the door, jump on an off the backs of furniture and out the back of the suv. Just great flying leaps. Surgery was recommended but no slots available for nearly a month. We needed to keep him calm until surgery. The vet recommended a double ended leash attached to our belt. Any time he tried to jump, we were to put our foot on the leash to prevent him jumping. We worked with friends knocking on the door to excite him and as soon as he bunched up to jump, we would put a foot on the leash. We finally got him to the point where he would sit calmly when anyone came in the door. Of course a cookie jar by the door helped reinforce the 'sit for guests' trick. After he got over the initial pain, we used water therapy for exercise. We would put him in a life jacket and on a long leash and he would swim around our dock. A pool would have been easier, no salt water to wash off, but it took care of any fleas he had too! We kept him in a small crate when we left the house and put his leash on him as he came out. Greetings were his jump for joy moment. By the time a surgery slot came around he was healed enough we decided to forgo it and continued to work on his jumping issues. He got so used to being right at my feet that he continued even after we removed his double ended leash. Best of luck. A happy boisterous jump for joy diva will be a challenge to slow down.
Pam, keeper of Bonnie n Kenzie
She's already on pain killers for the bad knee. Sophie, is however, Sophie.
I'm sorry you're going through this. Sophie is very lucky to have such a loving "family" caring for her. We all send positive thoughts and prayers. An interesting fact, dogs and horses are very similar and even share medications (my horse is on Previcox which is a pain pill for dogs). When she pulled a tendon and had to be in her paddock on "bed rest" it was awful. But eventually she healed. The hardest part was when she could go back to exercising . Like Sophie, she was full of energy. 🐎
I'm so sorry to read this. Prayers being sent for everyone.
Oh, poor Sophie and poor you! One of the dogs at this blog underwent two knee surgeries last year. I don't know the exact dates, but you could peruse the archives. It was Queen Natasha, I believe. I'm sure that if you wrote Mr. Wall, the 'Hu-Dad' he would be happy to share any tips on confinement. As I recall, everyone survived the Queen's confinement.https://thethunderingherd.com/2016/09/17/queen-still-got/
I can only imagine your anguish! I am in panic mode countries away! Bob and Sophie are my French fur babies! Your vet is an angel for seeking alternative solutions. Loving thoughts and prayers are being sent your way.
So sorry about what has happened to Sophie again. Trusting the Vet can do something to help her today.
Oh Angus this is awful. Poor Sophie must be in such pain! If it is another injury requiring surgery, hopefully the specialist can be persuaded to mercifully find an earlier operative slot.
If at all possible, it would be in Sophie's best interest to investigate other medications for pain control, ones that have a more sedating quality. Some meds will provide good pain control but cause a paradoxical reaction ie: hyperactivity. (Could this have precipitated Sophie's almost back flip?) Vets never know when this will occur and with Sophie's already exuberant nature, good control of pain and patient is a must.
We're keeping Sophie in our prayers.
Oh goodness. I'm so sorry. Hopefully the specialist can find some time to work this in before next week.
We're praying for her here.
xo
Our prayers are being added, you may be sure.
As well as ours. Please keep us posted
Not off to a good start at keeping her quiet.
I'm really so sorry to hear about this turn of events. I really wish you lived closer, I'd loan you one of my "Help em Up Harnesses" (Josh & Jake wear one) that I think may work pretty good for Sophie. I'm wondering if you can get it there. If not, I have one that is "Golden size" that has never been used that I'd be happy to send. Or I could help you in ordering/getting a smaller sized one for Sophie.
I'm hoping that the news is good for Sophie and a solution is found!! But please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help or questions you may have.
We hope that Max is adjusting, and doing well.
That's really kind. We ordered some harnesses yesterday which I think might be the same thing. The real problem is getting her to 'stoop' when there's no power in the rear legs. The walking her around with a towel trick is really hard work at eleven at night and achieves minimal returns ! She's starting in morphine which together with the anti-inflammatories will hopefully make her less like the patient from hell.
Keeping Sophie and her flock in my prayers and thoughts. Positive thoughts from the Canadian prairies!
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